Nicol back on top with Dayton Title

Peter Nicol was back to his best convincingly winning the EBS Dayton Openin Ohio by beating Amr Shabana 11-6, 11-10 (3-1), 11-2 in just 38 minutes in the final.

Nicol hit top form here leading 10-7 in the second before his Egyptian opponent closed in a series of unbelievable rallies with both players forcing chances to finished the points only to have them saved with outstanding retrieving from their opponents. It was attack and brilliant retrieving in big rallies.

Shabana levelled the points  then grabbbed game ball 11-10. He was coming back and if he got his confidence up the match could turn right here. Then in the pivotal point of the match after Nicol had saved game ball the playes visted all four corners of the court at express speed in a sustained blitz of shots ­ this was the best rally of the match - before Nicol killed Shabana off with a backhand straight drop. The Egyptian did not, could not, run for it - he was  spent. As the bedlam of a standing ovation rang out the playes walked around the court for half a minute sucking in oxygen to prepare for the next point.

Another great rally. Nicol closed it out again. He had broken the back of the opposition. Later he was to say: “those rallies are the ones that get into an opponent’s mind. They have to believe that they have to be out there for two hours doing that to win.”

If that was in Shabana’s mind he was not prepared for it on this day and on this plaster court with its bouncy ball. The second had elused him and after a few tough rallies at the start of the third  his resistance faded and it was all over in minutes.

•   Draw & Results

 

Nicol  back to form!

Power retires after a back spasm against Shabana in semi-final.

Peter Nicol
11-6, 11-10 (3-1), 11-2 (38 min)
Amr Shabana

Qualifying 25/26 Jan:

Finals:
Wael El Hindi (Egy)  bt  Mark Heather (Eng)            11/8, 11/10(2-0), 11/10(2-0)
Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt Raj Nanda (Aus)         8/11, 11/7, 11/4, 11/4
Jonathan Kemp (Eng) bt Timothy Manning (Aus)       11/6, 11/7, 9/11, 11/5
Cameron Pilley (Aus) bt Shahid Zaman (Pak)          11/4, 11/2, 11/5

First Round:
Wael El Hindi (Egy)  bye
Mark Heather (Eng) bt Laurent Elriani (Fra)               7/11, 11/8, 7/11, 19/17, 11/5
Raj Nanda (Aus) bt Nicholas Kyme (Ber)                  11/6, 9/11, 11/8, 11/8
Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt Matthew Giuffre (Can) 11/7, 11/2, 11/5
Timothy Manning (Aus) bt Tommy Berden (Ned)       11/9, 3/11, 12/14, 11/3, 1-1 rtd
Jonathan Kemp (Eng) bt Stephane Galifi (Fra)          11/7, 11/1, 7/11, 2/11, 11/3
Cameron Pilley (Aus) bt Beau River (Usa)                11/1, 11/5, 11/3
Shahid Zaman (Pak) bt Jamie Crombie (Usa)           11/8, 11/8, 11/7

      Qualifying:
         Finals:
         Lily Lorentzen (Usa) bt Jenna Gates (Eng)          9/3, 9/10, 9/4, 9/6
         Suzie Pierrepont (Eng) bt Lisa Camilleri (Aus)    9/5, 9/3, 9/2
         Jana Smeralova (Cze) bt Carlin Wing (Usa)       9/5, 9/0, 9/1
         Tara Mullins (Can) bt Seanna Keating (Can)      7/9, 9/3, 9/4, 4/9, 9/5
 
         First Round:
         Seanna Keating (Can) bt Jemma Saxby (Aus)    9/5, 9/4, 9/2

29th Jan

Nicol back in form

Caught cold by an inform Anjema and humiliatingly bundled out in the first round on the Windy City tournament Peter Nicol proved he is not finished at the Dayton with a convincing win over the Egyptian Karim Darwish 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 in just 46 minutes.

 This was the old Nicol. He dominated  the T and didn’t give his opponent anything to hit. Darwish was constantly pushed back by Nicol’s length and speed onto the ball which forced the Egyptian to take risks from unlikely positions and which set up the opportunities for Nicol to attack.

 Nicol had not been this sharp yet in this event. He stepped up a gear.

In the final he will face Amr Shabana who was in unbelievable form  against Jonathon Power. Power, who was himself in good form, had been troubling  his opponents all week with his shots and deception but Shabana just seemed to read  them all. Outplayed and suffering with a problematical back Power tried to stay in the match but a back spasm forced his withdrawal  at 11-8, 11-6, 2-0.

 Linda  Elrani driving purposefully convincingly beatOmneya Abdel Kawy in the women’s final 9-7, 9-5, 9-0. Kawy who was was also beaten 3/0 by Charman in the Greenwich final the previous week faded at the end.

28-Jan

Nicol Survives Parke Test In Dayton

England's top seed Peter Nicol forced his way into the semi-finals of the EBS Asset Management Dayton Open Squash Championship in Ohio, USA - but not before being fully tested in a dazzling 66-minute quarter-final clash with unseeded compatriot Simon Parke.

Described by tournament organiser Charlie Johnson as 'the best match of the night', the battle featured a long and close first game to Nicol, with Parke showing his incredible retrieving skills and Nicol matching the talent. The crowd was often gasping at the incredible athletic display. What followed seemed to be a rest game for Parke in the second and then a long hard-fought third game that went Parke's way.

The underdog from Nottingham had chances in the fourth and they went back and forth until he went up 7-6 and then Nicol, the world No3 from London, seemed to raise it up a notch and whipped off three straight points to go up 9-7.  Parke, a former world No3 now ranked 22 in the world, got the next point, but then Nicol closed it out in business-like fashion to win 11-9 11-3 9-11 11-8.

Nicol will face title-holder Karim Darwish for a place in the final.  In a repeat of last year's final, the fourth-seeded Egyptian beat compatriot Mohammed Abbas, the eighth seed, 11-5 11-10 11-10. 

The other semi-final will feature fifth seed Jonathon Power, of Canada, against Egypt's No2 seed Amr Shabana - both of whom are former world champions.  Power ended Laurens Jan Anjema's second giant-killing run in two weeks when he beat the Dutch qualifier 11-4 11-3 11-6.  Second seed Shabana also came through in straight games, defeating Australia's seventh seed Anthony Ricketts 11-4 11-8 11-5.

It will be Power and Shabana's first PSA Tour meeting for more than two years - and the first since the Egyptian claimed the World Open title in December 2003.  Though Power was the victor in their five career meetings since 1999, this will be their first clash in which Shabana is seeded to succeed.

The top two seeds will meet in the final of the women's event after surviving four-game semi-finals.  Favourite Linda Elriani, from England, beat France's third seed Isabelle Stoehr 9-4 3-9 9-6 9-1, while second seed Omneya Abdel Kawy, from Egypt, defeated Australia's No8 seed Kasey Brown 9-1 1-9 9-3 9-3.  It will be the pair's second WISPA World Tour final meeting in a week, after contesting the climax of last week's Greenwich Open in Connecticut.

27-Jan

Anjema Scores Shock Win Over White
Qualifier Laurens Jan Anjema scored a major upset on day one of the main day when he knocked out the inform third seed John White 11-10 (3-1), 7-11, 11-7, 11-7. White had impressed recently and won the Windy City Open only a week ago.

Elsewhere the seeds went through safely. Amjema will face Jonathon Power in the second round.

26-Jan

Anjema   Back In Action In Dayton

Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema has come through his second successive qualifying tournament to earn a place in the first round draw of a PSA Tour event in the USA.  The 22-year-old from The Hague beat Australia's Raj Nanda 8-11 11-7 11-4 11-4 in the qualifying finals of the EBS Asset Management Dayton Open Squash Championship in Ohio, USA.

Last week Anjema pulled off the biggest win of his short career when he upset former world No1 Peter Nicol in straight games in the first round of the Windy City Open in Chicago.  His opponent in the opening round of the Dayton Open is Scotland's No3 seed John White, the Windy City Open champion.

White is likely to face fifth seed Jonathon Power in the quarter-finals - in what would be a rematch of the Chicago semi-final which White clinched in a 94-minute marathon.

Peter Nicol is top seed in the $40,000 Dayton Open - and drawn to face fellow Englishman Julian Wellings in the first round.

In the women's event in Ohio, England's top seed Linda Elriani brushed aside her first round opponent as she progressed safely towards her second successive WISPA World Tour title in the USA this month.  The world No6 from Eastbourne beat Canada's Marnie Baizley 9-2 9-1 9-1.

Whilst Elriani's quarter-final opponent was also expected to be a Canadian, unseeded Mexican Samantha Teran caused one of the two upsets in the first round when she beat Canada's sixth seed Runa Reta 9-3 9-4 9-1.

The other upset benefited a Canadian when unseeded Katie Patrick, from Edmonton, beat Egypt's fourth seed Eman El Amir 9-6 7-9 9-1 9-7 to earn an unexpected quarter-final place.