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this page updated June 12, 2001 10:11 PM
Quarters: Lee Beachill in Fantastic win over Peter Nicol
Martin Bronstein reports on the British Open Second Round, Birmingham. © 2001 Squashtalk, Photos: © 2001 Fritz Borchert , Debra Tessier
ANOTHER SHOCK RESULT FROM THE BRITISH OPEN IN BIRMINGHAM 2400 HRS JUNE 2001
THE BEACHILL OPEN WILL LIVE LONG
Whatever happens in the semi-finals and final of this British Open, it
will always belong to a tall skinny player by the name of Lee Beachill.
After beating 10th seeded Paul Johnson 3/1 in the first 
round,
outlasting 5th seed Paul Price over five games in the second round, he
today crowned his career by chopping Peter Nicol into a four game defeat.
Beachill, 23, is probably Malcolm Willstrop’s finest pupil; the great
British coach has produced a player with a perfect combination attack
and defense.
DON’T LISTEN TO ME, I’M A JOURNALIST
About a week ago in Squashtalk I confidently predicted that Nicol and
Power would meet in an historic final. How wrong I was; I never even considered
Beachill as a contender even though he won the British closed championship
earlier this year. I offer Beachill my humble apologies. From now on I’m
a convert.
NICOL
ON THE END OF A PIECE OF STRING
From the outset Beachill gave no thought to reputations and started chopping
in the winners as soon as the opportunity occurred and went to a 7-1 lead
and then 9-2 and then 10-3. Nicol was being dictated to and for once was
doing the Step ‘n Fetchit. Time and time again Beachill had Nicol doing
diagonals; picking up tight drops and then into the back corner for a
retrieval only to tear back down the court for another drop. Amidst all
this Beachill was putting in the rolling nicks, leaving Nicol with the
scars of so much work for no reward. Nicol got back to 10-6 but then it
was Beachill cracking the whip again to win 15-7.
A MEMORABLE ERROR
The lead changed hand seven times in the second game and Beachill stood
on the edge of a two game lead at 14-13, 
poised
at the right front to finish it, only to put an easy drop into the tin.
From 14-all Nicol sneaked the game 17-15 with the help of two’no lets’.
Was he dismayed? No a bit of it. He came out for the third just where
he left off and ran to a 6-1 lead from which Nicol never recovered. It
was about midway through this 14 minute game that it became apparent that
he would lose; he started to look tired, went for some silly shots – which
is simply not Nicol’s game when he is in good shape – and from 10-5, you
could feel he wanted to get off court for some sustenance or some magic
advice. Beachill won the game 15-6 for a 2/1 lead and unless Nicol found
the mental energy to dig really very deep, he was out.
A MERCIFUL TEN MINUTES
Beachill never looked tired or nervous. If there ever was an athlete ‘in
the zone’ this was it. Nicol looked no better than in the third game and
had found no magic potion or words to his young opponent from putting
him through the wringer again. They were level at 4-all but that was the
end of Nicol and his dream of another Open title. Beachill volleyed, dropped,
cut, lobbed and drove, everything tight to keep Nicol powerless. After
nine minutes and 37 seconds it was all over, 15-4 in Beachill’s favour.
It was a stunning victory and an even more stunning defeat.
THE
GAME OF HIS LIFE
“That’s the best I’ve ever played in my life,” Beachill told the nearly
speechless journalists later. “The way I played tonight I think I can
beat anyone in the world.” Did he think he could do it? “I lost to him
in Ireland 3/1 and I felt then that had I worked a little harder and the
ball had run for me, I could have beaten him.
"We were 1/1 then and he came out and had a good start to the third game and beat me. Today I felt I should have won that second game, I had controlled it. So I just made sure I made a good start for the third game and I did. I always felt that I was in control and by keeping it tight, it stopped him volleying. I loved playing on this court – I won the British championship on it in February,” Beachill said, still not appearing the slightest bit tired.
The semi-finals both feature Australians playing Englishmen, which means there could be an all Australian final , An Aussie vs Limey final, or an all English final, which would be the first time this has happened since 1939. Beachill will play Aussie David Palmer while Chris Walker will play John White, the Aussie-turned-Scot. I am finished with predictions. ( Power will be delighted with this upset: it means he will keep the number one spot in the July rankings).
