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VOLLEY, RUN, AND 21 MINUTES
OF PURE ECSTASY…
The great advantage of sitting next to a pro is that they feed you with
their knowledge and analysis of the game.
And during the second semi-final between Rachael Grinham and
Nicol David, I was lucky to be seated next to French Isabelle Stoehr,
who said right away “this is going to be a “volley & run” match.”
And she was so right. The two mini ladies (they are as cute and as tiny as
each other) volleyed their way throughout the match, and ran like battery
powered toys all around the court for 71 minutes…
Rachael dominated the first game in 10 minutes. She was lobbing at will,
drives and crosscourts, preventing Nicol from getting anywhere near the
front except under pressure. And if the Malaysian was bold enough to play
a volley drop shot, the Australian was crosscourting it so deep that it
would become a winner…
 For
the second game, picture the red line that separates the front from the
back of the court. Well, the whole game was played from there, at a maniac
pace, volley cross courts machine gun like. And something you won’t see
often, nine unforced errors from the world number one, which helped Nicol
to clinch the game 10/8.
Probably slightly exhausted by the extremely high pace she played in the
previous game, the Malaysian let the third go in 7 minutes, only to come
back with a vengeance in the fourth, allowing her opponent to serve only
four times, and equalizing 9/1.
And then we enter history.
The fifth game is probably one of the best games ever played. 18/15 in
PAR, and 21 minutes of pure ecstasy.
Nicol didn’t start well at all, and let her opponent take a dangerous lead
3/0, but thanks to a few errors from Rachael, she came back to 3/3. Up
went the Australian again 5/3. The Malaysian wouldn’t let go, 5/5. And
again, 7/5 for Rachael, 7/7 for Nicol.
“I never saw Rachael so tired,” said Isabelle…”This is just amazing
squash,” I heard Natalie Grainger behind me…
 It
was just amazing, guys… Rachael was hitting so hard, so precisely, her
length was inch perfect, she was moving still at 200mph. And Nicol was
retrieving incredible shots, scraping the ball at the four corners, moving
as if she was on a flying carpet, from back to front, and to the back
again, still volleying, still running…
The Malaysian is serving at 7/7. After another stunning rally, Rachael
plays an exquisite backhand redrop. But Nicol, coming all the way from the
back of the court, literally goes all the way round her opponent (how
quick was that, you have noooo idea), and places the most delicate of
counterdrops.
And she has her first match ball...and she tins, a simple backhand volley
drop shot that she played a thousand times…
7/8 for Rachael who finds the perfect drop shot. 8/8. And another
heartbreaking tin for Nicol, the same shot as on her match ball, played
too soon in the rally…
And with the ultimate drop shot, Rachael raises her fist. She’s got
probably her most beautiful victory. Maybe not the most prestigious, it’s
“only” a semi-final, but a fantastic victory of nerves, will, and
tenacity… And you can't help but feel heartbroken for Nicol, who worked so
hard, who came so close. Two tins. That's all there was in it. Two stupid
ridiculous little tiny tins...
What a game.
I’m so glad I came to Doha…
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"Probably one of the best women's
squash matches ever played. Perfect ladies, perfect match, ended
with a magnificent suspense."
Framboise |
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 "When
you are given the opportunity, you try your best, and that's all you can
do.
"I can’t remember much from the match, I remember running, volleying
and picking up the ball…
"My focus fluctuated up and down during the match, but I remember that
in the fifth, I really didn’t want to lose it, so I got really
concentrated, really focused.
"I think that my mistakes at the end came from a lack of experience. I
went for shots, whereas I would have been better off to wait, keep the
rallies going. But you see an opportunity, you have a split second to make
the decision, and you make the wrong one…"
Nicol David |
"It was a fantastic match, really
fantastic, you did well to finish that one on top!
"But at the end of the day, it’s your fault if you are so tired:
if you were not that fast, you wouldn’t have to work that hard… I
don’t envy you!!!!!!!!!!"
Natalie Grainger
to Rachael |
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 "I
played very well, I’m really happy with the way I played.
"To tell you the truth, I can’t remember what happened in the first
games, it feels like it was weeks ago. I know that I started the game
playing really slowly, lobbing everything. So when I lost the third, I
realised that I had to pick up the pace, and I changed my game
completely in the middle of the match…
"I
pushed myself so hard in the fifth, I thought I was going to die! I
don’t normally push myself that hard, I really pushed as hard as I
could, and I think I would have been extremely upset if I hadn’t won.
"In my head, I was praying, please please, let me win! When you are so
close at the end, what else can you do? But I was lucky, because she
had some easy shots, and she tinned them, and that’s all due to the
pressure of the match…"
Rachael Grinham |
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[6] Natalie Grainger (Usa) bt [14] Tania Bailey (Eng)
9/2, 1/9, 9/2, 9/6 (50m) |
SOLID
GRAINGER…
After her hard match the day before against Natalie Grinham, world number
3, the American Natalie Grainger could have been a bit achy. But
nothing of the sort. She was meeting the “talk of the tournament”,
Tania Bailey, who after months and months of illness, was back in the
spotlight, and created the shock of the tournament, the eviction of World
Champion Vanessa Atkinson, who would have become the new world number one,
had she reached the final.
 Tania
had an excellent tournament, but as she told me the day before, she hadn’t
had three games in a row for a long time, and her semi-final would reveal
itself as “the game too far”.
Having heavy legs while playing Hitter / VolleyDropper Grainger is not
something I would recommend. And poor Tania suffered hell in the first
game, where Natalie was in control, constantly in front, distributing deep
and heavy cross courts plus volley drop shots as if they were sweets at
Halloween! Result, 9/2 in 8 minutes.
After that, Natalie relaxed slightly, and allowed her opponent to step in
front. Suddenly, the tables were turned. Tania was able to place her
lethal drop shots after having kept Natalie way back there… 9/1 for the
English in 10 minutes.
 But
Grainger refocused, Tania was not moving as well as at the beginning of
the week. The third was entirely Natalie’s, 9/2 in 11 minutes.
The fourth was an excellent game indeed that gave us 18 minutes of great
squash. Tania was playing her “all or nothing” card, and Natalie didn’t
want to go into the fifth.
The English girl took the lead 3/1, only to be caught up 4/4. 5/5. 6/6.
Tania was adjusting her short game beautifully well, and Natalie covered a
lot of ground, let me tell you! But fatigue prone errors started to creep
in, and Tania had to finally concede defeat, 9/6.
The crowd saluted the excellent quality match, and Tania should be
delighted with her performance. She was impressive this week, not to
mention her impeccable attitude on and off court, in particular towards
the referee. |
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 "At
the start of the first game, my legs felt very heavy. Natalie came out
firing, and didn’t give me any time on the ball. I didn’t want this
week to finish on a 3/0 defeat, so I pushed myself hard to come back
into the match in the second. Unfortunately, I was unable to reproduce
the same kind of play in the next games.
"I felt I was moving less than yesterday. And if you’re half a inch
too late with your movement, she is too good and she kills you. She
reads the ball so well…
"I felt she didn’t give me any time on the ball, and also that I was
more pushing the ball rather than playing winners. I thought I could
come back in the fourth, but I played a couple of silly shots, and it
all slipped away from me…
"But I’m still really happy about my performance in this tournament,
I’m happy with my game, I’m happy with my fitness…"
Tania Bailey |
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 "After
the first game, I relaxed a little bit, I wasn’t as aggressive, as
concentrated, and as focused on the ball as I was during the first.
Then I lost my length, and Tania got in front of me, dictated the pace
and imposed her game.
"Her backhand volleys and her backhand volley drops are really
dangerous, she holds the volley very well up there… So, if you’re not
in the front, you get in real trouble… So I had to get on top of her
and get there first…
"I didn’t feel tired at all from my match yesterday, I felt fine.
Actually, tough matches like yesterday’s, if you can get through them,
they seem to open your lungs and make you feel better. So today, I
feel great!
"It's nice when you work hard, and when it’s all coming together…"
Natalie Grainger |
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