The Men's Final:
Anthony Ricketts v James Willstrop
Anthony Ricketts tonight truly deserved to be crowned British Open
Champion. His performance was out of this world and truly of the highest
order. Never did he appear to be nervous and never did the enormity of
his impending achievement overwhelm him. Much has been made of his fiery
temperament but tonight he was the Anthony Ricketts we are beginning to
see more and more of; the consummate professional. In beating James
Willstrop he has added his name to the illustrious list of previous
winners, including the great Khans, Jahangir, Jansher, Azam and Hashim,
Jonah Barrington, and his mentor Geoff Hunt.
This is without mentioning his semi final opponent, Peter Nicol. Indeed,
both losing semi finalists, Nicol and Power, have British Open titles to
their name, and many of the smart money yesterday morning was on them
reliving their great rivalry in tonights final. The fact that Anthony
Ricketts and James Willstrop overturned two of the modern greats of the
game, is testament not only to them, but the current depth and openness
in the mens game. And nobody epitomises this modern era like Anthony
Ricketts. At his best he is fast, often in your face aggressive, quick
on to the ball and one of the best volleyers in the game. Tonight he was
at his best. Tonight he combined all of the above with some of the
tightest (especially down the backhand wall) and error free Squash I
have ever seen him play. And when you combine this with the fact that he
is one of the toughest, fittest and strongest players out there, you
have a pretty lethal combination. As James admitted after the match,
tonight Anthony was just too good. It wasn't as if James played badly,
Anthony was just too good, simple as that. The 2nd game was crucial; if
James had sneaked that game we might have had a close match on our
hands. But, again, as James admitted after the match, coming back from
2-0 down against Anthony in this kind of form was a pretty daunting
task. Tonight Anthony Ricketts truly deserved to be crowned British Open
Champion. Tonight all the hard work and hours of training paid off. He
will remember this night for the rest of his life.
Semi Finals: Match of the Day
Peter Nicol vs. Anthony Ricketts
As Peter mentioned in his post match
interview, these two had met on many occasions before including six
consecutive Quarter finals of major events back in 2002/03. Two
memorable matches stand out; the Quarter final of the World Open in
Antwerp in 2002 when Ricketts effectively knocked Nicol out despite a 5
game defeat; and Anthony's momentous first ever victory over Peter in
the English Open in 2003. Was today's Semi final meeting going to be
another classic?
The match, in the end, did live up to previous encounters, AND Nicol's
match the previous day against Lincou, mainly due to the 5th game. The
first 4 games; shared equally with Nicol winning a tight 1st 11-9, then
leading 2-1 before sacrificing the 4th 11-2, were full of excellent
Squash, with a great contrast in styles between Ricketts' determination
and Nicol's relaxation. But there were also scrappy periods and a
constant shift in momentum, with Ricketts possibly unsure whether to
rally patiently or to attack at pace at certain periods.
The 5th game though was a classic in itself. It had everything; fabulous
Squash, breathtaking dives and contentious decisions. All played in a
tremendous spirit which is testament to both players. In fact, there
were so many diving retrievals in the 5th game that it seemed the
cleaners were constantly on the court. At 9-8 Ricketts, the tension was
nearly unbearable; truly edge of the seat stuff. The pace of the game
was incredible considering the players had been on court nearly 90
minutes. But could Anthony keep his cool? He had become agitated after a
couple of refereeing decisions and with Peter looking tired, the
constant arrival of the court cleaners, mainly after Peter's dives,
could have frustrated him. But, after having one match ball saved at
10-9, Ricketts finally clinched the match in the 5th game tie-break,
12-10 after 95 minutes. Although exhausted, he spoke in the post match
interview about his respect for Peter and his delight in reaching his
first British Open final, and I wouldn't bet against him having more
than enough left in the tank for a major assault on the title tomorrow
night. He will meet the winner of tonights second Semi final between
Jonathan Power and James Willstrop.
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Quarter Finals: Match of the Day
Peter Nicol vs Thierry Lincou
Although Thierry Lincou has consistently held the World number 1 slot
for the whole of 2005, one player he has never looked completely at ease
against during, and prior to this time is Peter Nicol. In fact, Peter
could be described as being his nemesis. In 12 previous meetings, the
head to head stands at 10-2 in Peter's favour with a recent emphatic win
over Thierry in the final of the World Games. Not a bad record to have
against the current World number 1 going in to the biggest match of
Quarter final day of the Dunlop British Open.
1st game
The fact that this must have been on Thierry's mind was evident from the
very first rally. The Frenchman, known as somewhat of a slow starter,
began at a blistering pace, looking to dominate the middle of the court
and wasn't afraid to go short from the word go. Peter, on the other
hand, looked extremely relaxed. Was he expecting a long one, and
therefore trying to conserve energy? One thing was for sure; the tempo
in the first few rallies was frightening, and there was a good 10
minutes of squash before either player looked completely settled.
Despite Thierry's quick start, the first player to settle in to his
rhythm was Peter. After a few discussions with the referee at 4-4, he
quickly went to 9-5 using a variety of lobs, floated drops and low,
angled crosscourts. He was now starting to control the tempo. A
particularly tough rally where he stretched Thierry to all four corners
gave him the 1st game, 11-6 in 13 minutes.
2nd game
If the pace of the game was high at the start of the 1st, it was even
higher in the 2nd. Thierry appeared to be half a yard further up on the
T and as a result pushed Peter back and started to cut off his low
crosscourts. At 4-4 something to give all club players heart occurred;
the great Peter Nicol served out! Not that this was a turning point, but
from then on Thierry never looked back and took the 2nd game 11-8. The
first part of the game had been very tough and towards the end both
players seemed to be feeling the effects of this and the error rate
increased.
3rd game
The fact that David Pearson was sitting next to me during this match
obviously helped me get an insight to what he was advising Peter in
between games. But the fact that Peter tried to regain control of the T
at the beginning of the 3rd and began to work the front right corner
rather than the front left, where he had suffered at the hands of
Thierry's backhand counter drop in game 2, was clear for all to see.
Five points were won in the front right, including 3 in a row; a volley
drop, a forced error from a boast and a straight drop to take Peter to
8-5. But Thierry was still in the game. Every loose crosscourt or drop
shot was pounced upon. 6-8 was a massive rally, perhaps the best of the
match. Some of Peter's retrieving was out of this world and because of
this he was making Thierry play closer and closer to the tin. Three
errors were squeezed out of the Frenchman and Peter was 2-1 up, 11-7 in
27 long minutes.
4th game
There was just no respite in this match. A loud scream from Thierry,
trying to get himself pumped up again, greeted a winner to reach 1-1.
Both players were now jostling for the T, neither wanting to give an
inch. Four points in a row went to Peter from 1-2 and Thierry was now
beginning to look more and more frustrated. Frustrated at himself after
a couple of unforced errors and frustrated at the referee, Tony Parker,
after a couple of perceived bad calls. At 7-4 a contentious decision
clearly riled Peter and a backhand volley kill the following rally was
greeted with a big fist pump, something you rarely see from the
Englishman. Thierry was taking longer and longer in between rallies,
trying to break Peter's rhythm, but it wasn't working as Peter reached
match ball at 10-7. Four lets and much tension later and the match was
Peter Nicol's; 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 in 74 minutes, with both players
leaving the court to a much deserved standing ovation. What a brilliant
match!
Post Match
Speaking to Peter briefly after the match he was obviously thrilled with
his win, but as has been so often the case in his career, determined to
go on and win the tournament. "I thoroughly enjoyed the match. There was
nothing between us; a few errors here and there but that's been the case
in most of our matches. I'm just glad today went the same way as most of
our meetings", he said, referring to his excellent record against the
World number 1. A semi final against Anthony Ricketts, who was
comfortable winner against Ong Beng Hee, awaits.
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