Former
world No1 Thierry Lincou maintained his PSA
Tour supremacy over compatriot Gregory Gaultier
when he won the first all-French final of the Mamut
English Open at the Crucible Theatre in
Sheffield
But
Gaultier, the fast-rising 23-year-old who showed his
promise in a devastating straight games dismissal of
Peter Nicol which brought the UK career of England
's most successful player of all time to an end in the
semi-finals, made Lincou work hard for his third title
on British soil this year.
The
30-year-old No2 seed from Marseille took the opening
game, but seventh seed Gaultier fought back to take the
next two to forge a 2/1 lead.
Lincou,
who lost his French national title to Gaultier this year
- but is unbeaten by his younger French team-mate now in
five career meetings on the PSA Tour - pulled back the
deficit before clinching the fifth game to record a
mighty 11-6, 2-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6 victory in 71
minutes.
"It was
a very high pace, very accurate squash which demands a
lot of energy and concentration," Lincou told the
official website afterwards. "The third was a key game,
and I was not happy to have lost it. But I felt that I
had got my efficiency back, that I was not as dominated
during the rallies that I had been in the second - and
that if I could keep doing what I was doing, it would be
fine eventually.
"I just
wanted to congratulate Greg on his tournament, beating
the top guys in straight games," added the world No3 who
now boasts 17 PSA Tour titles. "Tonight, it was not an
easy ride to play him, and Im sure that he will be at
the top of the rankings very soon."
A
disappointed Gaultier added: "When I took the third, I
thought that it would be the decisive turning point -
but I had to dig in so deep, to come back in that game,
that I was burned out by the end of it."
Earlier,
the women's title stayed in English hands when favourite
Lauren
Briggs,
the world No24 from Essex, beat full-time firewoman and
part-time squash player Laura
Hill
9-4, 9-1, 9-3 in the other final.
The mighty
career of British squash hero Peter Nicol was
brought to a close this evening (Friday) at the
Crucible Theatre in Sheffield where he was
beaten in his final appearance on home soil by rising
French star Gregory Gaultier in the semi-finals of
the Mamut English Open, hosted by Sheffield City
Council.
Seventh
seed Gaultier will face compatriot Thierry Lincou,
the No2 seed,in the first all-French PSA Tour
final outside France tomorrow (Saturday) after Lincou
came through his semi-final against Lee Beachill
when the Englishman was forced to retire during the second
game after sustaining an adductor injury in his right leg.
When
announcing his retirement last month, after an illustrious
career spanning a decade and a half, 33-year-old Peter
Nicol felt he could successfully defend the 5-star PSA
Tour title he won for the first time last year.
But
Gaultier, ten years younger than the four-times
Commonwealth Games gold medallist from London ,
demonstrated the qualities which made him one of the
rising stars of the international game and, in 45
minutes of exhilarating squash, defeated the title-holder
11-5, 11-6, 11-8.
"I though
I played quite well - but everything I did, Greg managed
to counter," said fifth seed Nicol afterwards. "I was
always struggling, always a couple of steps behind him,
both tactically and physically.
"He's come
on a lot. He was exceptional tonight just too good."
Nicol,
whose career includes more than 50 major international
titles and a total of 60 months at the top of the world
rankings, received a prolonged standing ovation from the
packed Crucible crowd at the end of his historic match on
the all-glass court.
"The
response here has been wonderful - the crowd was very
supportive, willing me on," agreed the Englishman. "And
it was great to get that ovation at the end."
Nicol will
play his final event of all next month in Egypt at the
World Open, staged alongside the famous pyramids of
Giza : "I've got some work to do over the next two weeks,
to get myself up to speed. Just one last block of work
before I retire," added the 1999 World Open champion.
When asked
if he felt he had made the right decision to retire, Nicol
said: "Yes, definitely. I'm ready to stop, without a
doubt. It's time to move on."
The other
Anglo/French semi-final was expected to be as dramatic as
the first. But at 7-2 down in the opening game,
Yorkshireman Beachill slipped badly and clearly suffered a
painful injury to his right leg. The eighth seed saw out
the first game and played through to the same points tally
in the second game, when he conceded defeat with the score
at 11-3, 7-2 in Lincou's favour.
While
Gaultier is celebrating his 15th appearance in
a PSA Tour final, Lincou will mark his 30th at
the Crucible.
Favourite
Lauren Briggs and 3/4 seed Laura Hill will
meet in an all-English women's final after contrasting
semi-final victories on the all-glass court. Briggs, from
Essex, maintained the upper hand throughout her clash with
Yorkshire 's Lauren Siddall to beat the other 3/4
seed 9-7, 9-2, 9-5 in 46 minutes.
Hill, a
firewoman from Duffield in Derbyshire, fought back from
2/1 down against No2 seed Rebecca Botwright to
record a impressive 9-7, 4-9, 2-9, 10-8, 9-6 upset in 68
minutes over the world No28 from Manchester ranked more
than a hundred places higher than Hill.
Peter Nicol In Dramatic
Comeback Win
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 the 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.
Yorkshire squash trio Lee
Beachill, James Willstrop and Nick Matthew
trounced their opposition in tonight's (Wednesday)
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.
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 (Tuesday) 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.
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 the 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 fromAustralia.
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 of the Mamut
English Open, which gets underway tomorrow (Tuesday)
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 New Zealander 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.
British squash legend Peter Nicol begins his
farewell campaign on home soil tomorrow when he
takes on England team-mate Peter Barker in
the third match of the evening's first round session
on the all-glass court at 8.00pm. The 33-year-old
four-times Commonwealth Games gold medallist
from London announced last month that this will be
his final competitive tournament in the UK, before
finally bowing out at next month's World Open
staged by Egypt's famous pyramids at Giza.
Victory for the title-holder and the event's fifth
seed would give Nicol his 50th PSA Tour
title.
Britons Dominate On
First Day Of English Open Qualifiers It was
a good day for Britons in the opening
qualifying round for the Mamut English Open Squash
Championship, the 5-star PSA Tour eventin Sheffield, England.
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, 11-8, 8-11, 11-10 (3-1),
11-8 in 67 minutes.
He
will meet Alex Gough in Monday's qualifying
finals after the Welshman defeated Surrey 's Tom
Richards 11-8, 11-7, 11-7.
Guernsey's former European junior champion Chris
Simpson also scored a notable triumph, beating
Pakistan 's Shahid Zaman after the world No30
from Pakistan retired injured with the score at 11-2,
11-7, 4-0 in Simpson's favour.
Manchester's Gloucester-born Alex Stait also
recorded an impressive upset beating Australian
Joseph Kneipp, a former world No10, 11-8, 11-6,
6-11, 11-6.
In the
final two all-English clashes of the day,
Lincolnshire's experienced Mark Chaloner twice
had to come from behind to overcome Stacey Ross,
from Surrey, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6 in 63
minutes, while Essex's Daryl Selby claimed a
significant upset when he beat Surrey's Ben Garner,
ranked six places higher in the world, 11-10 (2-0),
11-4, 11-8.
Chaloner, the PSA President, will take on Chris
Simpson for a place in the main draw, and 23-year-old
Selby will meet Alex Stait.
PREVIEW
'Simply
The Best' is how organisers of the Mamut English Open
are billing this week's international squash tournament
at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield .
Hosted
by Sheffield City Council, and now in its fourth
year, the event is "as good as it gets anywhere in the
world" says tournament director Tim Garner -
"with eight out of the worlds top ten all taking part".
"For
squash fans, or for people who enjoy watching sport at
the highest level, I dont think we can offer too much
more than this year.
"It is
very rare for an event to have more than eight of the
top ten in the rankings in the draw, because of
injuries or other circumstances - so for the English
Open to achieve that in only our fourth year is
fantastic," he explained.
"There
is an argument to say that this tournament is the
premier one on British soil at the moment because it has
an established venue; it's been upgraded to a five-star
PSA tour event; and it will be on terrestrial TV for the
first time, with BBCs Grandstand coverage.
With
qualifying getting underway today (Sunday) at both
Abbeydale Park and HallamshireSquash
Clubs in Sheffield, the main draw action takes place
on an all-glass court at the Crucible beginning on
Tuesday (15 August), leading to the final on Saturday
(19 August).
Garner,
who saw business partner and squash great Peter Nicol
beat his Sheffield-based England team-mate Nick
Matthew in the final last year, thinks the English
Open is challenging the famous British Open.
"The
British Open is a great event and is a great prize to
win. It has a tremendous history, which is second to
none," explains Garner.
"However, the English Open is fast becoming a 'must win'
for a top player's cv!"
Featuring five former world number ones, the 2006 event
boasts its strongest line-up yet. Australia 's world
No2 David Palmer is the tournament's top seed and
would be expected to meet France 's second seed
Thierry Lincou, also a former world No1, in the
final on Saturday.
However,
the Yorkshire contingent of Matthew; Pontefracts world
number five James Willstrop; and 2004 English
Open champion Lee Beachill, who is also from
Pontefract; as well as Nicol; will be determined to keep
the trophy in the white rose county.
The
Mamut English OpenSquash Championship has
received a further boost with news that racket
manufacturer Slazenger will be the official racket
sponsor of this years event at the Crucible Theatre
in Sheffield .
Slazenger,
which is also the racket sponsor of last years beaten
finalist - Sheffields world number seven Nick Matthew
- is the latest company to get behind the event as the
English Opens reputation continues to grow.
2006
English
Open