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FRANCE IN THE SEMIS FOR THE
FIRST TIME IN THEIR HISTORY
France is getting better. No doubt about it. In 2002, the ladies finished
7th, in 2003, 5th, and this year, they are assured to finish at least 4th.
And I strongly believe that the home crowd that was packing the place from
top (side gallery) to bottom (front and side of court included) played an
enormous role yesterday afternoon.
Loud. Very loud. For the French. But also for the German.
Especially a player who had a very high pitched voice, plus a rattle that
she was turning too quickly, making a deafening, strident noise. And as
she was right in my left ear, I have to say that I had to put my hands on
my ear every time Germany played a good point or won the rally.
By the time it stopped, I’d forgotten what the point was! So, not good for
taking notes and praising Germany’s game. Most of the time, I don’t have a
clue why or how they won their points!
The 2nd string started with Laurence Bois playing Kathrin
Rohrmueller. The German was simply in a different league, and boasted
her opponent in nearly every rally, again and again and again, leaving the
French player gasping for air, although she succeed to return the German’s
serve brilliantly (Back Hand volley cross court drop shot). Also, Laurence
Bois played a very short game, which was probably a tactical mistake, as
her opponent was too good in the front, but had problems moving in the
back corners. The French (and the French crowd) succeeded to take the
second game 10/9, after losing the first one 9/1, and again the next 2
9/2, 9/2.
One up for Germany.
 In
come the 3rd string. A totally physically transformed Corinne Castet
who has dropped about 2 stones in a few weeks (no, not magic dear, diet
and training). And who is at the end of a good career, and she’s got the
drive to “finish in beauty”, as we say in French.
And finish in beauty she did! She was fit, fit, fit, determined, moving
very quickly on court, and retrieving everything on site. Her opponent,
the tall and strong Karin Beriere was playing beautifully well,
brilliant lob serve, good length, good drop shots, but Corinne was just
Master in Retrieving today.
 Castet succeeded to pick up the numerous boasts – seems to be the German
trademark – placing her in a good attacking position. And what was a
weapon in the previous match became a weakness in this one. But Corinne
was very patient, playing long balls, drives, cross courts, lobs, waiting
patiently for the good moment. And then a perfect drop shot.
Tactically a perfect match. But it was her athletic abilities that made
the difference. Beriere took the second game 10/8, but after that, you
could see in her eyes a “where the heck can I play the ball?” banner…
9/2, 8/10, 9/1, 9/0 in 46 minutes.
One all.
And Isabelle Stoehr stepped in along with Sabine Tillman,
carrying a huge responsibility. Giving France her first semi-final in the
event. And that what the 25 year-old from Tours (my father’s home town)
did in 37 minutes.
 The
French player was playing shots that amazed the crowd, volley kills,
backhand in particular, drop shots, kills. Some went in the tin, but
mostly up. She wrong footed her opponent more than once, and nibbled
Tillman’s fitness breath by breath.
Shame that Stoehr seems to lapse in and out of the matches, but as it’s
the first time I have seen her play, I’m not sure if it’s on this event
only (she was badly injured a few weeks ago) or a permanent trade.
But she took it home, 9/6, 9/3, 9/3.
And the crowd erupted in a joy that even led Jean Louis Lavigne (father of
Renan, the French player) to wag the French flag (I was expecting the
Marseillaise, but no, we keep that if the Men win against
England!!!!!!!!!!!!).FRANCE 2-1 GERMANY
ISABELLE STOEHR 3-0 SABINE TILLMAN
9/6 9/3 9/3
LAURENCE BOIS 1-3 KATHRIN ROHRMUELLER
4/9 10/9 2/9 2/9
CORINNE CASTETS 3-1 KARIN BERIERE
9/2 8/10 9/1 9/0
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France are pleased
Kathrin Rohrmueller
ISABELLE STOEHR:
NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE!
At 25, ranked 13 in the world (the highest French
lady player ever), Isabelle carries the French hopes everywhere she goes.
 And
it’s heavy to carry sometimes. Her coach, Jean Luc Bonetat (father
of the former French marvel Julien, the first French player to get in the
top 15) is more than a coach. When Isabelle’s mother died when Isabelle
was a teenager, he and his wife Marie (owners of the brilliant Squash des
Carnaux, in Tours, who saw so many international tournaments, formed so
many French players, even me!) took her under their wing, advised her to
stop squash for a while in view of passing her commercial diploma to
ensure her future after her sporting career. And then, Isabelle came back,
with a vengeance.
A few weeks ago, Isabelle got injured while playing against Rebecca Macree
in Chicago, and had to retire. She could hardly move her right arm, and
did the preparation for the event with the French Team in great pain.
 “Three
days ago, I couldn’t hit the ball”, the French player told me. “But
I had to play for the team, I had to do it, but I’m out of matches. I did
a lot of physical preparation, but I haven’t played any matches since
Chicago”.
Yes, the pressure was immense, but the little girl (for me, that’s who she
is, a little shrimp that used to run everywhere in the club, entering all
the empty courts she could find to play with a racquet far too heavy for
her) delivered.
Thank you Isabelle.
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FRANCE WALES:
A BIT OF A NICE DISPLAY
Well, for those who read the reports I did on the Notthingham Masters, you
may remember that I said that I was impressed by the Welsh.
After today, more than ever.
And it’s no surprise to me that those guys are actually playing the semis
against England (shame that I won’t be able to see it, as I will be at the
other venue).
And sorry, I’ll have to make this quick, deadline issues and all sorts of
problems.
I saw two games, Renan Lavigne, the best retriever France has ever
born, against Greg Tippings and Thierry Lincou against the
Laid Back David Evans.
Tippings gave us a festival of kills and drop shots, (and displayed some
good qualities as an actor, as he pretended to argue with the ref only to
pressure him, he admitted later…) and Lavigne retrieved everything. I
mean, EVERYTHING!
“Renan was too fit, too strong and too quick for me today”, smiled the
charming welsh player after losing the match 9/2 (in 24 minutes still!),
9/3, 9/3. “I’m not used to that sort of pace. Renan is a class player. And
I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the loud crowd!”
Now, David Evans is something else. As he is at the moment ranked 51, you
wouldn’t expect the magic we saw today. Alex Gough was not playing, to
save his strength for tomorrow’s semi-final against England, and no
wonder, so Evans took the 1st string.
Evans came from nowhere a few years back to win the 2000 British Open. As
he had nothing to lose. And that’s exactly how he played today. Like
somebody who's got nothing to lose and goes for every shot.
And the match was beautiful. The first game erupted in drop shots and
retrieving that could have made the final of any PSA tournament! Thierry
had to dig in to win it 10/9 in 24 minutes. And we thought, that’s it,
Evans is dead now.
J’t’en fiche! No quite!
9/7 was the second game. And again no walk in the Park for Lincou. But the
third was a formality 9/0.
Personally I trembled, but “no, I was not worried”, the French
number 1 told me. “It was a good game though…”
Funny thing. The French teams (men and women) are both playing
Netherlands. Weird, don’t you think?FRANCE 4-0 WALES
THIERRY LINCOU 3-0 DAVID EVANS
10/9 9/7 9/0
GREGORY GAULTIER 3-0 GAVIN JONES
9/1 9/4 9/0
RENAN LAVIGNE 3-0 GREG TIPPINGS
9/2 9/3 9/3
JEAN-MICHEL ARCUCCI 3-0 RICKY DAVIES
9/4 9/5 9/3
England, of course, won 4-0 again, against
the Netherlands. Both teams rested their number ones for the semi-finals.
ENGLAND 4-0 NETHERLANDS
LEE BEACHILL 3-0 LUCAS BUIT
9/0 9/2 9/1
NICK MATTHEW 3-0 DYLAN BENNET
9/0 9/2 9/5
JAMES WILLSTROP 3-0 GABOR MARGES
9/5 9/3 9/1
ADRIAN GRANT 3-0 MARC REUS
9/2 9/4 9/0
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Welsh team put up a
nice display against France
There's still fire in this Welsh Dragon!
Greg Tippings
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Morning Matches:
ENGLISH AND FRENCH
TRAINS PASSING THROUGH!
No, I don’t do it on purpose, but James Willstrop was playing first, and
as I wanted see my compatriots (shoot me!), I saw his match, and his match
only against Mads Korsjberg.
My feeling is that the height of the tin has got something to do with the
number of mistakes James is making. I know that he can’t be that stressed
about the outcome of those pools matches, but it seems that his drop shot
are tuned for a lower tin.
Like yesterday, it took the young Englishman 16 minutes to win the first
game, 9/5. The Swedish player is very tall as well, and we saw some pretty
good volley drop shots and volley kills from both players. James again
made a few mistakes, but overall, his performance was good. His opponent
physically cracked at 2/8 in the 2nd game, which ended 9/2, followed by
another 9/2. Total length of the match: 30 minutes.
Peter Nicol took very little time indeed to beat Morten W Sorensen, 9/1,
9/0, 9/0. Adrian Grant lost 3 points in the whole match, and Nick Matthew
had the longest match (well, everything is relative!) 9/3, 9/3, 9/3.
On the French compartment, Laurent Elriani has got 2 things going for him.
One, his fiancée’s name is Linda Charman, proving that he’s got good taste
(and if you want my opinion, so does she…), two, his lob serve is
extremely dangerous. Not to mention the length of his shots and some
lovely boasts that put pressure of his opponent. And today his opponent’s
name is Tino Casas, from Spain. The rallies were long, the pace was high,
and they did more than a few laps of the court. But once again, fitness
and rhythm of play won the game, and the Frenchman won in 3 games 9/2,
9/1, 9/3.
So did Grégory Gaultier who was playing Oriol Salvia Victor. It was a
pleasure to see the young player varying the length, the drop shots, the
deception, the rhythm. But the Spaniard played some nice drop shots and
crosscourts that pushed Greg to show his retrieving skills in a few
rallies. Renan Lavigne disposed of Victor Montserrat in 3 set, losing only
4 points.
Thierry Lincou was never under real pressure, but he was relaxed enough to
tempt a few changes of direction and deceptions, and concentrated enough
to use the match as a good training session. His opponent, Iago Cornes,
enjoyed the chance to play a player of that calibre.
“I had nothing to lose. We knew that France was going to be a tough match,
so I was under no pressure. I’m happy to have played the number 3 in the
world, who was world number one only a few weeks ago.”
Now, we have a biiiiiiiig problem.
If France and England arrive in the semi finals they will probably play in
2 different locations, rather far away from each other. Once again,
choices, choices….
So, if it’s the case, as we have Mr Malcolm Willstrop, father and coach of
Lee Beachill and James Willstrop, here in Rennes, I’m sure he’ll be only
too glad to cover the English side, while I could be covering the French
one.
Well, that’s the best solution I found, but I’m open to any suggestions…. |
James scares Mads away ...
Oriol Salvia
gives Greg a runout ...
Lincou relaxed ... |
LADIES ENGLAND-FRANCE:
NO SWEAT
“Isabelle
Stoehr is not playing, what that’s all about?”
That is how I was greeted this morning by David Pearson and Paul Carter,
National coaches of the English Squad.
Like I’m supposed to know?
Well, I did inquire, and it just happens that the French are playing the
Germans this afternoon, and it could be a pretty important match for the
qualification for the semi-final tomorrow.
So, like yesterday, when England chose not to have Peter Nicol play
against Sweden, France chose to keep her number one player fresh.
Satisfied, Sirs?
 Linda
Charman (world number 6) opened the day against French Corinne Castets,
ranked 82.
Need I say more?
“We are a bit weary of this afternoon match against Germany, so I didn’t
want to get too involved” Corinne told me fter her defeat in 3 games
9/2, 9/0, 9/4. “But in general, when you play against a player of that
standard, you’ve got to be on your toes constantly. And I was torn between
keeping my strength and battling a lost battle! My only regret? Not having
volleyed the ball enough.”
Maude Duplomb (string 3) was playing the gorgeously fit Vicky Botwright,
and despite her heart and legs, 16 minutes were enough to close the
result, 9/1, 9/0, 9/0.
“She left me hanging there systematically, and had the whole court to play
the ball!” said a very out of breath but smiling Maud after her match.
 The
rest of Isabelle, French number 1, meant that Laurence Bois (ranked 78)
got to play the World number one.
Laurence used to play tennis, and came very late to squash (23). Her
father, who doesn’t understand much about squash, and prefers tennis, is
nevertheless helping with the event by driving the players and officials
around!
The precision and the length that Cassie Jackman played today didn’t leave
any opportunity for the French player to have any say in the match. 9/1,
9/1, 9/2.
England plays Denmark and France is playing Germany in the deciding
matches in this group.
The
Ultimate Entente Cordiale ... FULLSTORY |
Not good for the French Ladies ...
Botwright & Charman seal
a second win for the English
DAVID PEARSON :
IT’S A CULTURAL THING!
 I
was having a chat with the English National Coach before the competition
started today, and we came to speak about the reason why the rivalry
between France and England is that strong at the moment.
“France is the only European team that has made an immense effort to raise
her standard to professionalism in the last 6 years. And also, the
perception of what the behaviour can or should be on a squash court is
different in the 2 countries. The passion that is sometimes accepted in
France would be considered out of place, even out of order in England.
It’s a cultural thing!”
When I asked him about the probable final and the very dreaded match
between Lee Beachill and Gregory Gaultier (Vienna, the return!), he smiled
and said “The match has the potential to blow out of proportion. It’s up
to each team to stay dignified, and to remember that, at the end of the
day, it’s only a game of squash…”
Hear hear!
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