Elriani, Galvez Steal the Show
Jan 21, 2005, by Ryan Barnett, SquashTalk correspondent, Independent News Service © 2005 all Rights Reserved;

Barker Looks Flawless   [draw/results]

It was time to get busy as main draw action got underway at the 2005 Talisman Energy Bankers Hall Club Pro-Am. Four matches during the lunch hour followed by an evening session saw Calgary's Bankers Hall Club jammed to the rafters all day long.

Up first we had England's Ben Garner up against the smooth stylish Pakistani qualifier Khawaja Adil Maqbool. Fresh off of his Vancouver title "The Radish" was looking to make it two for two in Western Canada but knew as a result of a first round exit last year that nothing is for certain.

Anyways, Garner was on fire in the opening game, dictating the pace, reading the play and pretty much having his way with Maqbool. He built an early 4-2 lead then put his foot on the gas and thanks to numerous errors from his opponent closed the opener 11-2

Game #2 was much closer. Maqbool seemed to settle down, tightened up his error count, and began hitting the ball with much more precision to both the front and back corners. Thus the rallies were longer and his confidence grew and he began to display some creativity. He was holding his shots(especially on the forehand) which froze Garner and this allowed him to flick the ball to the opposite direction and keep the pressure on the Englishman. Garner suddenly found himself in a game and at 6-6 adjusted with the boast. Time and time again when the rally was going up and down the backhand wall he deliberately fired in the odd boast. This produced some sloppy drops from Maqbool and a few tins and saw Garner take a 9-7 lead. Maqbool took the next point with a paper tight volley drop but a drop error followed and Garner had game ball at 10-8. After Garner tinned a forehand Maqbool still had a chance at 9-10 but hope was extinguished as Garner quickly blew out the candle hammering his service right into the nick and walked off the court with a 2-0 lead.

The third was a carbon copy of the first. Garner demonstrated his superior game and stormed out to a 6-2 lead. Maqbool managed to grab a couple points but the end result was an 11-4 thrashing and a trip to the 2nd round for Garner. Post match he commented "For the most part I was really trying to keep it straight as you don't want to hit too many crosscourts on these courts. I used the boast to try and keep him off balance and that allowed me to wrong foot him quite a bit in the third. I'm glad to have won 3-0 as my confidence is high right now. My body might be a bit tired due to all of the squash I've played lately but winning keeps you feeling good and going forward."

The other noon match could of been billed as "The Battle of the Sick" Both Frenchman Jean-Michel Arcucci and Lee Drew were not at 100% for this encounter. Arcucci took this one 3 straight and thankfully it only took 25mins to complete. Arcucci said, "We both were really sick last night with the flu. I think that Lee wanted to make it a fast game as he knew we couldn't stay on court too long. He was trying to attack every shot and making most of the mistakes is why I won"

Time to check the cell for messages, dial into the office, no fires to put out so onward to the Tommy Berden/Timothy Manning showdown. First time I've seen Berden in action and to be honest was impressed by his shot selection.

Manning, yet another Aussie disciple of the AIS, gave the Dutchman everything he could handle despite bowing out in straight games.

The turning point in this match occurred in Game #2 with Manning leading 7-3 just needing 4 points to even things up. He squandered his opportunity as Berden clawed back thanks to some great shotmaking a combination of tight rails, feather drops, and lobs. He really has nice touch to the front as well. The score leveled at 8-8 then Berden assumed total control taking the next three points and with it the second game.

Obviously Manning knew that he let one slip and another close one followed in the third but come crunch time with the score tied at 6 Berden pulled away building a 10-7 lead and hung on for the 11-9 win.

Last match of the afternoon was another 3-0 demolition. 11-4, 11-2, 11-2.
Nothing much to report as Philip Barker booked his spot in the quarters making it look easy against Aaron Francomb who appeared to perhaps be suffering some lingering effects from the flu bug as well.

Onto the evening session and the match of the night. Last years surprise finalist Alex Stait up against another Frenchman, qualifier Laurent Elriani.

This one was a battle, going the distance and one of those matches that when you win it's huge, lose it's devastating. A real see-saw affair with little to choose between players as both took turns dominating the other. After an extremely tight third game which Elriani won in a tiebreaker the fourth game saw Stait emerge with an 11-9 victory. I had visions of last year's 5 game heroics from Stait. Too bad for the Englishman, Elriani played a flawless 5th game and claimed the scalp of the event's #6 seed winning the decider 11-6.

Time for #1 seed Peter Barker to spring into action against Canadian Shawn De Lierre. First off let me say Barker is a great player, he will be extremely tough to beat, let alone get a game off of this tournament. Did I say that? Actually this is what some of the players have told me so how's that for respect? De Lierre played great, as good, if not better than yesterday. Problem is it wasn't good enough on this day. Barker made sure that both brothers would be around come Friday taking this one 3-0 and never looked threatened.

His opponent will be another Canadian, Matthew Giuffre. In an all-Canuck match-up Giuffre wasted little time with Ian Power(42mins) and will get his shot at Peter Barker tomorrow. This one will be interesting as Giuffre definitely has the locals on his side thus may be able to draw off the energy of the crowd and summon a stellar performance. He's going to need it.

Last match of the night. Mexican Eric Galvez going up against the #3 seed Welshman Gavin Jones. Galvez surprised many last year duplicating Elriani's feet by coming through qualifying and making it to the quarters. Ironic that as a result of his 3-1 victory over Jones that it's Elriani who he'll face on Friday. The Galvez/Jones was a great match chalked full of controversy.

A tight Game #1 level at 6, 7, 8, & 9 saw Galvez close things with a drop nick and a stroke decision. Jones wasn't to pleased about the Mexican's tactics in the opening stanza as he felt that Galvez was pushing him from behind. Ramming into him. As the players left the court for their break Jones decided to give Galvez a gentle nudge from behind. Galvez didn't like this and warned Jones to back off. Cooler heads prevailed.

The second game was equally as close. With the score tied at 7 Galvez committed four errors in succession making this a best of three affair.

Game #3 was physical and referee John Cox had his hands full. Jones was clearly displeased with Galvez's lack of clearing and the way he was coming in from behind whenever he dropped. He openly argued many of Cox's decisions feeling he should of been awarded strokes and not simply lets. That running from behind thing was also bothering him a bit I'll bet. Galvez took another nail biter this time 11-8 much to the chagrin of Jones. He fired his racket into the floor upon the conclusion and was quickly issued a conduct warning.

At this point Jones appeared to have lost focus. Being on what he perceived the wrong end of most decisions. After one call where a let was given in lieu of what Jones felt should of been a stroke. He spun his racket on the floor (like you do when deciding who serves first at the beginning of the match) picked it up, looked at it and said "Yes, it's a let" Theatrics aside Galvez cruised through Game #4 winning 11-7. Post match he refused to comment on the officiating stating simply that it was the same for both players. Looking ahead to his 8Pm encounter with Elriani he said "We've played before, about 3 or 4 months ago in Houston. I won 3-0"

1st Round Results
Ben Garner(Eng) beat Khawaja Adil Maqbool 3-0 (11-2, 11-9, 11-4) 27mins Jean-Michel Arcucci(Fra) beat Lee Drew(Eng) 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-2) 25mins Philip Barker(Eng) beat Aaron Francomb(Aus) 3-0 (11-4, 11-2, 11-2) 39mins Tommy Berden(Neth)beat Timothy Manning(Aus) 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-9) 46mins Laurent Elriani(Fra) beat Alex Stait(Eng) 3-2 (11-6, 7-11, 11-10(2-1), 9-11, 11-6)85mins Peter Barker(Eng) beat Shawn De Lierre(Can) 3-0 (9-4, 9-8, 9-3) 31mins Matthew Giuffre(Can) beat Ian Power(Can) 3-0 (11-4, 11-10(3-1), 11-6) 42mins Eric Galvez(Mex) beat Gavin Jones(Wal) 3-1 (11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7) 69mins

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