Review

• TODAY

Mamut English Open Review ...
from Howard Harding

Quarter-finals:
[5] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [1] David Palmer (AUS)            6-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (3-1), 11-8 (63m)
[7] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Stewart Boswell (AUS)     11-3, 11-4, 11-2 (42m)
[8] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [4] James Willstrop (ENG)       11-2, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8 (68m)
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [6] Nick Matthew (ENG)        10-11 (0-2), 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 (62m)

Peter Nicol In Dramatic
Comeback Win At Crucible

British squash hero Peter Nicol gave little credence to the fact that he is on the verge of retiring when he staged a dramatic comeback to beat long-time adversary David Palmer, the world No2 from Australia, in tonight's quarter-finals of the Mamut English Open, hosted by Sheffield City Council, at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

The 33-year-old from London , playing his farewell event in the UK , was a game down to top seed Palmer, and game ball at 5-10 behind in the second, when he mounted an incredible fight-back. In a single hand, Nicol saved five game balls to force the game into a tie-break, which he then duly won to draw level.

The third game of this re-match of March's Commonwealth Games final in Melbourne – won in similarly dramatic style by the Englishman - also went to a tie-break, with Palmer twice saving game balls before Nicol forged a 2/1 advantage.

With victory in his sights, fifth seed and defending champion Nicol charged on to secure his remarkable 6-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-10 (3-1), 11-8 victory in 63 minutes.

"For the first game and a half, David really controlled the game and played exceptionally – but then he got edgy and lost a bit of his concentration," said Nicol after the pair's 20th clash in major international events, with the Englishman now 14-6 ahead.

"But then I got a better length, especially from the end of the second through to the fourth game – and started to volley a lot, something I haven't been doing for a while now. And because I was volleying, I was controlling the game more.

"But what I was very happy with was the fact that I stepped forward and started to control the rallies," explained the four-times Commonwealth Games gold medallist, cheered on by a capacity Crucible crowd.

"There was fantastic support – I felt the crowd were really behind me, and it really does help!"

Earlier, Frenchman Gregory Gaultier claimed the first semi-final place when he beat Australia 's surprise quarter-finalist Stewart Boswell. The unseeded 28-year-old from Canberra was unable to reproduce the same form which saw him upset third-seeded compatriot Anthony Ricketts in the opening round – and went down 11-3, 11-4, 11-2 to fast-improving Gaultier in 42 minutes.

Gaultier, the 23-year-old world No8 from Aix-en-Provence , will meet Nicol for a place in the final. "It'll be a tough match," admitted title-holder Nicol. "I watched Greg tonight and he was exceptional. He'll be desperate to do well – and he is ten years younger!"

Despite being the top-ranked Englishman in the event – six places higher than opponent Lee Beachill – James Willstrop failed to end the career-long sequence of losses to his Pontefract club-mate in tonight's all-Yorkshire quarter-final.

"I got off to an unbelievable start, and James didn't – he made a few mistakes and I took advantage of them," summed up eighth seed Beachill after his nominal 'upset' over fourth-seeded Willstrop.

"I'm happy with the way I'm playing – and happy to be in the semi-finals," added the 28-year-old following his 11-2, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8 victory in 68 minutes – a win which marks Beachill's sixth PSA Tour victory over 23-year-old Willstrop since their first meeting at the Crucible two years ago, when Beachill went on to lift the English Open title.

Willstrop, however, had a different story to tell after tonight's match: "I was awful, I'm really disappointed. It was a pretty poor performance on my part really – but then again it seems like it's a pattern every time I play Lee. I struggle to impose my game on him at the moment - and that's all there is to it!"

The second semi-final will also be an Anglo/French clash. Hopes of a second successive final appearance for Sheffield 's own Nick Matthew were dashed by French No1 Thierry Lincou, the No2 seed.

After dropping the first game, Lincou came back to beat the 26-year-old local hero 10-11 (0-2), 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 to set up his second meeting this year with Beachill.

1st round (bottom half):
[8] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 (35m)
[4] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 (36m)
[6] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Mark Chaloner (ENG) 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 (30m)
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt John White (SCO) 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-3 (53m)

Yorkshire Trio Trounce
English Open Opposition In Sheffield

Yorkshire squash trio Lee Beachill, James Willstrop and Nick Matthew trounced their opposition in the first round matches of the Mamut English Open at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield to ensure local interest through to Thursday's semi-finals of the 5-star PSA Tour event hosted by Sheffield City Council.

Eighth seed Beachill, the 2004 champion, survived a close first game against Mohd Azlan Iskandar before imposing his authority on the rising Malaysian star to win 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 in 35 minutes.

Meanwhile his Pontefract club-mate and England team-mate James Willstrop, the world No4 and highest-ranked Englishman in the event, despatched French qualifier Renan Lavigne 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 in 36 minutes.

The fourth seed, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on Tuesday, will face Beachill for the third time this year in tomorrow's quarter-finals – hoping to achieve his career-first victory over his close friend and training partner.

Winner of last week's Cleethorpes Invitation – a non-ranking event in England – Willstrop acknowledged the importance the event had played in his build-up for the Mamut championship: "That allowed me to get three solid matches before arriving here," explained the former world junior champion. "People do not realise the huge difference there is between training and real matches. And no matter how hard, nothing compares with playing in an event in front of an appreciative crowd."

Sheffield hero Nick Matthew completed the line-up of three Yorkshire-based quarter-finalists when he dismissed compatriot Mark Chaloner, a qualifier and former world No7 from Lincolnshire , 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 in just 30 minutes.

Born, raised and still living in Sheffield, Matthew has never failed to reach the quarter-finals in four years of the English Open at the Crucible – and last year bravely fought through to the final before bowing out to England team-mate Peter Nicol.

"I wasn't settled on the court today – I wanted to be sharp as Mark is a very experienced player, so I'm happy with the win," said 26-year-old Matthew. "I can't really say that I want to win this tournament more than any other as I want to win ALL the tournaments I play!"

Two former world number ones battled out the only non-Yorkshire encounter on the all-glass Crucible court when France 's Thierry Lincou, the No2 seed, faced Scotland 's US-based John White, the inaugural English Open champion in 2003.

Lincou overcame a first game scare to beat the hard-hitting Scotsman 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-3 in 53 minutes and will now face home hero Matthew for a place in the semi-finals.

1st round (top half):
       [1] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Alex Gough (WAL) 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (41m)
       [5] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Peter Barker (ENG) 5-11, 11-9, 11-10 (3-1), 11-7 (57m)
       Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt [3] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6 (74m)
       [7] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Daryl Selby (ENG) 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 (50m)

Nicol Survives Initial English Open Hurdle

British squash hero Peter Nicol survived the opening encounter in his final event in the UK before he retires when he fought back from a game down to beat his young England team-mate Peter Barker in tonight's first round of the Mamut English Open at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

"That was almost just what I wanted," conceded the 33-year-old Englishman who is bowing out of the game after an illustrious career which includes 60 months at the top of the world rankings and more than 50 major international titles including the World Open, British Open and four Commonwealth Games gold medals.

"Peter really came out for it and played really well in the first game," said title-holder Nicol after his crowd-pleasing 5-11, 11-9, 11-10 (3-1), 11-7 triumph in 57 minutes.

"But slowly I managed to exert pressure on him until he started making mistakes and then could see the match falling away from him," added the fifth seed.

Barker, a 22-year-old from Upminster in Essex who is ranked just outside the world top 20, claimed that he did not feel under any pressure before tonight's much-hailed clash.

"When I heard I was drawn to play Peter in his last event in the UK, I was really pleased- “I felt quite honoured," said fellow left-hander Barker. "It's never nice losing in the first round of a tournament, but even though I did, I'm sure the match will benefit me in the future."

Nicol will now meet his great rival David Palmer, the top seed from Australia, in the quarter-finals on Thursday. Palmer, whom Nicol beat earlier in the year in Melbourne to win his second Commonwealth Games singles gold medal, dashed hopes of Welsh interest in the last eight when he defeated qualifier Alex Gough 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 in 41 minutes.

Unseeded Australian Stewart Boswell claimed the first upset in the 5-star PSA Tour event hosted by Sheffield City Council when he rallied to a five-game victory over Australian team-mate Anthony Ricketts, the No3 seed, on the all-glass court at the Crucible.

In a match described by both players as "patchy in places", Boswell stemmed a late fight-back by his close friend and training partner to overcome the world No5 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6 in 74 minutes.

It was the 28-year-old from Canberra's first PSA Tour win over Ricketts in recent years - "but we used to play each other in almost every tournament we entered when we started on the circuit," conceded Boswell afterwards.

"The fourth game was a bit of a disaster for me, but I repeated what I had planned to do in that game in the fifth, and it seemed to work better for me," explained Boswell, the former world No4 who recently endured a two-year lay-off with a mystery back injury.

Both Australians are UK-based - Boswell in Manchester and Ricketts now in Pontefract in Yorkshire.

The opening match of the evening saw the first of the event's three British/French encounters, with first blood going to France when Gregory Gaultier, the seventh seed making his debut in the event, beat English qualifier Daryl Selby, from Witham in Essex, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 in 50 minutes.

"Old Guard" move on
to The Crucible ...
Day Two Roundup from Howard Harding

Senior British squash internationals Alex Gough and Mark Chaloner claimed places in the first round of the Mamut English Open, hosted by Sheffield City Council, after overcoming younger opposition in today's qualifying finals in Sheffield.

Welsh international Gough, a 35-year-old from Hampshire who continues to represent his country more than decade and a half after first doing so, dismissed 23-year-old Englishman Alister Walker, from Gloucestershire, 11-5, 11-9, 11-8 in 45 minutes.

The Newport-born world No18 will now make his third appearance in the 5-star PSA Tour event which is in its fourth year at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Gough will face top seed David Palmer, the world No2 from Australia.

Chaloner, the 34-year-old former world No7 from Lincolnshire who put his name on the international squash map when he led England to first-time success in the World Team Championships in 1995, twice had to come from behind to defeat Guernsey's 19-year-old British Junior champion Chris Simpson 7-11, 11-3, 2-11, 11-3, 11-4 in a 78-minute marathon.

Chaloner, the PSA President, has been drawn to face local favourite Nick Matthew, the sixth seed from Sheffield who reached the Crucible final twelve months ago.

Essex's Daryl Selby bucked the 'old guard' trend, however. The 23-year-old former England junior international from Witham overcame Gloucestershire's 26-year-old Alex Stait 11-5, 11-5, 11-5 in 30 minutes and will now make his maiden appearance in the main draw, which gets underway tomorrow at the Crucible. Selby will take on France's seventh seed Gregory Gaultier, the world No8 who is making his debut in the event.

In the final match of the day, Renan Lavigne became the third Frenchman to earn a place in the main draw. The 31-year-old from Marseille twice repelled fight-backs by Cameron Pilley to beat the higher-ranked Australian 11-8, 4-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-4 in 71 minutes. Lavigne will now meet the highest-ranked Englishman - and Yorkshireman - in the draw, world No4 James Willstrop.

Good day for the
Brits in Sheffield

It was a good day for Britons in today's opening qualifying round for the Mamut English Open.

Gloucestershire's Leeds-based Alister Walker survived a tough battle against England's higher-ranked Simon Parke to beat the former world No3, also from Leeds, in 67 minutes, and will meet Alex Gough in Monday's qualifying finals after the Welshman defeated Surrey's Tom Richards in straight games.

Manchester's Gloucester-born Alex Stait also recorded an impressive upset – beating Australian Joseph Kneipp, a former world No10, in four games and meets Daryl Selby, who held his nerve in a tight first game against Ben Garner - brother of Tournament Director Tim - before running out a straight-games winner.

In the final, all-English, match of the day PSA President Mark Chaloner recovered from two-one down against Stacey Ross to set up a meeting with Guernsey's former European junior champion Chris Simpson, who scored a notable win, beating Pakistan's Shahid Zaman after the world No30 from Pakistan retired with the score at 2/0, 4/0 in Simpson's favour.

Two Englishmen didn't make it though, as Renan Lavigne and Cameron Pilley both needed five games to overcome Scott Handley and Lee Drew, leaving the Frenchman and Australian to battle it out tomorrow for a place in the main draw.

Tim Garner & Angus Kirkland conduct the qualifying draw

• TODAY