VS SCOREVISION

Bengy Rocks Ricketts

The odds were against Ong Beng Hee today. He'd survived a marathon in the last round and was now facing a relatively fresh Anthony Ricketts, a player he'd never beaten. Ricketts was quoted at 1.05 on Betfair (bet $1 to win 5 cents), and Beng Hee didn't have a price.

It looked like an even contest in the opening rallies though, both content to keep the ball long, probing for an opening. After just four points the court cleaners were called for, a combination of the heat and the effort being put in. From 5-all a couple strokes and a no let gave Beng Hee the lead, Ricketts recovered to 9-all before two tins gave the game to the Malaysian.

Ricketts was for some reason unhappy with a couple of calls, and couldn't seem to get his normal game going as Ong opened up a 4/1 lead in the second. Ricketts fought back, and with both players now playing much more attacking squash closed to 7/8. Struggling to reach a tight boast, Ricketts hit out to give Ong game ball, and two lovely drops later it was 2-0 and all to do for the second seed.

Ricketts demanded a change of ball - "as dead as you like" - a claim lent some credibility by several service returns by Ong straight into the nick.

The new ball looked marginally bouncier, but Ong still kept the tough Aussie in check early in the third. Ricketts was driving the ball hard, but with Ong content to float the ball back with little pace, he couldn't generate the intensity he thrives on.

Ong seemed to then change tactics, and was suddenly attacking everything, and as Ricketts joined in the Australian gained the lead at 7/5. A lucky winner, an outrageous volley nick saw Ong take the lead. He gained match-ball on a poor tin from Ricketts, missed a certain-winner dropshot, but made the next two to clinch a great win.
    

Gaultier beats Beachill
  
Lee Beachill has done well in Bermuda. Champion in 2004 and runner-up last year, the seventh-seeded Englishman nevertheless faced a serious challenge from France's Gregory Gaultier who has been in fine form and returned to the world's top ten in the April rankings. Betfair couldn't split them, 1.7 the pair.

The Englishman got the better start, thanks to four consecutive tins from Gaultier, but he soon recovered, and it was Beachill who made errors at the end as Gaultier took the first 11/5.

A better start in the second saw Gaultier maintain the lead throughout, and although Beachill closed to 6/5 Gaultier continued to keep the upper hand, generally managing to stay in front of his opponent , easing away once more to double the lead.

Beachill struck back in the third, forcing Gaultier out of his comfort zone with some varied play, and from 4-all assumed control to reduce the deficit, looking comfortable and controlled.

Beachill was up in the fourth too, leading 7/3 after a momentous rally that saw Gaultier produce some fantastic retrieving before eventually losing the point. That rally fired up the Frenchman and seemed to drain Beachill, and a determined Gaultier bossed the remaining points, taking the game 11/7 to claim a quarter-final place.

"I was in control for the first two games, pushing hard and keeping him behind me. I was moving well, striking the ball well. "I relaxed a little in the third and he changed his game, he was using lobs and volleying more to slow the game down and get in front of me. "I couldn't get back into it in the fourth, but then we had this really hard rally which fired me up and I just kept going from there. I was tired, but I knew he was tired too, it worked and I'm very pleased with that." Gregory Gaultier

Palmer punishes Pilley

On paper this all-Australian affair looked an easy win for David Palmer, but although the Bermuda resident eventually won in straight games it was far from easy.

Palmer started strongly, and although Pilley competed well in the rallies it was Palmer finding the winners as he moved to 8/2. But Pilley hung in, and a few careless errors from Palmer made for a nervous finish, with Pilley denied a let at 10/9 which both he and the crowd thought he deserved.

Pilley maintained his form in the second, leading all the way to reach 10/7. Palmer fought back, and the crowd were again disappointed when Pilley was denied lets at 10/9 and 10/11.

Palmer took the initiative early in the third and didn't relent as he moved into the quarter-finals.

"I was clear favourite at the start, but that's not how it works these days. I had good leads and let him get back into it. "He was going for his shots, played some great winners then some tins, a bit up and down and hard to read really which threw. my game off a bit. "He maybe got a bit tired in the third, and he hasn't played on the glass court too much, so maybe that experience was a factor. "I'd love to have another crack at Peter, I'd like to have another win over him before he retires." David Palmer

Nicol Denies Darwish

A third upset of the day seemed inevitable as Karim Darwish took a two-game lead over double Commonwealth champion Peter Nicol.

An out-of-sorts Nicol went 9-0 down in the first before a service return into the nick gave him his solitary point of the game. The Egyptian was moving easily and twisting Nicol with his flicks and boasts, catching him out most of the time.

The second was close all the way, Darwish holding a slender lead as the rallies lengthened and Nicol began to find some sort of form.

But Darwish held on, finishing the tie-break with a volley into the nick that left him delighted and Nicol apparently deflated.

Darwish had only ever lost two PSA matches from 2-0 up, and Nicol had only ever come back from 2-0 down twice. Surely it was all over.

Darwish started the third well, went to 3/1, but Nicol kept working, and slowly began to get on top in the rallies, forcing Darwish to do the work for the first time.

At 7/3 to Nicol Darwish appeared to give up on the game, failing to go for several easily retrievable shots. Surely the worst thing to do against someone like Nicol.

Darwish gave the fourth away, and allowed Nicol the luxury of a 4/1 lead in the fifth. His form returned, as he started to compete once more, but Nicol had the bit between his teeth now, and shots that would have eluded him earlier in the match were chased down and returned with interest.

6-all, 7-all, 8-all, then a deceptive drive from Nicol, a volley into the tin from Darwish, and a final long, long rally which Nicol finished with a superb volley into the nick.

Darwish had his chances, but it was Nicol who would face Palmer tomorrow, in a mouth-watering repeat of the Commonwealth Games final. You don't wan to miss that one ...

"I played well and controlled the first two games, but the court was really hot, I got tired and lost my energy. "He got his speed back and started getting to every ball and took control of the match. "I got my energy back in the fifth and we went point for point, but I made two unforced errors at the end and that was crucial." Karim Darwish

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