Day 2

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        TODAY AT THE GAMES       

Fri 17th, Day TWO:
  
Men's Last Sixteen:  men's draw

David Palmer (Aus) bt Shahier Razik (Can)          9/2, 9/4, 9/6 (66m)
John White (Sco) bt Joseph Kneipp (Aus)              9/6, 9/0, 9/2 (28m)
Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt Anthony Ricketts (Aus)   10/8, 9/2, 9/7 (68m)
Lee Beachill (Eng) bt Alex Gough (Wal)                 9/1, 9/0, 9/1 (42m)

Graham Ryding (Can) bt Azlan Iskandar (Mas)    9/10, 9/1, 9/0, 9/5 (59m)
Peter Nicol (Eng) bt Matthew Giuffre (Can)          9/2, 9/2, 9/0 (30m)
Nick Matthew (Eng) bt Ong Beng Hee (Mas)         9/4, 9/2, 9/7 (65m)
James Willstrop (Eng) bt Gavin Jones (Wal)        9/0, 9/7, 9/1 (37m)

Women's Last Sixteen:  women's draw

Nicol David (Mas) bt Runa Reta (Can)              9/0, 9/0, 9/3  (23m)
Tania Bailey (Eng) bt Amelia Pittock (Aus)       9/2, 9/2, 9/1  (23m)
Natalie Grinham (Aus) bt Tricia Chuah (Mas)   7/9, 9/5, 9/3, 9/0  (43m)
Madeline Perry (Irl) bt Sharon Wee (Mas)       6/9, 9/3, 9/6, 6/9, 9/5 (76m)

Shelley Kitchen (Nzl) bt Jenny Duncalf (Eng)    9/6, 4/9, 9/6, 9/1 (60m)
Vicky Botwright (Eng) bt Tenille Swartz (Rsa)   9/4, 9/7, 9/7 (46m)
Linda Elriani (Eng) bt Tegwen Malik (Wal)         9/6, 10/8, 9/3 (41m)
Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt Kasey Brown (Aus)  9/3, 9/1, 9/2 (36m)

Seven out of Eight for England

It was a good day for England at Melbourne's Sports & Aquatic Centre, with all four entrants in the men's singles reaching the quarter-finals - a first for the English men's team. Three of the English girls won through, with Jenny Duncalf the only one to lose out as she fell in four games to New Zealand's Shelley Kitchen.

Top seeds David Palmer and Nicol David both reached the quarter-finals in straight games, while the hosts' complement of quarter-finalists was taken to four with wins by Stewart Boswell - beating fellow -Aussie Anthony Ricketts - and Toowoomba sisters Rachael and Natalie Grinham.
   

Framboise in Melbourne

EN BREF #2

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from Howard Harding

  SESSION ONE  ...  Framboise reports from Melbourne ...

PETER IMPERIAL…

Although the Boss doesn’t particularly enjoy the traditional scoring or court he was playing on today, he just never gave an inch of a chance to Canadian Matt Giuffre, who created a big upset yesterday beating Pakistan's last chance in the tournament Shahid Zaman.

Matt didn’t really do anything wrong to be honest, yes, a few tins, but they were mainly due to Peter’s excellent attacks and precision.

"It’s true I prefer to play on the glass court, as this court was hot and bouncy, and sometimes you don’t know why you win the rally… "I was itching to get on court, we’ve been here for two weeks, no matter what happens, I was just dying to play and just get on with it… "I had a good draw on paper, as if you look at Stewart playing Anthony, that’s a pretty tough last 16, but actually, playing Graham is really not what I call an easy draw… (this will be the third time Peter has played Graham Ryding in the Commonwealth Games!) "I’m enjoying playing in Australia, and it’s also my first visit here…"

RYDING ON FORM

Not sure what happened here, as I was trying to catch up with the players (James and Gavin on the central court), but when I left, Azlan had just clinched  the first game 10/9 to have a little breather in the second 9/1, and by the time I came back, he had lost the third 9/0 in six minutes!

In the fourth, the Malaysian sort of “let go” until match ball 8/2, then gave it a big dig in, got back to 5/8, but on yet again another tin, he conceded the match to a very in form Graham Ryding, whose short game today was just astonishing, especially on a court as hot and bouncy as that traditional court…

THE WELSH DRAGON IS
ALIVE AND WELL…

Yes, I was impressed during this tournament by Mr Gavin Jones, whose level has improved tremendously in a matter of months.

He seems to have trimmed down, fit as a fiddle, (mind you, it’s not on that tournament that he’ll be losing weight, will he, blimey me…), his short game firmly in place, his redrop/counter attacks absolutely spotless, and his determination is a pleasure for the spectator, as the man fights for e.v.e.r.y. shot…

Today, he was facing “the man in form”, James Willstrop, who despite losing a few matches recently that he expected himself to win, is as strong as ever. And the crowd loved every minute of the three games, that could have easily gone to four…

"I kept hitting too low on the front wall to start with, so I couldn’t get any length, hence any control. Later in the match, I adjusted better, but Jimbo is so big, and his racquet control is just out of this world… "I feel that I’m getting better. A lot of things happened in the summer, a lot of changes, I went back home, and in Wales we received a lot of support from the Welsh Team, I train with David Evans sometimes, also with Rob Sutherland, we’ve got physios, like David Young, psychologists, and all that makes a big difference… "A few months ago, I won two one star PSA tournaments, I also succeeded to qualify for a few major tournaments, like Chicago, where I managed to lose against Azlan in a very close game 3/2. I’m training hard, trying to get my game together, still a bit inconsistent sometimes… "My next goal? Getting to top 30 by the end of the summer…"

"Yes, I was expecting that kind of tough game, because if you beat Mansoor, you are no slouch. So it was a bit of time on court, which is exactly what I wanted. "I know I’m always a bit over critical about my performance, and I’m sometimes a bit low after losing hard matches, but my latest losses are Lee, Nick and Darwish, which are in no way, shape or form, bad losses…"

"We know each other’s game, as Bengy is now based in the North, but today, I think that I adapted my game better on that glass court than he did…

"He is very dangerous when he plays at the fast pace that he adopted in the last game, and if he had done that to start with, a balance of aggression and control, he could have been much more dangerous…

"I like the court, it's quite dead and very rewarding if you take the ball in the middle to volley…

"Like in any PSA tournament, it’s good to get through in three, and now, everybody who is left in the last eight has a chance to win…"



"Nick didn’t give me any chance to play my game the way I wanted it, he was so confident, he was attacking at the right time, defending at the right time, he was just too good.

"I’m a bit disappointed with the way I played to start with, but it all came down on how good and how confident Nick was today…"

Sharon was trying very hard, fighting on every shot, with a solid game, not flamboyant but some good winners and some pretty good length.

Madeline, still could play drop shots for the back of the changing room, but today made a few too many unforced errors to be comfortable. Even got a conduct warning for racquet abuse…

"It all came down to the last push. I was up 3/0 in the fifth, but she got more attacking, more volleying than me, came back, zoomed at 7/3, I caught back at 5/7, but again, I wasn’t able to give it the last push… "It was a good match, a good way to lose…. "Well, now that my games are finished, I’m going to be able to enjoy, support my team mates, maybe see other sports, and get ready for the Irish Open, my next tournament…

Runa was not at her best in the first two games, but got her rhythm back in the third. But she served out several times, and will hate herself for that….

"I wasn’t that nervous about playing Nicol, because I’ve played her before, but I was totally overwhelmed by the event, the setting, the crowd, who was great, and spent the first two games adapting to my surroundings…

"Nicol is just devastating through the middle of the court, she volleys everything. So when I got back into my rhythm in the third, I tried to play it nice and high, because even if you hit the ball hard, unless it’s a perfect length, it keeps coming back… That’s the tactic that the top players use against her, lobbing and forcing her to work up there instead of taking her in the middle…

"This year, I feel a bit stagnant, it’s like I hit a wall or something, maybe I need a change of setting. I’m not doing too bad, but I’m struggling to get to the top 30. And that’s my next objective…"

A perfect performance from the English. A very hopeful crowd was cheering up every little mistake, but nothing doing really. Tania was on a mission, and didn’t give any oxygen to the Australian…

"I’m really pleased with the way I played. I knew that, although I never played her, if I let her in, I know what she can do with the ball, and being an Aussie and all, if I’d let her get a few points, with the cheers of the crowd, she could have got a boost… So I tried to play at my best…

"I’m feeling good, I’m pretty comfortable on this court, I’m playing the best I ever played at the moment, even if I’m aware that playing against Nicol is going to be very different, and I will have to play as well and better if I want to have a chance, as what you think is a winning shot keeps coming back…"

  SESSION TWO ...    Framboise reports from Melbourne ...

SHAHIER, RETRIEVING MASTER…

Boy he worked hard the Canadian tonight, as David Palmer was firmly planted at the front of the court, and distributing inch perfect drop shots to the two front corners. And he retrieved, and he ran, and he picked up, relentlessly. Just for the record, the second game lasted 21 minutes, and the third, 30 minutes…!

So yes, it was a three setter, but still, the Australian had to work pretty hard, more than an hour, whereas John White only stayed on court 25 minutes. And that could play a small part in tomorrow’s encounter.

Still, Shahier shouldn’t be too self critical. He played his game, gave it 100%, and at the end of the day, that’s all you can ask of yourself surely……

"It was tough, he kept punishing me for all my loose shots. "That’s how you get punished when you play loose... Today, he just outplayed me…"  Shahier Razik "Like I was telling you yesterday, I’m maybe not playing as strong as I normally do, but I felt I played better than I did last night, I was sharper, at the volley particularly, I was disciplined…" "I was playing hard, and Shahier is very fit, but still, at the end, I think he started to feel it… "Tomorrow, I’ll have to play better against John, he is in great shape at the moment, and it’s always close matches between us, so I’m quite looking forward to the challenge…"

GEM WHITE

I hadn’t see John White play so well for… I can’t even remember! Today, he was sh… hot, as Joe Kneipp describing him later.

From the first ball to the last one, the Scot couldn’t do anything wrong. He hit as he normally did, but you had to that a superb length, and a backhand drop shot/volley drop shot from Hell, and you have a pretty good idea of the match we saw.

Joe Kneipp played very well, returned John’s firing to the best of his ability and talent, even succeeding to transform hard hitting into some feathery drop shots.

But nothing or nobody I feel could have beaten White today, and the Scot must be over the moon by his performance here, back home, even wearing another country’s name on his back…

"I was very focused, I did my warm up, very carefully, I knew what I had to do, and playing Joe on that bouncy court, with that scoring hand in hand out was always going to be difficult. "I nearly let him come back in the first, but after that, it was a quite one sided match, and I’m really pleased with that, because all the last times we played it went to four or five, and he beat me as well, so, I’m really pleased to get through in three, meaning that I will be fresh for the quarter of maybe the most important event of our careers… "Tomorrow? Any of the players will be a hard match, so another day, another player…" John White "My game has been off for months, but there is no doubt that he was impressive, he hardly made an error, he was smacking it short, smacking it long, and even when I was playing good length, I was wary of what he was going to come up with… "And when you have a bit of lapse in confidence, the score that just happened can happen…" Joe Kneipp

"It was getting to the point where some girls had played two matches and I hadn't been out on court yet, so it was good to get out there and have the first match out of the way.

"Today it was bouncier than I thought it would be, as I’ve been practicing a lot when there was nobody. But as there were a lot of people today, it became much hotter…

"It was a pretty good match, a lot of long rallies… Happy overall.

"For tomorrow, I haven’t played Linda for a while, as she’s been off for a few tournaments, so I’m expecting a lot of lobs, I will have to ask the air conditioning to be turned off, to get it even bouncier!!!!!!!!!"



"I tried to keep it tight, and not give her any angles. During the second game, my length went down a bit, and she took advantage of it….

"Of course I’m disappointed, and when things didn’t got the way I wanted, I got frustrated, but she is number three in the world, and I’d never played her before, so I’m happy with the way I played, although I wished I got a few more points that’s all…"

HEARTBREAKING….

What a match, but what a sad ending to an encounter that had all the element to become a classic….

We had an amazing 41 minutes of squash, basically the length of the first game, full of interruptions due to the ballet of the court attendants trying to dry out the sweat that both players kept on spreading during each rally…

And it was so close, both guys fighting for their lives out there, not giving up an inch of territory, both hitting hard, and attacking, and retrieving, long and stupendous rallies…

And we had Stewart on the floor twice in a row in the left front corner, slipping on the wet floor trying to get out of Anthony’s way, and we had an 8/8 where no “set 1” or “set 2” was actually set…

All intensity, drama, tenacity, that first game was.

And then… Well, Intense Anthony had been unfortunately suffering from a calf injury for a few weeks now, and was wearing a bandage. Since he came back to Australia, he hadn’t been able to train at all, no preparation whatsoever.

And during the second game, at 3/0 for Stewart, he fell quite heavily, and hurt his glut. He got immediately some treatment, but it became obvious to us all that the British Open Champion was in pain, and couldn’t defend his chances.

A totally disheartened Ricketts had to let his friend and team mate run away with the match, and it was really so heartbreaking to see such a great champion, after fighting for months to recover from his knee trouble, be all over again crippled by injury.

Still, a superb, strong and top class performance from the young Australian, who didn’t imagine a year ago, when he couldn’t find any treatment for his back problem, that he would be in the quarter final of the Commonwealth Games in 2006…
   

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