Palmer, Nicol show no mercy to their rivals
By R. Ravi Kumar, the Gulf TimesAN exciting semi-final line-up awaits fans at the Qatar Classic squash tournament today with world No 1 and British Open champion David Palmer of Australia set to clash against Stewart Boswell while third seed Peter Nicol takes on John White for a spot in the final.
In the first match on centre court yesterday, Palmer kept dangerous eighth seed Thierry Lincou of France at bay in three straight games 15-7, 15-11, 15-14.
In roaring form, the big Aussie showed that he has blossomed with every match in this $172,000 tourney and had little problem in securing the first game 15-7. His angled shots ricocheted off the sidewalls to elude the Frenchman's racquet and Palmer's body-language acquired confident, at times imperious, overtones.
To avoid being shoved out, Lincou refused to be intimidated and put up stiff resistance from the second game on. But the French resistance was quickly put down by Palmer who had other plans for the evening and before long he had doubled his lead 2-0 (15-11).
Throughout the first two games, never once did Lincou get the upper hand and always trailed the burly Aussie on the scoreboard. But he was determined to script a different result for the third game - and almost did. Lincou levelled the score thrice, at 5-5, 12-12 and 14-14, for a crucial tie which could have swung the match either way.
A humdinger of a rally for the last point which was contested tooth and nail by both players showed them at their athletic best. The point went to Palmer helping him seal a place in the semis, something which he has done time and again this season.
"I just didn't play well enough in the first two games," admitted Lincou. "I could have played on had I got a chance. I have much more to offer."
"It was a very tough match. He is a very dangerous player," said Palmer. "But it is very tough to come back when you are two games down."
In another quarterfinal match, Boswell, another Australian, showed the door to promising young Egyptian Mohammed Abbas 3-0 (15-12, 17-14, 15-3) in just 40 minutes.
The match was marked by long rallies and a cautious shotmaking by both. Boswell, given his experience, always had the edge over Abbas and this showed in the way both dealt with the loss of points. While Boswell stayed calm and concentrated on the next point, Abbas confidence leaked badly.
The first game ended 15-12 in Boswell's favour while Abbas did well to tie the score in the second at 14-14. Playing a three-point score, Boswell got his game back on track and won 17-14. In the third game, a weary Abbas game just crumbled and he threw in the towel 3-15.
In another last eight encounter, England's Nicol ended Welshman David Evans' run despite dropping one game 15-9, 15-17, 15-10, 15-4. Nicol, a former world champion, started strongly before faltering a bit in the second game. But he quickly made amends by winning the next two games at a trot.
A surprising casualty yesterday was world No 2 and crowd favourite Jonathan Power of Canada who bit the dust against big hitting Scotsman John White in three straight games 15-14, 15-11, 15-9.
The first game was too close for Power's comfort and he screamed and ranted but to no avail and sixth seed White put his nose ahead by winning the tense tiebreak.
The Scotsman's power was such that the ball was smothered before Power could even make a start for it. White kept a comfortable lead in the second game and was never going to be affected by his showman opponents antics.
"He let me have a few easy points and I capitalised on it," said White who closed out the match by winning the third game.
