Price breaks through, Evans Wales first finalist, Joyce to face Wright

10.14.00 Birmingham, SquashTalk News by M Bronstein
(Paul Price file photo © 2000 Squashtalk)

[also MEN Semi final results] and [ WOMENS Semis]

THE BRITISH OPEN AT THE NATIONAL INDOOR ARENA IN BIRMINGHAM. 18:00 GMT

THE PRICE IS RIGHT….VERY RIGHT
Talk about cojones and you have to talk about this young Australian squash player Paul Price.

In the semi-finals of the British Open, when he never expected to get past the second round, and he's down 8-14 against the hometown favourite Mark Chaloner. He continues going for his shots, saves six game balls to tie it up 14-all. The referee comes to Chaloner's rescue and refuses Price a let to stop the rot, 15-14 to Chaloner. And then Price calls his own ball down to put his opponent at game ball again.

Still cool as ice, Price slots in his patented backhand drop to save another game ball, and then does it again to save the eighth game ball. And then, making it look like Chaloner is feeding him balls to practise the shot, Price hits another backhand drop to win 17-16 after 24 minutes of marvellous squash. If squash had to choose one match for its live television debut, they chose the right one. (And the television coverage is superb)

MORE WINNERS BUT MANY MORE ERRORS
Chaloner took the first point of the second with a forehand drop, and the second with a forehand slam winner and went on to retain the lead until he had the game 15-11. Chaloner hit four winners and made just two errors, while Price hit five winners and eight errors. It became clear, despite Chaloner winning this game, this he could not handle Price's arsenal of shots - and the courage to use them.

Price insisted that he kept the pace of the game down to his level, but he volleyed at every opportunity, while Chaloner can hit the occasional winner but prefers to take the ball off the back wall. When he starts to volley more, his game will take a leap forward. In the third game Price started to assert his superiority, kept up a constant pressure with his short game, hit seven outright winners against just two errors to win 15-7 in 13 minutes.

NEW BALL PLEASE? NO
The PSA has a cockamamie rule about changing the white ball (in a glass court match) if it gets dirty. Chaloner asked for a ball change after the third game, Price refused, wanted to keep the deader old ball. No fool he. In the fourth game after hitting a backhand into the tin to give Chaloner a 1-0 lead, he let loose; it was an absolutely astonishing display of shotmaking. A backhand roll corner, a forehand volley nick, a jumping overhead nick and a delayed forehand drop. Chaloner picked up two more points and then Price continued with another five outright winners to lead 11 -3. There was no way back for Chaloner and - like he needed them - Price took the game with strokes on the last two points.

HEAVEN IS A NEW GLASS COURT
Price admitted the the SRA's brand new ASB court suited him. "When I first practised on the new court on Wednesday morning, after one shot I thought I was in heaven," he said. He also revealed that he almost didn't play. "Not one inch of me thought I would be in the final. I never thought I'd get past the second round because I re-injured my back just before the Australian Open and told my coach that I should perhaps stop for the rest of the year and come back in January.

I worked with a new physio and played quite well in the Australian Open so I decided to come here for the Open. But I only had four or five practise matches before I came here," he said at the press conference afterwards. He also said that he had never beaten David Evans.

coverage CONTINUED next column ------>

FIRST WELSH FINALIST EVER
That piece of information should now send every man, woman and child in Wales wild with happiness, because David Evans, ranked 11 in the world , took his semi-final opponent David Palmer, ranked ninth, apart in their match. It took 51 minutes but Evans never looked like losing to the man who had beaten Jonathon Power in a bruising five game quarter-final. Evans said after his 15-5, 15-6, 15-11 win that he thought Palmer was slower than usual and kept to his game planned short game.

After winning the first two games his coach Chris Robertson, the former world number two who is now the Welsh national coach, told him that he hadn't won anything yet and to go out and keep up the pressure. He did but his 9-6 lead was pulled back and at 10-all, Evans, who had been concentrating on the front left corner, suddenly flicked the ball to the other side to go ahead. He was never headed and now becomes the first Welsh player to reach the final of the British Open. And if past form is anything to go by David Evans, 6ft 3", 170lbs, 25 years old, will be the first ever British Open champion.

JOYCE READY FOR A SECOND TITLE.
Linda Charman did almost exactly the same as Chaloner: she led Leilani Joyce 8-3 in the first game and then could do nothing as the Joyce all out attack ate away at the lead and then went on to win the game 10-8. Charman never really recovered from that psychological damage and lost the next game to zero in under six minutes. Joyce led 5-0 in the third; she had won 21 points in a row. Charman stopped the rot with a fine drop shot and got back to 4-6, but simply was never any doubt that Joyce was the better all-round player whose pressure would finally prevail. She won the third 9-4 in six minutes. She looks in wonderful shape to retain her British Open title.

OWENS GETS IT WRONG There seems to be two Carol Owens in this tournament; the one who went on court and with verve and flair knocked out former world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald in three straight, and the Owens who played a dull, length game to lose to Sue Wright, blowing the chance of a British Open final. This was a dismal match to watch; 63 minutes of predictable squash constantly punctuated by bickering as almost every shot involved one player blocking the other.

I suppose you have to praise Wright, a qualifier, for sucking Owens into her slow lobbing game and the fact that she knew when to put in the boast, but Owens must admit to herself that she got it all wrong. Or perhaps her corner man got it all wrong and gave the wrong advice. But if Owen had played against Wright she way she played against Fitz-Gerald, she would have won in three and now preparing to play Joyce in the final.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS The first game lasted 17 minutes and involved 17 decisions. Owens, leading 9-8, thought she had the game when Wright asked for a strange let, and walked off the court. She was ordered back on court and Wright was given the let and went on to win 10-9. Owens never seemed comfortable and allowed the constant bickering to get to her. She lost the second game and speeded things up in the third to take it quite comfortably 9-3. She went back into the slow lobbing game, Wright built up a 5-1 and Owens could do nothing about it.

Wright was absolutely delighted to get through to a British Open final at the age of 30. I would imagine her final opponent Leilani Joyce is just as delighted.

MEN
David Evans (Wal) bt David Palmer (Aus) 15-5, 15-6, 15-11.
Paul Price (Aus) bt Mark Chaloner (Eng) 17-16, 11-15, 15-7, 15-5.
WOMEN
Leilani Joyce (NZ) bt Linda Charman 10-8, 9-0, 9-4.
Sue Wright (Eng) bt Carol Owens (Aus) 10-9, 9-5, 3-9, 9-5.