TODAY
at the Mamut English Open
Sat 15th Dec, Round One:
Five
Englishmen
through in Sheffield
Five Englishmen through to the quarter-finals at Sheffield's English
Institute of Sport today, with world team champions James Willstrop,
Nick Matthew and Peter Barker, the top three seeds, joined
by compatriots Chris Ryder and Jonathan Kemp who both upset
their seeded opponents.
Back
to Blighty for Barker
Fresh from winning the tie that retained the World Team Championship for
England, Peter Barker came through his all-Essex match with Daryl Selby to
become the first player into the quarter-finals.
Looking in control throughout the first, Barker trailed most of the
second, but fought back, saving a game ball before doubling his lead on
extra points.
The third seed took a quick 7/3 lead in the third, but any thoughts that
Daryl was finished were dispelled as he came back to 7/8 via a series of
hard-fought rallies.
But it was Peter who finished the stronger, reaching match ball with a
length that died in the back, and a final tin from Daryl signalled the end
of the opening match ...
"That was weird, I was feeling the pressure to win rather than being the
underdog. Everyone was saying I had a good chance, he'd be tired and
jetlagged, but he just proved today what a model professional he is,
strong mentally and physically.
"The court's nice, but you just have to get a good length on it, and I
always struggle to do that on glass courts for some reason – on plaster
courts I can get a good length, on glass courts I take it short well, but
I can't seem to do both at the same time …"
"It might have been closer if I'd taken the second, but he just played
better than me today, is he was tired he never showed it ..."
Rikki
Swannell talks to Peter
[Q] Chris Ryder (Eng) bt [5] Alex Gough (Wal)
6/11, 12/10, 11/1, 12/14,
15/13 (69m)
Ryder
makes it in the end
What an up-and-down match this was. Chris Ryder, having expressed a
preference for having another go at Alex Gough before the qualifying draw
was made, didn't start too well against the Welsh Veteran, losing the
first quickly, but soon got over his nerves and levelled at the end of a
close-all-the-way second game.
Whether
he was suffering from jetlag, nursing an injury, or just taking a rest
we're not sure, but Alex barely contested the third as Ryder raced away
with it.
Was that the end of it? No, for as Chris himself said, "Alex never gives
up," and although at times it looked painful work, Alex came back in the
fourth and worked, and worked. He missed two chances to level at 10/8, but
Chris never got a match ball and at 1412 it was level.
Alex kept up the momentum, took a 7/3 lead in the decider, but the strain
was telling, and it was definitely hurting now. Chris pegged it back,
levelled at 8-all, saved Alex's first match-ball at 10/9, then put a
sitter into the tin when he had one of his own at 11/10.
They weren't having many long rallies by this time, nerves and fatigue
setting in for both of them, and amid a mixture of lean winners and
anguished errors, Chris finally took the biggest scalp of his career.
"That's my best win,
very pleased. I think he's carrying a bit of an injury, but he never gives
up.
"When I came back to take the lead it was a different emphasis, I felt
favourite to win and the pressure got to me a bit. I went short too early
in the fourth, that game was pure nerves and I was very close to bottling
it but managed to hold it together. I lengthened it up again in the fifth,
but he was taking it in really well.
"I've played some top players recently, I didn't go on thinking about
winning, just trying to play my game and get as much as I could out of it,
those matches have stood me in good stead."
The second of the England players to take to court was top seed James
Willstrop, who faced the talented Italian number one Davide Bianchetti.
Willstrop began at a speed which made Bianchetti uncomfortable and won the
first with a combination of pace and attack.
The second levelled out as Bianchetti coped with the pace better but
Willstrop just edged it despite a couple of untimely errors towards the
end of the game.
The Italian established an early lead in the third, Willstrop became
irritable and soon it was 2-1. Regaining composure he won the fourth well,
though Bianchetti resisted throughout.
It had been an entertaining game in which the Italian played a full part.
"I knew how hard it was going to be when I saw the draw, I knew that this
day wouldn't be easy, and it was very difficult in patches but you just
have to get on there and get on with it.
"I just held it together at the end of the second, then got grumpy with
myself in the third and started snatching at the ball.
"I'm very pleased to get through – with all the hype after last week,
being top seed here in Yorkshire it would have been such a disappointment
if I hadn't made I through today. It was a tough game, so maybe that will
help …"
Two hard qualifying matches, a rare outing on the glass court, and an
opponent who was focused, moving well and hitting the ball accurately.
Not a good recipe fort success, Scott Handley found Renan Lavigne too much
to handle today. The Frenchman took control from the start and never let
go as he moved through into a quarter-final meeting with top seed James
Willstrop.
"I felt good going into it, but after two or
three rallies I realised how heavy my legs were, those two five-setters in
qualifying started to take effect.
"Plus, I only play on the glass court a couple of times a year so I was
having trouble seeing the ball ... a combination of those two factors
added up to a bit of a disaster really!
"Still, I was pleased to qualify, I guess t shows the difference it makes
being straight into the main draw rather than having to qualify ..."
You don't often get five-game matches that last under an hour, but when
two players both renowned for their attacking style both decide to go for
it at the same time this is what you get!
With winners aplenty from both, and the errors that come as part of the
package, five games whizzed by in no time at all, and it seemed that
whoever got the better start in each game kept the momentum.
Jonathan Kemp was on the receiving end at the start, but at the end it was
he who was dishing it out, winning the match appropriately, with a service
return hammered into the nick.
"Even though we
enter the same tournaments the last time we played each other was about
three years ago in a Super League match, it's really strange that we
haven't met on PSA more often.
"Bradley's very difficult to play, he hits the ball so hard and you never
know what to expect next. In the first game I just didn't know what to do
– I've seen him take players apart like that, so I was glad to get into it
after that.
"The court's quite dead so we both decided that attack was the best
policy, I just held it together a bit better at the end."
[2] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt [Q] Alex Stait (Eng)
11/6, 11/2, 11/0 (23m)
A
quick one for Nick
Next up was another quick affair, but this time a rather one-sided one.
Alex Stait's reaction when he came through qualifying to draw Nick Matthew
said a lot, and his worst fears were realised as the Sheffield star took
an iron grip on the match from the start and never remotely looked like
letting go.
"Chopped," was Alex's comment.
Even so, the time per game wasn't much different from the previous match,
which much tell us something ...
Rikki Swannell talks to Nick ...
[3] John White (Sco) bt [Q] Jan Koukal (Cze)
11/8, 11/9, 11/9 (32m)
White
wastes little time
John
White also wasted little time in seeing off his qualifier challenger, with
the 2005 champion in control and in the lead for all but a brief spell at
the start of the second.
The trademark winners were there of course, but there were enough loose
shots and errors to keep Jan Koukal interested right to the end of all
three games.
John never really looked in danger, but it might have been interesting if
Jan had managed to sneak one of those end-games ...
"It wasn't the prettiest game of squash I've ever played …
"I was never really out of control, but I'd put two or three good rallies
together and then couldn't hit the ball properly for a while.
"It was just one of those games I was very glad it was over, it's quite
possible to lose that sort of match, even though it as three-nil, so I'm
glad to get it over with and move on to the next round …"
In the last match of the day Canada's Shahier Razik proved too
strong for wildcard Chris Simpson, who was unable to seriously threaten
the sixth seed who moved smoothly into a quarter-final meeting with White.
"That's my best win,
very pleased. I think he's carrying a bit of an injury, but he never gives
up.
