Commonwealth
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2002 Commonwealth Games Semis I
by Martin Bronstein in London, July 30 2002

[last update was 31-jul-02 ]

Martin Bronstein, live from Manchester on Tuesday Afternoon

Nicol shows his Class, Fitz Sails on

  
NICOL SHOWS STRENGTH AND CLASS

Nicol's will to win kicks in against Palmer (photo © 2002 Fritz Borchert)

David Palmer can be a class act when he puts his mind to it. For one game today he showed just how classy he can be when he outplayed Peter Nicol with a combination of power, accuracy and winning shots that threatened to bury the world number one. He played the right shots at the right time, gave Nicol no openings and finished with his very own version of the volley drop - inch perfect and into the nick. He should have won this first game, leading 6-2 and looking all the world as though he were the number onee and Nicol was the upstart challenger. But Nicol is hard as nails and he has the mentality of a winner. As Jonah Barrington once said, winners expect to win, losers expect to lose. And deeow down in the subconsciences of both these marvellous squash players, I believe that observation was at work.

STROKE OF BAD LUCK?

Palmer focused on the ref (photo © 2002 Fritz Borchert)

Sadly Palmer thinks that the refs have it in for him and when Nicol finally got the serve back he was awarded a stroke to make it 6-3. Palmer was not impressed with this and ended the next rally with a backhand boast into tin (I will find medical evidence to prove that the backhand boast is the worst shot in squash) to make it 6-4 at which point Nicol was awarded another stroke to make it 6-5.

This was a debatable decision but necessarily an outright blasphemy, but from that point on the weight shifted to Nicol and slowly and surely, as only he can, he pulled level and overtook the Australian and walked off the court a relieved winner when Palmer slammed the serve into the tin to give Nicol the game 9-7 after a truly incredible 36 ½ minutes of remarkable, gripping squash.

A LONG TIME BETWEEN POINTS
To show just how the weight had shifted from the time Palmer scored his seventh point in the first game to the time he scored his next point in the second game 15 minutes had elapsed. To put it another way, Palmer scored one point in 27 minutes of squash, because despite some wonderful rallies, superhuman retrievals and balls that clung to the wall, Nicol won the second game 9-1 in 22 minutes. This was due to a combination of Nicol's ability to play at a high level for five games, with an accuracy on his short game that must surely bring tears to the yes of his opponents who manage to get to his drops shots but they are so soft and tight, they cannot pick them up.

Whereas there was a visible diminution of level from Palmer until the middle of the third game when he was trailing 0-6. He won a couple of rallies, hit an ace serve into the nick and suddenly he was back in the hunt he pulled back to 5-7 and then two costly errors on a forehand boast and a forehand drive put Nicol at match point. Nicol put a loos ball to the forehand side, Palmer went for a cross court slam into the nick which came up high enough for Nicol to drive to the back, leaving Palmer stranded at the front. There was a huge roar from the packed seats and Nicol assured the Games organisers a full house for tomorrow's final.

PETER NICOL (ENG) bt DAVID PALMER (AUS) 9-7, 9-1 9-5

FITZ FOR A QUEEN

Battle of the Green and Yellow from downunder (photo © 2002 Fritz Borchert)

Why don't we just crown Sarah Fitz-Gerald Queen of Squash and be done with it? Today she played Rachael Grinham, fellow Aussie and team mate, in a highly entertaining semi-final in which Grinham mounted a most intelligent challenge, a well-thought out strategy of slow pace and stunning long drops.

For stretches it did what it was intended to do, undermine Fitz-Gerald's games of pure power, but Fitz still managed to win. Grinham lobbed the ball over Fitz-Gerald's head, stroked the ball to beautiful dying length and hit the most incedible winning drops from the back of the court.

She did everything right, yet the bottom line was that you can't fell a giant with a water pistol, no matter how pretty the water and how big the nozzle. Fitz-Gerald can hit her way out of trouble and she can do it for a long time without showing distress; nobody but a couple of players can match her in that consistency and fitness level. And so she wins.

The score, 9-2 9-2 9-6, does not do Grinham justice, but after 35 minutes she was exhausted, sweat still dripping from her face as she spoke to the press ten minutes later. "I though I had a chance today, but Sarah just powered me off the court.It is so hard to get the ball past her and the only way is to lobe ber. I was hoping she would get nervous but you have to stay with her to five all or six all to make her nervous and I couldn't do it. I played well and I enjoyed it because I was more relaxed today."

Carol Owens should beat Cassie Jackman; if she does she will need every bit of concentration and determination to beat Fitz-Gerald. She did it two years ago in the World Open, so there is a precedent. But you won't find anybody to put money on a Owens win.

SARAH FITZ-GERALD (AUS) BT RACHAEL GRINHAM (AUS) 9-2 9-2 9-6.

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