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01-Sep, Day FIVE, Semi Finals
[1] Nicol David (Mas)
bt
[4] Natalie Grainger (Usa)
9/2, 9/4, 9/2 (32m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt [2]
Natalie Grinham (Aus)
9/4, 6/9, 9/6, 9/2 (72m)
[1] David Palmer (Aus) bt [4] Alister Walker (Eng)
11/7, 11/5, 11/5 (43m)
[3] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt [7] Omar Elborolossy (Egy)
11/4, 11/2/ 11/8 (42m)
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Head 2 Head |
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[1]
Nicol David (Mas) bt
[4] Natalie Grainger (Usa)
9/2, 9/4, 9/2 (32m)
No stopping Nicol tonight
She may have had a fright yesterday against Madeline Perry, but
Nicol David made sure there was no repeat of that tonight.
 The
world champion was sharp from the very beginning, hitting the ball
crisply and moving smoothly and quickly. Nothing new there, but she
often waits for a game or so until she clicks into gear.
Natalie Grainger quickly found herself fighting an uphill battle, as
the first ran away from her. She recovered an early deficit to lead
briefly at 4/3 in the second, but three tins put paid to that and
Nicol needed no second invitation.
A last stand at 7/2 to Nicol in the third saw six handouts, but
Natalie couldn't stop the Malaysian's momentum, putting a boast and
a volley into the tin to finish the match in Nicol's favour.
 "I
knew I couldn't afford a slow start against Natalie, once she gets
onto her shots she can get on top of you and you're in trouble. I
got into the court better and got straight into my shots.
"I'm pleased with how I played, and how I stuck to my game plan,
really focusing on the ball and not letting her in.
"Whether I play Natalie or Rachael in the final, I'm sure I will be
a great match."
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 "I
remember that last win of mine over Nicol in the British Open in
2003, I remember walloping her then but she's turned the tables now.
She's always been a tremendous athlete but she's improved her squash
game so much, and she's really tough mentally.
"She was getting all of my shots back, making sure it was tight and
she didn't make any errors. I don't think I played badly, but at the
moment I'm not at the point where I can play for a long time."
"I've had a good summer, I'm happy with my game and having a good
time on court. When I play someone who's not as fast as Nicol, who
doesn't run down all my lovely boasts and drops, I can look quite
good!"
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[3]
Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt
[7] Omar Elborolossy (Egy)
11/4, 11/2/ 11/8 (42m)
LJ looking the part
 Looking
and playing much more relaxed than yesterday, Laurens Jan Anjema
reached the final with an impressive display against yesterday's
giant-killer Omar Elborolossy.
On top from the beginning, it was LJ who was making Omar do the
running and LJ who was finding the winning shots when the chances
arose, from front and back.
The crowd we ready to salute at 7/2 in the third, got a little
nervous when three tins from their favourite allowed Omar to pull
back to 8/9, but an untimely tin from the Egyptian brought up match
ball, and LJ finished it off with a flashing volley into the nick.
 "I
think he was a little tired from yesterday, it was a great effort to
beat Olli, no-one does that easily, so physically he must be nearly
back to where he was, so all credit to him.
"I tried to be quick onto the ball and to keep it fast and as far
away from him as possible, he has such skills if you put it onto his
racket. I was trying to decrease his potential for playing shots and
to keep him moving.
"Again I switched off in the third, thinking too far ahead again. I
got away with it today from 7/3 up, but I can't keep doing this, I
won't get away with it in the final, whoever I play."
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 "I
was a bit stiff and tired from yesterday. I pushed myself too hard
yesterday and was tired from that game. In the first two I was going
short too soon, trying to hit winners. I kept it going more in the
third and did better but it was too late. He played well today. He
was fast and in good shape. He was tough and very consistent and
didn’t give me any chances or easy points.
"I am happy with how I played in the tournament. I am getting better
and better with each one and am getting back to my original form..
Overall I am happy and I am looking forward to my next tournament,
the US Open, at the end of the month."
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[3]
Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt [2]
Natalie Grinham (Aus)
9/4, 6/9, 9/6, 9/2 (72m)
Rachael's turn
She leads in the head-to-head, but 'big sis' Rachael has been on the
receiving end in recent all-Grinham encounters. Tonight she reversed
that trend and extended her lead in the series.
It was a hugely enjoyable match, with the usual array of inventive
shots, anticipation and frantic/brilliant retrieving. They know so
well what's coming next they have to try ever harder to find
something different, which leads to those rallies that leave the
crowd open-mouthed as they progress and often rapturous as they end.
Today Rachael her the upper hand most of the time. Her winner to
error ratio was the better. Nobody really dominated the rallies, but
Rachael more often than not found the winner while Natalie found a
few too many tins.
Had she not taken what seemed like 15 minutes finishing off the
third from 8-6 up, Rachael might have a bit more left in the tank
for tomorrow, but with so many shots in her arsenal Nicol can't be
sure what's coming at her n the final ...
 "Natalie's
not quite as fit as she usually is, she's been injured, and she made
more mistakes than she normally would. But I hit a lot of good
shots, a lot more winners than tins and that always helps.
"It was tough at the end of the third, we'd both win the serve then
lose it with a mistake, I just couldn't seem to finish it off. It's
like that when we play though, we know how the other thinks so we're
trying to think too far ahead to counter what we know the other will
do.
"As for Nicol in the final, I have a game plan but it just hasn't
worked yet, so we'll see tomorrow …"
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 "We
know each others game so well. Whenever we play tournaments
together, we will always practice together. So we know each others
game and what each other would usually play. So when we play a
match, we try to out smart each other and are always second guessing
each other."
"I enjoy playing her to a certain extent. She has such a great game.
She played some great shots, firing in nicks from everywhere and
played really well today."
"I don't feel bad about tiring her before the final - if she can't
handle the pace, she doesn’t deserve to win."
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[1]
David Palmer (Aus) bt [4] Alister Walker (Eng)
11/7, 11/5, 11/5 (43m)
Palmer looking strong
He was the favourite from the start, and he's been pretty impressive
so far. David Palmer recorded his third straight-games win to reach
the final with an impressive display against Alister Walker.
The young Englishman was in most of the rallies, was holding his own
in the middle of the second, but the world champion always had the
edge, always had the lead.
Alister made him work hard to finish it, after conceding an 8/0 lead
in the third, but there was no stopping David tonight. The Amsterdam
crowd will be willing LJ to find a way tomorrow ...
 "I'm
very happy. I came here to win obviously, I never like to lose. I'm
trying to keep up with LJ who's going through his draw very
impressively, he looks in good form.
"I'm feeling better each round and getting more and more used to the
court. I'm looking forward to playing not so late tomorrow …"
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 "It
will take a while to digest what I've learned from that. At 5-all in
the second I was feeling ok, then suddenly he's 8-5 after a series
of four-shot rallies. I know what's going on, I just need to learn
how to deal with it.
"He's started to peak for the big tournaments now, so he's very
strong at the moment. Still, at least I've got more time on my side
than he has …"
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Pre-match juggling
entertainment |
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Super Sima ...
When I arrived at Schipol Airport, there to meet me was Jos Aarts,
our favourite Referee/Photographer, and the first thing he did was
to introduce me to "your assistant for the week".
Pardon?
Well, it turns out that when Jos went to referee a tournament in
Kish Island, Iran, he met a charming young lady by the name of
Sima Pad-Bod. Sima produced the website for the tournament and
struck up a rapport with our Jos, staying in touch over the
following months.
Sima, 22 years old and residing in Tehran, is squash mad, a real
enthusiast and she just loves the game. So when the Forexx Dutch
Open came on the scene Jos saw an opportunity for Sima to be a part
of a bigger event, and to meet some of the players she had admired
from afar.
Taking her first trip outside Iran - it took four months to get a
visa, and it arrived just hours before she was due to leave - Sima
spent two nights in Dubai and Stuttgart airports before finally
making it to Amsterdam.
But it was all worth it. "I still can't believe I'm here." "When I
see Nicol and Natalie, I still go WOW!". "Is David Palmer really
coming today ???".
From that beginning, we set Sima to work initially with the task of
interviewing some of the players after their matches. She's very
well-mannered, and quite soft-spoken, but soon got into the swing of
things.
Jos showed her how to use his camera while he was refereeing, and in
the last couple of days Sima has been doing the whole works -
watching and reporting on the matches, taking action and candid
shots, interviewing and typing up the quotes.
I'm quite convinced that if I were to fall under a tram she would
just carry on with all that, and update the site too so that you lot
wouldn't even know! After all, she speaks four languages, is a film
translator at home, and would this week be starting a Business
Studies degree at a Canadian University if she hadn't been refused a
visa - multi-talented, that's our Sima.
And she plays too, of course. In Iran women can only play other
women, and they have women-only courts. For international play there
is a designated dress code which is very restrictive. But on
Saturday morning she played in the Amateur event, in 'normal' squash
clothing, and unfortunately went over on her ankle.
She's at the hospital as I write this - she insisted on typing up
the last quotes before she went - and I just know that nothing will
keep her away from this place, or get her down ...
Super Sima. |
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