1st Round - top half
Aug 11, 2004, By Martin Bronstein at the
Crucible Theatre in Sheffield England.; SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2004

[draw]

LAST TO FIFTEEN

When Mamut, a Norwegian software company that is expanding to England, decided to sponsor the English Open, little did they suspect that would be sponsoring a historic tournament, one that will close the door on the fifteen point game.

Although the promoters wanted to move to the new 11 point system, the PSA denied the request because they had announced that the new system would make its debut at the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open later this month.

The tournament opened with two old stagers, Simon Parke and Mark Chaloner, both over 30, and both veterans of England teams, who are still pursuing squash’s glittering prizes on the PSA circuit while other, younger players have retired to a life of coaching

Simon Parke has been playing at the top level since the age of 12 and despite 20 years of professional squash and a bout with cancer, his body is still holding up, which is remarkable in itself.

He and Chaloner opened carefully and played a two- minute first rally just to remind us all what length and tightness is all about. Parke in particular has a wonderfully trained backhand which can fire the ball high and tight into the back left corner with absolute precision, regardless of stretch and speed.

Although all the rallies were evenly contested and Chaloner gave as good as he got – better when he used his inside-out shots to send Parke the wrong way – it was always Parke who got out of trouble with his still incredible court speed coupled with some smashing overhead slams into the nick.

It was a hard 19-minute game with Parke winning 15-8 but the difference was less than the score suggested. Chaloner demonstrated by going virtually point for point in the second game and at one stage taking a 13-11 lead. But Parke has been here before and pulled level with solid percentage play before running out a 15-13 winner after 18 minutes.

Chaloner, once known for his incredible fitness rather than his racket skills, was first to show the effects of nearly 40 minutes of squash and his errors helped Parke to notch up a comfortable lead from 7-6 to run through to a 15-7 win for a 3/0 victory. The match didn’t set the Crucible Theatre alight but it did remind us that Parke was one of the best players to come out of Britain in the last 20 years.

Simon Parke (ENG) bt Mark Chaloner (ENG) 15-8, 15-13, 15-7 (58mins)

LOCAL BOY MAKES GOOD - JUST

The seats filled up for the second match of the evening when local hero Nick Matthew, now up to 8 in the world, took on the veteran Alex Gough, a former world number for who is still a considerable force on the circuit. Gough was giving his younger opponent ten years, which is almost impossible in today’s game of explosive speed and attacking squash, yet Gough demonstrated that age matters little when there is a mass of skill to call on.

Gough upset the form book by taking charge from the beginning and, using some wonderful disguise, left Matthew flatfooted on more than one occasion. Gough was soon in full flow and not making himself popular among the spectators who had come to see local here Matthew chalk up another victory. Matthew grew up in Sheffield and learnt the game at the Hallamshire club managed by his father.

Gough pulled ahead from 5-5 and stayed ahead despite some solid challenges from Matthew. When he hit the winner at 15-11 the audience was not amused. Matthew managed to reverse things in the second game, winning 15-13 and then ran through the third 15-4 in quick time as Gough gave up trying.

If Matthew thought his older opponent was finished he was in for a big surprise as the Welshman, ranked 18 places below him, picked up his game again, handled everything that Matthew threw at him and still came up with winners of his own to take the fourth 15-10 and set up a big fifth game decider.

The Matthew clique were in for more anxiety as Gough continued in the fifth and led 10-8. There were a couple of decisions that left Gough feeling hard done by (with good reason in my estimation) and Matthew was back in the game and realizing that he could not play anything the slightest bit loose. Leading 12-11, Matthew hit 17 consecutive shots down the left wall, high and tight, daring Gough to try something fancy, Gough replied in kind, but Matthew’s intelligent play got him the point to put him at 13-11. There followed a dynamic rally, explosions all over the court and when Matthew hit a sizzling backhand cross court the last thing he expected was Gough sprinting the front wall and hitting forehand drop for a winner. It was 13-12 and nobody was betting on anybody. Gough hit a forehand into the tin to give his opponent match ball and then hit a superb backhand drop to make the score 14-13. A loose shot from Gough, a perfect winning backhand drop from Matthew which brought a strangled “aaaaaagh! from Gough, and the Sheffield lad had scraped through.

“I was surprised by his physical strength,” admitted Gough. “And I didn’t spend enough time at the front of the court. I was happy with the way I played but not too happy with two decisions at a crucial time in the fifth. One of them when I was denied a let, I could have walked to and got it,” said Gough.

Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Alex Gough (WAL) 11-15, 15-13, 15-4, 10-15, 15-13 (90 MINS)

NICOL DULL START BUT GOOD FINNISH

Peter Nicol is enjoying life these days, spending half the time training and playing most of the time as well as ever. He started slowly against Finland’s Olli Tuominen hitting loose balls and not putting the sort of pressure on his opponent that was a hallmark of Nicol at his zenith. Tuominen made the most of the situation to lead 3-1 but then gradually the Nicol knot started to tighten and Nicol dominated to lead 11-6. Tuominen started to play a little more aggressively, hit some fine drop shots stop the Nicol domination and gradually pulled himself back into contention moving from 13-7 to 13-ll. Nicol stopped the run with a tight backhand to get to game point but on the next rally it was the Finn who pulled the strings and when he had Nicol trapped behind him with the ball at his mercy, Tuominent played a sloppy backhand drop which hit the tin. It was a 16 minute game and although the Finn has a reputation for fitness, he soon started to feel the effect of being moved around the court -as well as the psychological effect of an opponent who makes virtually no errors. Nicol won the second game 15-9 in ten minutes and moved to a 7-4 lead in the third. It was here that Tuominen realized was that the only way he was going to beat Nicol was to play stone cold winners. And he did too, from 7-3 down he hit three winners in a row, then a forehand dropshot into the tin followed by an overhead slam for a dead nick to trail 7-8. This great comeback was stopped when he was denied a let and from that moment on Nicol was back in charge and ran out a 15-9 winner in 12 minutes to take the match 3/0.

RICKETTS RETURNS TO BEAT THE SON OF A LEGEND
The good news is Anthony Ricketts is back – with a smile on his face. Earlier in the year he had keyhole surgery twice on his right knee, the surgeon finally finding the offending bit of tissue that had caused Ricketts so much grief. He has been back in training for five weeks now and says the knee is giving no problems. He faced Joey Barrington, son of the great Jonah, and smoothly dispatched him in 47 minutes. Ricketts uses his feet to get to the ball, Barrington prefers the wide-legged stretch; Ricketts earned points with pace forcing errors from Barrington’s racquet. It was really no match for the former world number six but it was a nice way to ease his way back into competition after an 8-month layoff.

First Round Results:

[1] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Olli Tuominen (FIN) 15-11, 15-9, 15-9 (42mins)

[5] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [Q] Joey Barrington (ENG) 15-10, 15-7, 15-7 (47mins)

[4] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Alex Gough (WAL) 12-15, 15-13, 15-4, 10-15, 15-13 (94mins)

[Q] Simon Parke (ENG) bt [8] Mark Chaloner (ENG) 15-8, 15-13, 15-7 (58mins)

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