Commonwealth
Games 2002:
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2002 Commonwealth Games Quarters II
by Martin Bronstein in London, July 29 2002

[last update was 31-jul-02 ]

Martin Bronstein, live from Manchester on Monday Night

Power and Boswell Warm Up For Tomorrow's Clash

POWER STARTS BADLY, ENDS BEAUTIFULLY
Jonathon Power made a dreadful start in his quarter-final match against Lee Beachill, a start which made the possibility of a gold medal - or even bronze - look quite remote. He started by slamming Beachill's first serve into the tin and it went downhill from there.

Power gained control and made Beachill twist ... (photo © 2002 Fritz Borchert)

He made a further six errors and gave away eight strokes to his opponent - well, perhaps, not gave away considering his protestations to referee Jack Allen. While Power was making every effort to play the ball, Beachill was playing to the referee's generous nature. It is hard to believe, but Power got his first point after 13 minutes of play to make the score 1-6. Two more strokes to Beachill and it was 1-7 and on the 19th minute of play Power got his second point.

"I knew I was going to lose that game so I wanted to make it last as long as possible, to take his legs from him," Power said later.

And he succeeded: it was 27 minutes before Beachill hit a wonderful overhead volley into the nick to win the game 9-3.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE TWO MINUTES MAKE
After the break, Power just reeled off the points to win 9-0 in six minutes and forty seconds — whaaaa? How? What happened Jon?

"The ball was so bouncy in the first game, I couldn't keep it down and Beachill is the best at hitting a straight ball. If you twist and turn him and make him bend, you can take that away. But when the ball cools down in the intermission, it is never as bouncy in the second game, it dies. From then on I could control the play," he said by way of explanation.

THE PRESS ATTACHE AS HERO
The day was actually won in the long and well-fought third game. Power lost his serve on a stroke but got it back on his patented backhand chop-drop and went to a 3-1 lead at which point he asked for a 3-minute self-inflicted injury break, saying he stubbed his toe.

The Socks Swap (photo © 2002 Fritz Borchert)

The truth came out later: he had left all his laundry in the washer and could only find a cheap pair of socks in his bag. By the third game he was blistering so he came off to change socks.

Fortunately the Canadian team press attache was sitting in the press seats next to me. He was spoken to by another Canadian crew member and the poor man had to take his socks off and give them to Power.

Serves him right for wearing white socks with sandals.

Power put the socks on and went back to battle. Or perhaps torture because he was now in full 'I'm gonna make you run, turn, bend and gasp' mode and Beachill was made to work as Power would drive three balls and then chop a drop, mostly to the left front corner. Not a winning drop, mind you, but tight, which took Beachill to the front to bend low. Almost immediately he was on his way to the back of the court.

Power's error rate had dropped to almost nothing and he was still as fast as lightning no matter how long Beachill would hold a shot. Beachill stuck with it and even led 7-5, but then Power simply hit two beautiful forehand drops got a stroke, hit a backhand drop to get to 8-7 at which point Beachill played the worst shot in squash, the backhand boast and it hit tin to give Power the game after nearly 28 minutes. There was no coming back for Beachill, not when he had done so much hard work and when Power was in such a disciplined mood. He never gave up but he simply did not have the same control as he did in the first three games and Power duly took the fourth game 9-4 to end a delightful and gripping 83 minute match .

AN ALL-ENGLAND FARCE
England's women did not fare well: Tania Bailey lasted just one game against Carol Owens before dropping the next two games. England were certain to get at least a bronze when Cassie Jackman and Linda Charman played each other in a lacklustre match with the most excitement coming from the exchanges between both players and the referee who did indeed make some strange decisions, but then both players were guilty of sloppy shots leaving them open to stroke decisions - or, put another way, created situations which allowed the referee to influence the outcome.

Jackman had the last word against Charman (photo © 2002 Fritz Borchert)

This was not cohesive squash and for the most part devoid of any creative spark. Jackman finally won in five, but the score line tells a story: 9-2, 1-9, 9-1, 7-9, 9-2. Jackman started off with great confidence and the first game was won in seven minutes with rarely a rally over five shots. There was a complete rehearsal in the second game as Charman got over her nerves, found some length and won it 9-1 in just over seven minutes.

Jackman took the third by the same score giving the match a bizarre Alice In Wonderland feel. Having gifted each other a game, they decided to inject a little competition into the affair in the fourth which featured some half decent rallies and the occasional excitement. There were still too many errors and loose shots, which Jackman was later to attribute to nerves when she realised a medal was at stake. This allowed Charman to square the account and force a fifth game. Jackman went to a 6-0 lead and Charman tried to stop the rot slowing the pace right down, lofting the ball to the back and taking away Jackman's crashing drives. It didn't work and Jackman took the game 9-2 to earn at least a bronze medal.

If she doesn't improve her concentration and get over her nerves (which cost her the 1999 British Open) she will have to be content with just a bronze.

FLOOR CLEANERS GET THE SPOTLIGHT
With the air conditioning not working and spectators showing as much sweat as the squash players, the Paul Price versus Stewart Boswell match featured the floor wipers as much as the players, at times coming on between each point to wipe up the man-made puddles. This didn't improve the on-going niggling between the players, caused mainly by Price who took along time to serve and would then keep Boswell waiting when receiving serve. Boswell complained, the referee asked Price to speed up but was ignored.

Finally Price received a warning and things improved somewhat. This was an unusual situation because when two Aussies play each other, they play to the same set of ethics. Price won the first game but then the tall, spindley Boswell proved his number four world ranking by ignoring the constant whingeing and floor wiping to take the next three games with some hard hitting squash that featured some Price whiz-bang winners but also an awful lot of errors.

RESULTS
WOMEN'S QUARTER-FINALS
Sarah Fitz-Gerald (Aus) bt Stephanie Brind (Eng) 10-8, 9-3, 9-1.
Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt Leilani Rorani (NZ) 9-1, 10-8, 9-6.
Carol Owens (NZ) bt Tania Bailey (Eng)10-9, 9-0, 9-1
Cassie Jackman (Eng) bt Linda Charman 9-2 1-9 9-1 7-9 9-2

MEN'S QUARTER-FINALS
Jonathon Power (Can) bt Lee Beachill (Eng) 3-9, 9-0, 9-7, 9-4
Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt Paul Price (Aus) 6-9 9-4 9-4 9-2
Peter Nicol (Eng) bt Graham Ryding (Can) 9-1, 9-2, 9-3.
David Palmer (Aus) bt Chris Walker (Eng) 9-5, 9-1, 9-1

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