Martin Bronstein reporting from THE EYE GROUP BRITISH OPEN
NATALIE GRAINGER HAD SOME BAD RESULTS two months back due to re-arranging her life from South Africa to Britain and moving house to Nottingham. Before the Open she said she had herself back on track and was playing as well as ever. Today she made good her words by beating Carol Owen, the Australian who replaced her at world number four.
And what a cracking battle it was, full of surprises, turns of fortune and some tremendously meaty squash.
It didn't start that way as Grainger totally overwhelmed Owens, taking the first game 9-2 in just six and a half minutes. Both players were moving very well and hitting the ball with conviction but it was Grainger's length and width that had Owens hitting errors.
It continued into the second game with Grainger cruising to an 8-0 lead in 4 minutes and it seemed as though Owens was collapsing as she did in the Al Ahram International final against Michelle. But she did exactly the reverse. After the service had changed hands five times at 8-0, Owens gradually pulled out of the dive and soon it was Grainger who was finding it impossible to win a point. Owens drives and perfect drops soon had her level at 8-all. Grainger finally managed to win a point to get to 9-8 and an error from Owens made it 10-8 after 15 minutes.
Two games down meant nothing to either player, it seems. Owens had the third game 9-0 in under six minutes and never lost the lead in the fourth to win and tie the match.
"I think I lost the way," Natalie was to say later, in the understatement of the tournament. "I just love the front of the court," was her excuse for the lapse.
Silly really, that's where she lost so many points.
The surprises had not finished: Owens was still in the ascendant and she continued her domination until she led 6-1 in the fifth which is when Grainger hit her form again, pulling back to 6-all. The serve changed hands four times at that score and three times at 7-all. Grainger hit one of her glorious high cross courts and Owens could only watch as it died in the back corner to put Grainger at match point. That finally took the fire out of Owens' belly and on the next point Grainger's back hand drop found her flatfooted on the T, giving Grainger the match.
JOYCE BEATS BRIND
It was a wonderfully entertaining 70 minute battle which earned the winner a semi-final place against Leilani Joyce, the New Zealander who beat Stephanie Brind , the young England player, 3/0. Joyce will certainly have to play much better if she really wants a place in the final.
Having seen all her matches I can only assume that she has not been pushed to show her best form or she is badly off form.
GOOD EVANS! MARSHALL'S GONE
The male of the species provided another gripping marathon when England's Peter Marshall, the supposed dark horse of the tournament, met Wales' David Evans, who just keeps getting better and better. He was the player that beat Simon Parke in the world teams event in Cairo and under the guidance of that shrewd Aussie, Chris Robertson, the former world number two, he just keeps improving.
Marshall is a very determined player who never knows when to quit - never wants to quit! Despite Evans fine holding pattern, Marshall seemed to get to everything and took a 2/l lead.
There were times in the fourth game when Marshall looked desparately tired but then suddenly he'd be racing around the court and picking up the drops again. Evans too persisted and took the fourth game 15-11 only to find himself 6-3 down in the final game. It was then he started going short and moving Marshall up to the front whenever he could and suddenly he had pulled up to 11-all, kept the momentum and ran out the winner 15-12 after 107 minutes of gut-wrenching squash.
POWERING UP
The Del Harris meeting with Jonathon Power was an entirely different planet. Hardly a rally more than a dozen shots and Power showing how much you can do with a lightning brain and an iron wrist. It was all over in 46 minutes with both players smiling more than scowling and Power showing why they call him The Magician.
Harris has been playing top squash for 14 years and has played all the top players over the last two generations, but even he could not read what shot would roll off Power's racket. Power won 15-11, 15-5, 15-11 and the spectators left the Conference Centre with smiles on their faces.
MOMENT OF TRUTH
Tomorrow,(Friday) is crunch time for the men in the quarter finals when Peter Nicol meets Anthony Hill, Paul Johnson and Simon Parke will try to prove who is England's number one, Evans will see if he can contain Barada and Martin Heath will try to outshoot Power. Stay tuned tomorrow evening and all will be revealed.
Yesterday, Peter Nicol told us that his game was peaking, and he emanated confidence. Today, post-match, Power said, "It's the best I've played in months."
