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7th Oct:
COMPLETELY LEAGUED!
 Yes, Tuesday night, I popped up to Manchester
to see my first National League match, and on Wednesday, it was a
“normal day at the club”, with the
Surrey Cup, or was it…. I had
a lovely surprise there, as the Boss, Peter Nicol, is now playing
for Esporta Croydon, a club situated a few miles from me!
Aren’t I lucky…. |
The Surrey Cup
Framboise watches Esporta beat Colets as Peter Nicol makes his Surrey
debut ... |
Sportcity for the National League
So Tuesday was my first night at the National League.
 Funny
scoring, the one to 9, which prompted a funny line from one of the
officials, “which scoring are we playing tonight?”.
Sorry, but it still makes me smile…
It was a bit of a shock, I must say. I’m used to our Surrey League, where
we have a very relaxed, informal atmosphere, a few spectators, simple,
looking more like an evening between mates (off court of course, as the
matches are always extremely disputed).
And here I was in Manchester, at Sportcity. Big place. Glass court. I
would say 200 people. Lovely program handed out, full of useful and up to
date information.
And a compere!
 Yes,
they even had the very professional and witty Andy Nickeas,
Chairman of Cheshire Squash, a great squash lover, to present the players,
and who interviewed Lee Beachill, the brand new world number one,
which simplified my life, as I just had to listen and take notes. Cheers
Andy!
By now, you know all the results, and you have match reports as well, so,
I have decided not to dwell on the matches, but to offer you my “en bref”
view of things.
Hope that’s OK with you. But I’m sure that if it wasn’t, you would let me
know, wouldn’t you?
 |
The
glass court in Sportcity
The
'side' court
The
introductions ... |
A GREAT
START: DUNCALF/NIMMO
A very good start indeed! A very close, very disputed, extremely
entertaining match between Jenny Duncalf (world number 11), and
Pam Nimmo (number 20). First game: 12’, and a surprise, 9/7 for Pam,
but which took a lot out of the just recovering Scottish Beauty. She loses
the second 9/0 in 4 minutes.
In the 3rd, down 1/7, she gets her second wind, and takes the game 10/9 in
19 minutes. But Jenny Duncalf had just that much more legs than Pam, and
after taking the 4th 9/5 in 12 minutes, she gets the 5th in 5 minutes,
9/1.
The match lasted one minute short of an hour. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The rallies were long, disputed, beautiful drop shots, great retrieval
from both girls, yes, a great match.
“I feel
rusty. I’m in need of matches, so it was good to get a good match
before I go to New York on Monday. Pam was ill, she was just
recovering, I think she played beautifully. I was up and down all
match, like I do in most of them, I have to admit!”
Jenny
Duncalf |
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KALEIDOSCOPE
For weeks now, I’ve asked, begged, threatened, reminded Jenny that I would
love her to write for our column. “I started”, she said, “then I went on
the column, saw that my name and photo had disappeared from the listing,
so I stopped.”
Which proves that a silly layout necessity can create misunderstanding!
Sorry, young lady! Not intentional, I promise you….
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MEETING
BEAUTIFUL PAM
A long, lean and ballet-dancer like body, hair that could feature on a
commercial for shampoo, a beautiful smile, a great sense of humour, who is
able to eat take-away to profusion, and still look the way she does…
Girls, don’t you just hate her?
It was the first time I actually spoke at length with the beautiful
Scottish player, and I was charmed. Can’t wait to see her again… |
 WILLSTROP/EVANS:
GOOD BATTLE
It was a short match (33 minutes), but very entertaining. After James took
the first two, we thought the match could be over.
But David Evans has got a lot left, and he shut us up by taking a
beautiful 3rd, in which he led 6/1 and 7/2 before winning it 9/5. But
James recovered quickly, and took the 4th in 6 minutes, 9/5. |
CHATTING
AWAY
Here they
were, Jenny and Pam, in the aisle, waiting to get on court, chatting away
minutes before their match. So I told them “Come on girls, you’re playing
against each other, you’re supposed to hate each other right now!”. “You
don’t understand,” retorted Pam, “I missed the World Teams, I want to know
all the gossip”.
I love squash players…. |
BEACHILL-WHITE:
CLOSE, VERY CLOSE AGAIN
12 minutes. 8, 6, 9 and 13 minutes. 5 games. Again. Very close. Again.
Like White says in his quote, it was a very back to basics, solid, precise
match, where every rally was long and disputed, with some out of this
world typical John White style retrieving.
As usual, if the first 4 games were very friendly, the tension went right
up in the 5th, but the last points were played again with smiles and
friendship.
Even disappointed, even frustrated, John is always smiling, and even
winning, Lee is never condescending, always respectful of his opponent.
 So
another victory for the Yorkshireman, but like Ria Kennersley (PR
for Nottingham) said in her report, “the season is just beginning…”
Good luck, Lee, as you are now the favourite target for every PSA member
!!!!! |
THE LONGEST
RALLY IN HISTORY
Well, according to the few officials I talked to, the second rally of the
match between Lee Beachill and John White, was the longest on record. It
lasted over 6 minutes.
Yes, you read well. SIX MINUTES. And it wasn’t one of those training,
quietly paced rallies. No, we are talking a full power, drop shots and
retrieving from hell kind of rally.
“It was so good to have such a rally to
start the match!” said John White afterwards. “It was great to be able to
keep it going, instead of having a few short ones, it was good to find the
lengths, the rhythm, and to be able to play such a rally, to have the
mental resources and the fitness to play such a rally.”
Well, as for me, I never ever witnessed a point that long…
 “Sheer
frustration, that’s what I feel right now, I gave away too many
cheap points, I gave him too many shorts balls to attack. When you
play against Lee, you’ve got to go back to basics, be patient, and
build up your game until you have a good opening to attack,
especially on the glass court. And along the way, I lost that
length, hence frustration…”
John White |
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“The great thing about Lee, is that he never
leaves you dry when you interview him. His last sentence allows you to ask
another question.
“And James is just the same. Sometimes, players answer with yes or no,
which makes my job difficult. Lee is just so easy to speak to…”
Andy Nickeas |
LEE BEACHILL
 On
being number one
It feels weird. It feels good, unbelievable, but good. Obviously, this
result affects me. I’ve dreamed about being number one since I was 8 years
old, I always wanted to be the best player in the world over a period of
12 months. It will take some getting used to, and I’m glad I’ve got a few
weeks before my next big tournament.
On the welcome in Pontefract
Everybody thought it was wonderful, and the atmosphere was unbelievable…
for 5 minutes! Then, back to normal… Of course, it’s all the more special,
because I share this with them. With them and the three people I owe this
success to, my parents and Malcolm Willstrop. It’s thanks to them I’m
where I am today, and I hope I can be a worthy number one.
On his future
This is the pinnacle of my career to date, hopefully I can stay there a
bit longer. I will need to keep on working, like I always did, like I
always do. There are a bunch of ex number ones that are just behind, Peter
Nicol, obviously, Thierry Lincou, Dave Palmer, John White, and a handful
of juniors, James Willstrop, Nick Matthew, Grégory Gaultier...
When I had my baby Ben five months ago, and my number 2 in the world
ranking, I didn’t think it could get any better. And it did! So, can it
get any better? Probably not, I’d better retire now while on top!!!! |
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CONNOR AT SPORTCITY
Just behind me, I had a little boy, Connor,
accompanied by his father. When I asked him which team he was supporting,
he replied "Lee Beachill".
I love mini squash players..... |
Ellery Hanley and John
White |
Marcus Berrett |
Mick Todd |
David Evans, Alex Stait |
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