|
|
|
3rd May,
The Last Semi-Final ...
|
|
|
Scott Handley lost to Alister Walker
9-7, 4-9, 9-3, 4-9, 5-9 (48m) |
WALKER/HANDLEY: CLOSE
We started the evening with a great match. In the first leg, Alister
Walker won pretty comfortably, but he had to work much harder this
time, as Scott Handley seemed to have learned from his mistakes…
The match was pretty close throughout, the first game was the longest,
nearly 20 minutes, and Alistair couldn’t capitalise on his lead 6/3. Scott
came back at 6/6, and went on taking the game 9/7, thanks to a crosscourt
kill that Alistair double bounced (and gave to his opponent, a very honest
gesture from the young man, as we were on game point…)
The three next games were six minutes each, funny, don’t you think? Scott
was retrieving very well, and placed some remarkable backhand drop shots
and volley drop shots. Alister was attacking most of the rallies, but did
some pretty athletic retrieving himself…
The last game was close, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4, 5/5. Then it all went quite
quickly. A great rally, extremely disputed that Alister ended with a tight
drive that stuck in his opponent's racquet, and despite some excellent
attacks from the New Father, Alister was able to close it up 9/5.
An excellent start to the evening, and Scott should be delighted to have
made so much improvement on his last performance against Young Alister…
|
 "Today
was much harder than the first leg. I think Scott learnt from the
last match! Last time, I couldn’t have played better, all my
shots were going in.
"Today, he was much more consistent, and his length was a lot
deeper. But I was still in last time’s mood, and I went too short.
He got quite confident and I had to adjust, mentally, I had to be
more patient, do much more retrieving, and defend well.
"When he is confident, he becomes very patient, very accurate,
waits for the opening… He can be pretty dangerous…"
Alister Walker |
 "I
was up 2/1, I got a good start in the fourth, then lost a bit of
concentration on what I considered being a bad call, and got a bit
tired…
"In the fifth, we were very close, 4/4, 5/5, and he went through a
purple patch, he didn’t seem to do anything wrong, and then it was
too much of a lead to catch up…
"I don’t have the feeling that we played at a good speed, or that
we played comfortably…
Scott Handley |
|
|
Shelley Kitchen beat Jennifer Wright 9-0, 9-1, 9-0 |
|
 "It
was amazing to be given the opportunity to play such a player, it’s a
great experience to encounter someone of such a calibre. The pace of the
game, her speed, her winning shots, everything is different. I just hope
that in a few years, I’ll be able to play at that level. It’s a really
good target for me to aim at…
"For the past four years, I’ve been studying Performance Analysis in
University in Wales, I just passed my degree, and I’m now studying for my
Masters.
"I played my first National League match in the semis first leg two weeks
ago…
"In June, I’m going to train full time with Sue Wright, and my ambition is
to become a professional squash player, but I know I’ve got a lot of
catching up to do, as in my age group, there were girls like Alison Waters
and Laura-Jane Lengthorn, who would probably give me a good beating now!"
Jenny Wright
|
"It was a good
game. She is a steady player. She was a bit nervous to start with,
and her length got much better during the second, but then she got a
bit tired…"
Shelley Kitchen
|
|
Alex Gough lost to Rodney Durbach
10-8, 8-10, 4-9, 9-6, 10-12 (68m) |
DURBACH/GOUGH:
EVEN CLOSER…
You don’t need me to know that, do you now… 8/10, 10/8 to start with,
and 12/10 to finish…
It was a classic yet again, with great suspense. Superb length, cut off
and top spin from the Welsh number one Alex Gough, and great
speed and movement from South African Rodney Durbach.
The pace was high from start to finish, no up and down the wall rallies
in this one, let me tell you. Hit and run, crosscourt and low drives,
some good lobs in particular from Rodney, some exquisite drop shots from
Alex.
The South African still seems to have his “patches” of loss of focus,
which Gough was able to exploit gladly. In their first leg match, he was
up 6/0 in the fifth and lost, and today, he battled hard to get to 5/2,
after five lets at 2/4, but let the Welshman come back to 5/5 and
overtake him to get match ball 8/5.
Alex couldn’t transform any of his four match balls, yes four, and
Rodney eventually clinched his second match ball to reverse the result
of the first leg, in a 19 minute game, 12/10…
Like I said, a lot of running, a lot of attacks, a lot of suspense and a
lot of fun… What squash is all about really…
|
 "I’m
so into the game, I can’t sit back and see what’s actually
happening. I’m so involved, I can’t see I’ve got a 3/4 point
cushion for example, and that he is the one that’s got to work
harder…
"I don’t know exactly what happened in the game, the only thing I
know was that I was concentrating on wining the next point. It was
a very hard game again, last time was 9/7 in the fifth… What made
the difference was the mistakes at the end… It just came down to
that, the last points and who made the mistakes…"
Rodney Durbach |
|
 "Like
last time, it was a pretty close call. And last time, I won
9/7 when I was down 6/0 in the fifth… But last time, Rodney
made a lot of mistakes, this time, we both got it right… I had
a couple of opportunities that I didn’t capitalise on.
"My movements were OK, but I just had a long week, with the
Europeans, and I’m a bit tired I guess. But even if I had been
tip top, I still would have found it quite hard to push at the
end, it was that kind of a match…"
Alex Gough |
|
|
Mark Cairns beat Daryl Selby 9-5, 9-6, 7-9, 9-3 (68m) |
|
 "Mark
was up for revenge, and you could tell that from the start…
"He started well, the court was so bouncy, there were a lots of lets, we
were a bit in the way of each other, as we were both early on the ball.
The rallies were very close, but he just had the edge today, where I was
short and not tight enough.
"But I gave everything I had, I gave 150%, but it was just not good
enough… It was a looong week, but today’s match was very enjoyable,
especially as we were playing in front of 70/80 people. It was a nice
atmosphere, even if most people were cheering for the other player…"
Daryl Selby
 "He
was maybe a bit tired from Italy. And Mark played very well, I think he
didn’t want to lose again…"
Paul Selby
|
 "There
were a lot of people watching, which is always nice. I guess that it was
a crucial match, a must win…
"Daryl played very well, but the ball was so bouncy, nothing was easy.
The first game in particular was very long and quite hard. He got a bit
tired in the second. The third was hard again, he got in front, stepped
up and cut off my shots beautifully, as I was playing too short. In the
fourth, I played reasonably comfortably…
"I must admit that I found myself thinking about this match two or three
days ago, which I don’t do anymore. Nowadays, I just turn up and play.
But this match, I didn’t want to lose… But in a year’s time, he’ll
probably thump me….!"
Mark Cairns |
|
Anthony
Ricketts beat Ong Beng Hee
6-9, 9-3, 9-3, 9-4 |
FOR THE FUN…
It must have been hard for Anthony Ricketts and Ong Beng Hee
to get on court as the semi-final was actually over…
They did their best to make a good show of it, and gave the crowd some
good entertainment, even if their hearts were not exactly into it…
 "It
was a fun match, my aim was to get a game, and I did, so I’m happy.
I’m now off to Malaysia to have a break and see my parents. I’m
really looking forward to a little rest…
"This semi-final was a close match, the home match was very close,
we lost it by not much. But it’s our first season, surely we’ll do
better next year…"
Ong Beng Hee |
|
"It was tough to play, as we both knew that it was all over, but we
had a full house that still wanted a good show… So to start with, I
was not in the match really, and made a few mistakes, and then got
right into it… I really glad to be in the final, and looking forward
to it…
"Now, I’m only first reserve at the Super Series, so I’m going to
take it easy, just play my league matches…"
Anthony Ricketts |
|
 |
|
Wolverhampton 3-2 Oberthur Strings
Tewkesbury
Anthony Ricketts beat Ong Beng Hee 6-9,
9-3, 9-3, 9-4
Alex Gough lost to Rodney Durbach
10-8, 8-10, 4-9, 9-6, 10-12 (68m)
Scott Handley lost to Alister Walker
9-7, 4-9, 9-3, 4-9, 5-9 (48m)
Mark Cairns beat Daryl Selby
9-5, 9-6, 7-9, 9-3 (68m)
Shelley Kitchen beat Jennifer Wright
9-0, 9-1, 9-0 |
 |
|
|
