SquashTalk > Tourneys > British Open 2001 >Second Round, 3rd report
Index to Squashtalk match-by-match accounts of the British Open competition
Latest
News
Men's Draw
Women's
Draw
Schedule
Men's
Qualifier
Women's Qual
Match-by- match comments
British Open 2000 Videos
Players
Photos
Masters draws
Historical
profile
Historical
results
The
2000 British Open
The
1999 British Open
this page updated June 8, 2001 1:16 PM
Second Round:
Parke loses Sparkle
June 7, 2001
Martin Bronstein reports on the British Open Second Round, Birmingham. © 2001 Squashtalk.
NEW LABOUR , OLD SQUASH.
It somehow seems a little irresponsible to watch men and women a hit the hell
out of a white ball in a glass cage while most other adult Britons are running
to the polling booths to decide just how big a landslide the Labour Government
should have for the next five years. But then nothing I do will alter the
outcome and I voted by post four days ago, so back to the less than inspiring
squash that started the third day of action in the huge National Indoor Arena
in Birmingham.
LOW NOON
With a sparse smattering of spectators in this cavernous arena, it is very
hard to drum up excitement and I felt sorry for Natalie Grainger and Vicky
Botwright who had to open proceedings at noon. This was not destined to be
a great match even if Grainger, who is a shooter, was on target because Botwright,
she of the beaut glutes, was unwell. She woke up to fame as her near naked
body was plastered over most of the national newspapers, but ironically, she
could barely enjoy it due to severe stomach problems that robbed her of sleep.
She tried to muster some opposition, but her sub-conscious was forcing to
go for shots in order to end the match as soon as possible so she could return
to the calm of her hotel room.
It was only Grainger’s generosity with errors that gave the match a semblance of respectability. Her success rate with winners was less than 50% which allowed the first game to go to extra points. Grainger won that and the next two games in shorter order to progress through to the quarter finals where she will meet fourth seed Linda Charman- Smith who had an even easier victory when she beat Pamela Nimmo for the loss of five points.
FEAR
OF FLYING
It was Nimmo’s emergency entry into hospital after a long flight that started
the whole DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) scare. Now all airlines have on-board
videos demonstrating leg exercises to prevent blood clots forming. Nimmo’s
case was fairly serious and unfortunate for the Scottish number one who was
climbing up the rankings.
After three months out she is back on the circuit, her rustiness apparent, and her frustration welling up as she found herself a yard short of the ball and unable to do what she used to do with her eyes closed. She led the first game 3/0 but Charman-Smith soon equalled that and ran out the game 9-3. The next two games were over in less time than it takes to vote and Nimmo now has two or three months to get into some serious training.
PARKE LOSES SPARKLE.
A match that could have been a battle royal turned almost into a route
as Alex Gough, the twelth seed put out 6 seed Simon Parke in three straight.
While
this match was in progress, the Hi-Tec stand was showing a video of the
final of last year’s Super Series final when Parke and Peter Nicol produced
one of the finest final in recent years.
The contrast between Parke’s performance on the screen and the one live on court was marked. He seemed tired in the second game and truly lacklustre throughout the match. Gough agreed that Parke was off-form and was not moving well. This is not to say there were no good rallies – there were and both players refused to play the hackers game, putting in volley drops at the slightest opportunity, but Parke lost too many points to loose shots and ill-timed boasts.
THROUGH
A GLASS SLOWLY
Parke may not like the new glass court. Power hates it and told an Eye Group
executive so. The ball is slow off the front wall (four players have said
this) and the ball comes out if it touches the wall. The court rewards good
length, but penalises the players like Power and Heath who like to get length
with wristy flicks. On this court you have to hit right through the ball.
PALMER
READY TO REPEAT LAST YEAR?
Gough will have to play Australian David Palmer in the semis, which means
Palmer will be preparing for a five game battle against the tough little Welshman,
who seems to like playing to 17-16 in the fifth. World number three Palmer
is still looking forward rather than back over his shoulder and showed that
he still had a lot in hand over his younger countryman Stewart Boswell.
They
played for 84 minutes and Boswell showed Palmer that he has everything it
takes to get into the top five. Palmer took it in four simply because he’s
been around longer, he’s played more matches, more tournaments and he’s beaten
the top two players in the world. Two years from now Boswell will be doing
the same thing to younger players: he is destined to go to the very top. Palmer
meanwhile, should he beat Gough, will likely face Peter Nicol again in the
semis and would love to repeat his Hurghada performance where he knocked Nicol
out in the quarters. Mind you, Nicol got revenge in Ireland. So, best of three
eh?
Squashtalk.com
All materials © 1999-2001. Communicate with us at info@squashtalk.com
Last update on 06/08/2001
Published
by Squashtalk.com, 95 Martha's Point Rd. Concord MA 01742 USA, Editor Ron
Beck Send
comments, ideas, contributions and feedback to the webmaster.
Global Gallery Articles Copyright © 1999-2001 by Martin Bronstein and
SquashTalk, all rights reserved, may not be reproduced in any form except
for one-time personal use.
