Commonwealth
Games 2002:
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2002 Commonwealth Games Day Three
by Martin Bronstein in London, July 28 2002

[last update was 31-jul-02 ]

A NEW VERSION OF THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS
Carol Owens is wearing her new citizenship like a ballgown: she is now dressed in the all - black strip of New Zealand (soooo slimming!) and playing in it gives her an aura of duchess.

Her positive attitude is also to do with being at home in Auckland for the last eight weeks(she blamed her poor performance in the British Open to being on the road too long). So she took to the court full of good vibrations.

Her opponent, Madeleine Perry of Northern Ireland, was nervous at facing someone ranked 22 places above her. This was not the same confident player that I reported winning the Mega Italia Open in Brescia a couple of months back. Perry. She was unable to hit decent length and too many shots ended in that no-man's-land lies halfway between the tin and the service line. She was also hanging back well behind the T` and all of this was meat for the Owens war machine. She missed no opportunity to go short, cracked in some wonderful straight nicks on the forehand and was simply not troubled by the erratic Perry.

ONE POINT IS GOOD, NO?
The first two games were gone 10 minutes, without Perry picking up a point and when she started the third game by going for backhand drops - which tinned - an embarrassing 27-0 whitewash seemed inevitable. But at 0-5 Perry finally hit a shot to good length forcing weak reply from Owens which Perry put away for a winner. She did the same thing again in the next rally to win her first point and she raised her arms as though in victory. Owens hit her usual funny patch but it only lasted for a couple of minutes. She closed out the match with a 9-4 third game, the whole affair lasting nineteen minutes and 20 seconds.

On the second glass court Paul Price and Mark Chaloner, who had started at exactly the same time, were still at 6-all in the first game. Perry can play much better than this, but she doesn't get to play on a glass court too often nor does she face the world number two very much.

Owens explained her new-found straight nick winners by saying she has been practising a lot of doubles and that had helped her short game. She still, however, refuses to put pressure on herself. When asked how badly she wants the gold medal, she replied: "I want it but not as much as Sarah. She's put a lot of pressure on herself. I would like to win it, but if I don't, it won't be the end of the world."

This inability to take a do or die attitude on the court with her could be the cause of her not achieving the number one spot in the world. She could not resist a dig at her old country, with whom she has had a fraught relationship. "I feel more at home playing for New Zealand than I ever did playing for Australia. The support from everyone is fantastic. We sit together in the canteen because we want to and the other Kiwi athletes know when we're playing and get behind us. It's just fantastic."

On her somewhat distant relationship with Leilani Rorani, New Zealand's top player until her Achilles problem earlier this year, Owens said they are now team-mates and get on well. "She's done fantastically well to come back from an Achilles problem and she needs my support and I give it too her," she said with finality.

THE ZAMANS - NOT A CREDIT TO THEIR COUNTRY - YET
Stewart Boswell may have taken a little longer than Owen in his 3/0 defeat of Shahid Zaman, but those extra minutes added no more indication of Boswell's state of body or mind. The young Pakistani was badly under-rehearsed for the first game losing it 1-9 in just minutes. For his part Boswell merely had to go through the motions to win points. Even in the second game in which Zaman managed six points, there was never solid evidence that he could mount a serious challenge. But at the start of the third he hit a purple patch when his short game - his favoured mode of play - started to find its mark and for about six rallies, he controlled the play. But then his shots started to hit the tin and from 2-5 his heart was no longer in the battle and he gave away the last points on futile attempts at winners. Boswell would have liked a better warm-up for his quarter final match tomorrow with fellow Australian Paul Price who beat Mark Chaloner 3/0 but took 94 minutes to do it.

DIFFERENT STROKES FOR ORNERY FOLKS

Power powers past Zaman (photo © 2002 Fritz Borchert)

Jonathon Power faced another Zaman, Mansoor, reckoned to be the most promising of the new pack of young Pakistanis, and while he never dismissed him in the same short time, it was a very similar story: these descendants of Hashim are not prepared to put in the fight,. The first game was over in under six minutes, the only notable event was when Power led at 7-0 and Zaman hit a shot down the middle of the court. Power held his racket long enough for his opponent to clear and then hit the ball, but not before the referee called 'Stroke'. The players were prepared to play on but the marker called a halt. Power said he didn't want the stroke but the referee was adamant.: "I called a stroke," was her autocratic response. It would have been nice had she admitted her mistake and played a let. The call stood and Power was now at game point, which he won The second game went more or less the same way, 9-0 in five minutes but Zaman redeemed himself a little in the third when he decided to keep with Power, with the result of some very good rallies. Zaman picked up two points but Power was using his delay with delightful effect and as fast as Zaman was, he could not run in two directions at once. After 24 minutes Power had the match 3/0 after yet another not very satisfactory work out.

RESULTS MEN'S THIRD ROUND
Peter Nicol (Eng) bt Anthony rickets (Aus) 9-5, 9-0, 10-8.
Graham Ryding (Can) bt Ong Ben Hee (Mas) 3-9, 9-4, 9-2, 9-0.
David Palmer (Aus) bt Alex Gough (Wal) 9-6, 9-7, 9-7.
Chris Walker (Eng) bt Martin Heath (Sco)3-9, 9-6, 7-9, 9-7, 9-1.
Paul Price (Aus) bt Mark Chaloner (Eng) 9-7 9-6 9-4
Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt Shahid ZamanKhan (Pak) 9-1 9-6 9-2
Lee Beachill (Eng) bt David Evans (Wal) 9-2 9-4 9-3
Jonathon Power (Can) bt Mansoor Zaman (Pak) 9-0 9-0 9-2

WOMEN'S SECOND ROUND
Sarah Fitz-Gerald Aus) bt Sharon Wee (Mas) 9-2, 9-0, 9-2
Stephanie Brind (Eng) bt Wendy Maitland (Sco) 9-5, 2-9, 7-9, 9-0, 9-0.
Leilani Rorani (NZ) bt Nicol David (Mas) 9-5, 8-10, 9-5, 9-2
Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt Pamela Nimmo (Sco) 9-4, 9-3, 9-4.
Carol Owen (NZ) bt Madeleine Perry(NIR) 9-0 9-0 9-4
Linda Charman (Eng) bt Natalie Grinham (Aus) 9-7 9-1 9-1
Cassie Jackman (Eng) bt Shelley Kitchen (NZ) 9-2, 9-0 9-6
Tania Bailey (Eng) bt Melanie Jans (Can) 9-1, 9-39-3

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