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Willstrop Wins
Richmond Title
England's James Willstrop has extended his best-ever run on the
international squash circuit by beating French rival Gregory
Gaultier in a dramatic five-game final of the Davenport
Professional Squash Championship at the University of Richmond
in Virginia, USA, to win the third title in his fourth
successive final appearance in a PSA Tour event.
It was a see-saw climax to the $77,500 PSA Super Series event
in which Gaultier, the world No3, twice pegged back leads by the new
world number four before Willstrop clinched the last game for the loss
of just four points to claim the title after 83 minutes with an 11-6,
6-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-4 scoreline.
The win marks Willstrop's tenth PSA Tour title - and his third PSA
Super Series trophy.
The Virginia triumph caps a sensational twelve months for the
24-year-old Yorkshireman who failed to reach a single PSA final in
2006 - then began his winning Tour run in March last year with success
in the ISS Canary Wharf Classic in London. The
England number one followed this with title victories in the Prince
English Grand Prix and the Mamut English Open and a
runner-up berth in the US Open.
After leading
England to a successful defence of the World Team Championship
title in India in December, Willstrop continued his Tour run by
reaching the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions climax in New
York in January, before lifting the Case Swedish Open crown
last month - when he also had time to retain his British National
Championship title in Manchester.
Willstrop & Gaultier In
Richmond Final
Gregory Gaultier
and James Willstrop - ranked three and four, respectively, in
the world - will contest the final of the 2008 Davenport
Professional Squash Championship after impressive semi-final
performances in the $77,500 PSA Super Series event at the
University of Richmond
in
Virginia,
USA.
In-form Englishman Willstrop swept through to his fourth Tour final in
a row when he beat a tired Karim Darwish, clearly still feeling
the effects of his marathon upset over fellow Egyptian Ramy Ashour
in the previous round.
Often a slow starter, Willstrop was into his stride right away -
catching sixth seed Darwish unawares as he piled up the points with
gusto.
"The March world rankings pushed Willstrop up to number four in the
world - and he played like it," said an event spokesman. "Darwish
simply had no answer to Willstrop’s superb length and his ability to
take the ball early."
After running away with the first game in just over ten minutes,
Willstrop was given more of a contest in the second as Darwish built
up a 5-2 lead. Willstrop was not fazed and continued to attack,
always on the lookout for winners. This was now evenly-matched high
quality squash which drew the capacity crowd into the drama of the
game. At seven-all it looked as though this could go to five games.
Willstrop got to game ball 10-8 but Darwish did not give up and hit a
backhand winner of his own to save the first game ball and was given
the second when Willstrop’s volley drop hit the tin to force a tie
break. The next really ended when the referees denied Darwish a let –
but Willstrop snatched at a shot and sent the ball into the tin to
make the score 11-all. Another backhand chop drop put Willstrop at
game ball again and when the ball took a strange bounce in the back
left corner Darwish was cruelly foxed and hit the ball into the tin to
finish an entertaining 20-minute game.
Sadly, when he came back for the third game Darwish quickly showed
that his gas tank was empty as the fourth-seeded Yorkshireman ran
through to wrap up an 11-4, 11-10 (3-1), 11-1 victory in 39 minutes.
The win takes
England number one Willstrop through to his 15th PSA Tour
final - and comes hot on the heels of his Tour title success in the
Swedish Open last month, followed closely by his domestic triumph
in the British National Championship.
The second semi was a bit of an anti-climax; Scot John White,
who recorded a stunning quarter-final victory over giant-killing Finn
Olli Tuominen, was prevented from matching his achievement over
second seed Gregory Gaultier.
The French star moved up several gears and everything he tried at the
front of the court came off. White admitted later that he was unable
to do anything: “When you come up against someone playing as well as
Gregory, there is really nothing you can do. It’s very frustrating.
Yesterday was great. Today was not.”
Gaultier's 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 victory over the seventh seed in 41
minutes takes the 25-year-old from Aix-en-Provence through to his 26th
PSA Tour final - but his first since finishing as runner-up in the
World Open in Bermuda in December.
Darwish Despatches Ashour In
Davenport Duel
Young Egyptian star Ramy Ashour, the 20-year-old world No2 from
Cairo, finally ran out of legs and was beaten in an engrossing
five-game match by fellow countryman Karim Darwish in the
quarter-finals of the 2008 Davenport Professional Squash
Championship, played at the University of Richmond in
Virginia, USA.
Top seed Ashour has played almost non-stop for the last 22 days –
tournaments and exhibitions - and this match for a place in the
semi-finals of the $77,500 PSA Super Series event finally
sapped his energy, his accuracy - and his will. Darwish played well,
slowing the pace down to take control in the first game, but Ashour
forced himself back into competition mode and the winners started
sparking off his racket as he effortlessly took the next two.
The fourth game was a disaster when, at 4-4, Ashour committed a string
of six unforced errors to put Darwish at game ball - and the
26-year-old sixth seed made no mistake in taking the game to force a
decider.
Darwish led from the beginning of the fifth and it was obvious that
Ashour simply could not summon up the energy to attain his normal
standard. Darwish ran out the surprising 11-4, 6-11, 4-11, 11-5, 11-8
winner after 59 suspenseful minutes.
The former world junior champion will now meet James Willstrop,
the world number six and also a one-time world junior champion. The
Englishman came through to win a match marked by drama and controversy
as Wael El Hindi of
Egypt became enraged by the referee’s decision in the third game to
penalise him a point for dangerous play.
El Hindi had swung his racket, deliberately missing the ball, to
demonstrate that - had he hit it - the ball would have struck his
opponent. "It was an inexplicable decision and although El Hindi had
won the first game - showing superb style - and lost the second, he
threw the third away 0-11 and despite recovering some composure, could
not get back on track and lost the fourth 11-4," said a spokesman for
the event.
"I was full of rage, I thought I would burst," said the eighth seed
from
Giza after the match. "I thought the referee was disrespectful in the
way he spoke to me. For the last few months I have been playing good
squash but I was so angry it affected my movement."
John White
of
Scotland, the seventh seed, took on the second round giant-killer
Olli Tuominen and gave him a lesson in fast, accurate racket
work. White was in sizzling form and effortlessly slotted in the
winners while all the Finn could do was chase shadows. It was a
short, sharp 11-9, 11-7, 11-6 execution - taking just 30 minutes - a
performance that White judged later was nine-and-a-half on a scale of
one-to-ten!
When the US-based 34-year-old was asked what he was thinking during
one very long rally, he replied: “He was doing all the running, I was
just standing there hitting the ball, so I was quite happy.“
After the all-Egyptian match there was the all-French match as
Thierry Lincou tried to get revenge over Gregory Gaultier,
who had beaten him in the British Open last year. It was a
ding-dong battle which kept the spectators in their seats to the last
point. Second seed Gaultier seemed to have it all under control as he
took the first two games, but Lincou, the fifth seed, knew how to
subdue the tricky Gaultier, slowing the ball down and using the lob.
It paid off as the new ten times French National champion took the
next two games, forcing a deciding fifth game.
Gaultier opened up a lead – but it wasn’t easy; the rallies were long
and there was a real battle in the front corners as they traded
counter drops. However, Gaultier maintained his supremacy to take the
game and emerge the 11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 11-3 victor after 54
minutes.
"I knew Thierry still had yesterday’s hard games in his legs, so I was
making him work. He came back very well when he slowed the game, but
I think he finally got tired,” Gaultier said between gasps of breath
after the match. He will now meet John White in the semi-finals.
Tuominen Topples Palmer In
Richmond Rout
Australia's third seed David Palmer
suffered a shock defeat at the hands of 11th seed Olli Tuominen
of Finland in the second round of the 2008 Davenport Professional
Squash Championship at the
University of Richmond in
Virginia,
USA. This was the second bad result in as many weeks, Palmer having
to bow out of the Canadian Classic two weeks ago because of
lower back problems.
But the Australian's problem in the last sixteen of the $77,500 PSA
Super Series event was not his back, but the sizzling run of form
that Tuominen produced to bamboozle him. The Finn was playing at his
very best, pasting the ball tight to the walls and getting to
everything that Palmer hit. There is no hiding place for the ball
when Tuominen is in this form, which hasn't happened very often
lately. He was truly the Flying Finn - and there was very little
Palmer could do about it!
"Palmer also found some of the decisions from the three-referee panel
not to his liking and the Palmer temper started boiling," said an
event spokesman. The 28-year-old from
Helsinki won the first game but Palmer asserted his authority to lead
the second game 8-3 - which is when the decisions started to irk
Palmer. Unbelievably Tuominen put together a run of eight points to
win the game 11-8, the final decision of the game left Palmer fuming.
In the third game, the former world champion's concentration was
broken and although he managed to pull back from 3-9 to 8-10,
Tuominen's drive, determination and pace was always going to win the
day and he took the game for a shock 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 victory.
Tuominen tackles John White in the quarter-finals after the
seventh-seeded Scot beat Frenchman Renan Lavigne, the 16th
seed, 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5.
Egyptian Mohammed Abbas is now ranked 13 in the world - his
highest ever ranking - and may not get higher unless he overcomes the
jitters that visit him when about to beat one of the top ten. It
happened again in Richman when he outplayed fifth-seeded Frenchman
Thierry Lincou for three games and stood at match ball 10-7 when
the referees called a Lincou shot up when Abbas was convinced it had
hit the tin.
The Egyptian fumed and fumed, but the decision stayed. From then on,
Abbas simply cold not get his concentration back again. He lost the
game 12-10 in the tie break and his nerve and determination diminished
in the final two games to allow Lincou to escape with a victory that
he should never have had.
"I just kept running, running after the ball," said Lincou later. "In
the first two games, he just outplayed me and I couldn't do anything.
I was always behind him on the court. In the third I finally managed
to get in front of him. I am just relieved to have won."
Top seed Ramy Ashour of
Egypt got a little revenge from Julian Illingworth, the
unseeded American who had knocked out the favourite's elder brother
Hisham in the first round in one of the shock wins of the tournament.
Illingworth gave a very good account of himself and although he went
down in straight games, he forced a tie-break in both the second and
third games, to show that he is good enough not be outclassed by the
best player in the world today. It was a well-contested match with a
high standard of squash, with Illingworth shooting in his share of
winners. But the Ashour speed is startling and eventually overwhelms
his opponent.
James Willstrop
and Lee Beachill repeated their performance of last week's
British National Championship final when Willstrop beat his
training partner to retain the title. The two Yorkshireman put on a
startling display of speed squash in
Richmond which was pure entertainment. The ball was cracked with
accuracy down the walls and into the nicks. This was squash of a very
high order: the standard and speed were maintained for 43 minutes
before fourth seed Willstrop emerged an 11-5, 11-8, 11-6 victor. It
wasn't that Beachill played badly; it was that 24-year-old Willstrop
played so well.
Illingworth Becomes New American Hero In
Richmond
The final match on the second day of first round action in the 2008
Davenport Professional Squash Championship brought the $77,500
PSA Super Series
event at the University of Richmond to life as unseeded US
player Julian Illingworth delivered a stunning display of
creative intelligent squash that deservedly brought him a shock
four-game victory over Egypt's 14th seed Hisham Ashour,
ranked 17 places above him.
Illingworth, in the view of some observers, played the match of his
life to earn a place in the second round where he will now meet his
opponent's younger brother Ramy Ashour, the world number two.
Illingworth started full of confidence and took the game to the very
talented Ashour. More surprisingly he outplayed Ashour, a master shot
maker, at the front of the court - which is where most Egyptians
excel. While Illingworth was hitting sublime winners, Ashour, in his
usual impetuous search for winners, was making errors – five in all.
This was quality squash and the 24-year-old from
Portland looked thoroughly at home. Illingworth won the first game
11-7, and showed great poise in saving two game balls in the second to
force an extended tie-break which he won 15-13 after much suspense.
It all fell apart for the American in the third game, after some
strange bounces in the back corner made him miss-hit, and he lost the
game 11-4 in under five minutes. The fourth started badly with Ashour
taking a quick 3-0 lead but Illingworth settled down to regain his
form to gradually claw his way back in. There were some stunning
rallies with both players stretched to their fullest. It was
Illingworth’s concentration and cool demeanour that won the day and he
took the game to clinch the match 11-7, 11-10 (5-3), 4-11, 11-7 in 51
minutes - thus becoming the only unseeded player to reach the second
round.
Egyptian glamour boy Wael El Hindi took on the young Australian
Aaron Frankcomb. Although the score shows a straight games
victory for the UK-based eighth seed, it wasn’t that straightforward.
Frankcomb displayed a fine all-round game and, if there had been any
justice, should have taken the second game which he led most of the
way. He showed that he could attack with the best of them and reaped
the dividends of El Hindi’s lackadaisical attitude when he thought he
had the match won. Frankcomb held game ball at 10-9 but El Hindi hit a
perfect length to force a tiebreak and the impetuous Australian put a
drop shot into the tin to give El Hindi game ball. The Egyptian made
no mistake with a fine forehand slam to length to win 12-10.
In the third game El Hindi was a little more circumspect in his
approach to the game while Frankcomb took his foot off the pedal to
allow his opponent to cruise home 11-3 to end the 38-minute encounter.
"I was happy that I was going forward well and with my general play,
but I was disappointed in the way I went down in the third game,” said
Frankcomb, who is ranked 48 in the world.
Young Saurav Ghosal of India, ranked 49, gave the world number
eight Karim Darwish a real fright by taking the first two games
in just 21 minutes. This perilous situation was a very real wake-up
call for the Egyptian who finally got going in the third game and
corrected the situation by taking the next three games fairly easily.
"I was asleep,” admitted Darwish, winner of last week's Oregon Open
in
Portland. "He started very quickly and played well. I got up at nine
o’clock this morning which is really not early enough for a one
o’clock game,” he said with obvious relief in his voice.
Darwish will not be able to sleep for a game, or even a point, in the
next round when he meets Alex Gough. The 37-year-old world
number 20 took no chances when playing qualifier Tom Richards
of
England. The Welshman won the first two games but had to fight hard
in the third as Richards, who has just returned to action after eight
months out due to injury, showed his potential and speed. Qualifier
Richards had climbed to 54 in the world before the injury and is now
ranked 121, but his play suggested he is mended and should soon start
climbing back up.
Gough, fresh from his efforts in the British National championships
said that he didn’t take the result for granted. "I haven’t played
for a week, while Richards has been through qualifying and would be
played in, so I had to be careful. I’m just please to have won in
three,” he said.
Canadian team-mates Shahier Razik and Shawn Delierre
were drawn to play each other, their eighth meeting with Razik ahead
5-2 on the head-to-head.
DeLierre was far from motivated in the first two games but picked his
game up in the third to force a tie break, fighting to save three
match balls before finally going down. Razik will now play El Hindi
in the second round which will be played at a very different pace with
a much higher level of commitment.
Former British champion Lee Beachill produced one of the most
efficient performances of the day in despatching young Frenchman
Yann Perrin in 27 minutes. Beachill had been operated on for a
double hernia in December, but he looked good as new as he went for
the jugular with every shot, at a pace that the Frenchman could not
live with. Beachill now plays fellow Englishman James Willstrop
who took a little longer to beat Welshman Jethro Binns in
straight games.
Lavigne Survives While Chifunda Cheered In
Virginia
The first round of the 2008 Davenport Professional Squash
Championship held at the
University of Richmond
provided a mixed bag of players and competition. In the most
competitive match of the day in the $77,500
PSA Tour
event in its fifth year in the US state of Virginia, Renan Lavigne
of France survive a spirited comeback from Ireland’s Liam Kenny,
who pushed the Frenchman to a tie break in the fifth game.
Despite the gap in rankings – Lavigne is world number 26 while Kenny
has slipped to 52 - the players were equal in most things and played a
similar game, matching each other in both defence and attack.
Kenny looked the better armed and always seemed on the brink of
breaking away, but Lavigne always managed to contain Kenny’s spirited
attacking. In the decider, Kenny came back from 0-3 down to lead 6-4
- but the 30-year-old from
Dublin could not stop Lavigne’s constant supply of energy.
Kenny saved two match balls, then got to match ball himself at 11-10,
but it was Lavigne who persevered that little bit more to win 11-6,
8-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-10 (3-1) in 88 minutes.
It took Patrick Chifunda, a wild card local entry, to get the
crowd roaring - even before he’d struck a ball. Born in
Zambia, educated in South Africa, Chifunda now coaches at the Country
Club of Richmond. His popularity had the packed galleries roaring him
on as he tried to bamboozle world number 26 Cameron Pilley, a
lanky Australian. Chifunda’s speed and acrobatics almost paid off in
the third game as he led 7-4 and then was tied at 9-9 with a real
chance at taking the game. But an error put Pilley at match ball and
he took the final point with a backhand drop. The players left the
court to more roars of approval.
“I just play my best squash and don’t worry about the rankings,” said
the smiling 32-year-old Zambian. “I just like to hassle these players
as much as I can and try enjoy myself.”
English qualifier Robbie Temple managed to give Thierry
Lincou a bit of a fright in their first round match.
Temple had knocked out the up and coming Ryan Cuskelly of
Australia in the qualifying round - a good win for a player who has
just entered the top 100. Left-handed Temple plays his backhand with
two hands, a la Peter Marshall - and like Marshall, can keep
his opponents guessing as to which way the ball is going.
Lincou, now ranked seven in the world, had it all his own way in the
first two games - but suddenly found himself 6-1 down in the third.
The Frenchman managed to climb back into the game only because
Temple made four unforced errors which allowed Lincou to draw level
and then go on to take the game to close out the match 11-6, 11-8,
11-9 in 31 minutes.
“Concentration,” responded Lincou when asked what happened in the
third game. “I just lost my concentration and when he got five quick
points, I panicked.”
Australia's David Palmer, who now lives in Boston, cruised to a
two game lead over Mexican Eric Galvez, ranked 36 in the
world. But the world number four and former world champion suddenly
lost his flowing game in the third to allow his opponent to hustle and
bustle his way to win it 11-9. One of the most experienced men on the
circuit, Palmer firmly shut the door on the Mexican in the fourth to
win 11-5, 11-3, 9-11, 11-5 and assure his second round berth.
Virginia Pro Championship Provides Super Series Breakthrough For
Qualifiers
Success in the qualifying finals of the Virginia Pro Squash
Championship will enable five players to make their Super
Series event debuts in the $77,500
PSA Tour
event in its fifth year in
Richmond
in the
US state of Virginia.
Welshman Jethro Binns beat US opponent Christopher Gordon
- ranked more than 70 places higher in the world - 11-8, 11-10
(2-0), 4-11, 11-6 in 49 minutes to earn his first time in a Super
Series event. The Bristol-based 23-year-old will face
recently-crowned British National champion
James Willstrop,
the No4 seed, in the main draw.
Another chance of further local interest in the main draw was quashed
when
France's Yann Perrin beat USA's Ryan Donegan 11-6, 11-5,
11-7. The 22-year-old from Marseille, who was celebrating success in
his first attempt at trying to qualify for a Super Series event, will
take on Willstrop's Yorkshire club-mate Lee Beachill, the ninth
seed who was runner-up in 2007.
Robbie Temple
is one of two Englishmen to qualify. The 21-year-old from London
battled for 90 minutes to overcome Australian Ryan Cuskelly
11-10 (3-1), 1-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-2 to set up a first round clash with
Frenchman
Thierry Lincou,
the fifth seed.
The other two Super Series first-timers are David Phillips and
Wade
Johnstone.
Canadian Phillips defeated Irishman Arthur Gaskin 11-9, 11-5,
11-6, while
Johnstone, from Australia, downed Englishman James Snell 11-6,
11-8, 8-11, 11-5.
Egypt's world No2 Ramy Ashour is seeded to win the Virginia Pro title
for the first time. The 20-year-old from Cairo - remarkably, the
youngest player in the 32-man field - takes on David Phillips in the
first round, and is expected to face France's No2 seed Gregory
Gaultier, the world No3, in Saturday's final.
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