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TODAY in
Birmingham - Thu 6th, Round One:
[1] David Palmer (Aus) bt [Q] Daryl
Selby (Eng) 7/11, 8/11,
11/6, 11/4, 11/9 (98m)
[5] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt Cameron Pilley (Aus)
11/7, 11/4, 11/1 (42m)
[4] James Willstrop (Eng) bt [LL] Bradley Ball (Eng)
13/11, 11/8,11/6 (48m)
[8] Peter Barker (Eng) bt Alister Walker (Eng)
11/6, 11/8, 11/8 (57m)
[7] Lee Beachill (Eng) bt [Q] Jan Koukal (Cze)
8/11, 11/5, 7/0 rtd (23m)
[3] Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt Jonathan Harford (Eng)
11/4, 11/4, 11/6 (29m)
[Q] Davide Bianchetti (Ita) bt Alex Gough (Wal)
12/10, 12/10, 11/8 (82m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt [Q] Tarek Momen (Egy) 11/5,
11/4 rtd (24m)
Boost
for Bianchetti as Palmer escapes ...
A dramatic night of first round action at the Edgbaston Priory Club saw
one upset and one escape as qualifier Davide Bianchetti progressed to the
quarters and David Palmer recovered from 2-0 down in a late-night
marathon.
 First
up on the showcourt was Thierry Lincou against wildcard Jonny
Harford. Harford, the ex-Birmingham student, was denied the chance to play
on the glass court in the hall in which he took his finals as the
Frenchman eased through in half an hour. Meanwhile on the other court
James Willstrop squandered a good first-game lead over 'lucky loser'
Bradley Ball, but managed to save game ball on the way to a straight-games
win.
James' Pontefract clubmate Lee Beachill suffered a similar dodgy
start, losing the first game against qualifier Jan Koukal, but the
Yorkshireman picked up in the second, and at 7/0 in the third Jan,
struggling with a persistent back injury, called it a day.
 A
third English quarter-finalist was guaranteed as Peter Barker took
on Alister Walker, and it was Barker who progressed to a meeting with
Willstrop, winning three tight games.
Making it a 50% English quarter-finals day, Nick Matthew was in
impressive form against Cameron Pilley. The Australian played well, didn't
do anything wrong, but Matthew was the night's most impressive performer,
particularly in the third and final game which he took 11/1 despite every
rally being well-contested.
The only seeding upset came when qualifier Davide Bianchetti won
three close games against Welsh veteran Alex Gough. The Welshman was
leading throughout the first two games, had game ball in each, but it was
the Italian who closed out both. Gough led again in the third, 3/1, 6/3,
8/5, but Bianchetti reeled off the last six points to secure an impressive
win.
Second seed Gregory Gaultier became the second Frenchman into the
quarters, he always looked in control against Tarek Momen, and the young
Egyptian retired suffering from blisters at the end of the second game.
 The
best was left until last as Daryl Selby gave world champion and top seed
David Palmer a real fright. Palmer, maybe not at his best during
the first two, was nevertheless surprised by the skill and determination
of the English qualifier, and as he went two games down Palmer requested a
change of referee. The request was denied, but from the start of the third
it was clear that the Australian was in no mood to lose this one.
He levelled, took a 6-1 lead in the decider, and everyone but Daryl
assumed it was over. A couple of errors, a dropshot David realised he
should have put away, and suddenly Daryl was back in it, and started to
believe he could win. He came as close as 8-7, saved two match balls at
10-7, but when David put a final drive down the line past a despairing
lunge from his opponent, his glare defied the referee to give a let. The
let wasn't given and after 97 minutes a relieved top seed was into the
quarters.
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Edgbaston Quote Box |
 "This
is my first reprise of the season. I've arrived here in good
condition after a normal preparation. Thanks to my break I was
able to find my explosiveness and speed, now I need matches and
victories".
 "I
gave it everything I had, I gave it everything I had but he
works the ball round so well, he’s got such accuracy, and he’s
got that little thing called SPEED!
"The main difference with the players around 50/60, is that the
top guys don’t give you anything, whereas they take every
opportunity they get from you!
"I thought I played well today, when you play a better player,
it raises your level. And you do concentrate that much harder,
because you know that if you give them anything, you are going
to get annihilated…
"I’m glad I was able to volley a lot today, something I don’t
normally do in my game, because I was able to prevent him from
doing whatever he wanted with the ball. If I hadn’t, I think
things would be been pretty easy for him.
"I’m glad I was able to make him work during a few rallies…
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 "I
should have won the first game, I felt I should have had a
couple of strokes in the middle of it, but I still should have
won it, I needed that for my confidence. James was very clinical
today, he didn't make any mistakes like he did the last time we
played.
"I just need to relax a bit and get some confidence. I'm
disappointed overall but I got some more matches in this week
which will all add into the tank …"
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 "I
was ok in the first, but I could move then. In the second my
back got really tight, I couldn't stretch and he's always going
to take advantage of that, and I don't want to make it worse so
there wasn't much else I could do."
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 "I
think I did well to get off 3/0, he's one of the players that
no-one wanted to get in the first round. Even at 8/1, 9/1 in the
third I knew I had to keep going, I was aware that he could
easily hit two or three winners and then it was close again.
"That's what I've been working on, converting 2/0 leads into
quick 3/0s rather than struggling to finish a mach off, and I'm
pleased I managed to do that tonight."
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 "I'm
happy enough with how I played, it's just being able stay in at
the end of games with the top 16 players. I've worked on being
able to finish game off and I'm pleased with how I can do that
with lower ranked players, but now I need to make that next move
..."
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 "I
was just trying to play my way into the first, but from 7-all he
played a couple of good shots and got a sniff of winning it. "I
played better in the second, got into it a lot more.
"I've been looking forward to playing this season, I'm quite
enthusiastic about it – the main aim is to try and stay in one
piece …"
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 "Towards
the end I was so tired, but I knew I had to just keep pushing,
it's not that often you get to play the world champion after
all.
"But he was so strong. I just kept plugging away in the fifth,
willing myself to get the ball back onto the front wall somehow.
I don't really know how I got back into it, but I started to see
the possibility of winning again so just kept going.
"His last shot was just too good though, nothing I could do
about that."
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 "I
came here to start competition again , and to compare my level
to the other players after the hard summer raining we did. I
wasn't ready squash-wise for the SSF, I did lots of fitness work
but not enough squash specific. This time I've worked a lot on
court. At the moment I'm training a lot with Wael [El Hindi],
who I'm going to share a flat with because I don't have anyone
to train with in Aix and I only play Thierry once a week,
otherwise it's with juniors most of the time.
"Wale is following my training regime, I think he likes it and
it's helping him to improve."
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Prince
English Grand Prix - Birmingham 2007
