THE GAULTIER-GOLAN DRAMA IN THREE ACTS

Inside 15 minutes Borje Golan had won two games by the same score 11-3. (Photo: © 2006 Debra Tessier)

The dining room on the 9th floor of the University Club was built to resemble a church, stained glass windows everywhere. Despite the glass court and the sound of a squash ball being thwacked, one's first instinct is to kneel and pray.

It is in this splendidly dated environment that North America's biggest tournament is being played, the only absentee from the world's top 30 being  Lee Beachill who withdrew with a leg injury.

The first round matches were split between today and Friday and while most results were predictable, the meeting between tenth seeded Gregory Gaultier of France and qualifier Borje Golan was anything but. As the match unfolded it became inexplicable. The mystery came in three acts: in the first act Gaultier outplayed the young Spanish upstart 11-4 - after all Golan is seeded 36 places below Gaultier and you would expect that. The second act saw a complete plot reversal as Golan took charge, and judging from Gaultier's body language, took the Frenchman's confidence with it. Gaultier was almost throwing points away. He looked dispirited and acted as though he wanted to get out of the court as soon as possible. Inside 15 minutes Golan had won two games by the same score 11-3.

At this point I would have bet my house and entire flute collection on Golan going through to the next round. But I reckoned without Act Three, which featured another amazing plot reversal.

In the fourth game Gregory found a bit of fight and managed to hang in until 6-6. The next rally must have been around 70 shots, all over the court with both players dishing it out and taking it on the chin. Breathtaking stuff. Gaultier ended it with a perfect length shot that died in the nick of the back wall, and he was 7-6 ahead. That was the turning point and from there he took control of the game that at one point he desperately wanted to lose. He won the game 11-8  and then, get ready for the big surprise ending folks, he totally dominated the fifth to win it without dropping a point.

"At 0-4 in the fifth I got into a big argument with the referee. I lost my head and my focus. From that point on I was not thinking," Golan told SquashTalk. "It's my fault I lost my thoughts out there completely."

It could be argued that a tired Golan spent too much time appealing - most dramatically, to the referee which destroyed his focus, but the fact was Gaultier showed why he is ranked where he is today.  His victory puts him against Jonathon Power in Saturday's second round. It was just a week ago that they met in the Canadian Classic in Toronto where Power had to work too hard for his victory, leaving him too drained to offer a challenge to Amr Shabana in the final.

ABBAS UPSETS ONG BENG HEE

Ong Beng Hee was the first upset of the 2006 Windy City Open. (Photo: © 2006 Debra Tessier)

Both players from Egypt  won today, with Mohammed Abbas, ranked  21, upsetting Ong Beng Hee, ranked 15 In the longest match of the day (63 minutes) Abbas showed restraint in going for his shots and patience in the fairly long rallies. He won the first game 11-5, and when Beng Hee took control to easily win the second 11-8 (despite the score he was always in charge) it looked as though he would control the rest of the match.

But he made errors when  going for shots  when he didn't have to. Abbas is a born shotmaker and  given time he will go for shots and make errors. Beng Hee didn't give him that time - he made the errors first. Abbas won the last two games 11-9, 11-9 which shows just how close it was. Had Beng Hee played with more patience and been happy to keep the ball in  play he would be playing in the second round rather than packing his suitcase.

GRANT KNOWS HIS OPPONENTS
Adrian Grant of England had a much easier time than anybody else today because he knew that  Shahid Zaman cannot resist going for winners and his success rate is much lower than 50%. In the first game Zaman played a tattoo on the tin eight times against three winners. Grant won that game in  nine minutes. The second game featured another sevne errors and Grant won that 11-6 in five minutes. Zaman tried to cool it a little in the third and even made a comeback from 1-5 down to 7-8 but a couple more errors  and a winning backhand drive gave Grant his 11th point and it was all over. A nice 26 minute work out for Grant, who actually might have appreciated a little more time on the court.

SHABANA STARTS SLOW FINISHES LIKE A ROCKET
Amr Shabana always looks a little sleepy when he appears on court.  He certainly started slowly  against Cameron Pilley and lost the first game  in 11 minutes.  Pilley's joy was short -lived: Shabana came out for the second and biff! wallopp! bang! the winners were flying in all over the place. Fastg? You bet.  In five minutes of exhibition shot-making Shabana had it won 11-3. Pilley put up a much better fight in the third but he still lost - 11-8, in seven minutes, which shows just how short the rallies were. Shabana wrapped it up with an eight-minute fourth game 11-5 to advance to a second round meeting with Adrian Grant.

THE YOUNG TURKS BATTLE IT OUT

Laurens Jans Anjema and James Willstop played young man's squash, fast and furious. (Photo: © 2006 Debra Tessier)

England and Netherlands both have outstanding young prospects in James Willstrop and  Laurens  Jan Anjema. Willstrop has made his mark having risen to world number two, while Anjema is still making his way up the rankings.(Presently he is 28) They played young man's squash, fast and furious - and that's an understatement. Some of the rallies were absolutely breathtaking not just for the speed but for the incredible accuracy of both players. Willstrop won the first game and Anjema led 10-7 in the second, ready to tie the match. But Willstrop is one helluva competitor and reeled off five points in a row to win 12-10. 

"I had game two in front of me. It was being presented on a plate and I didn't take it." Anjema said. "It was all there right in front of me. Too much traveling in the past two months and therefore not enough training. I didn't have the razor sharp focus."

The third game was really no contest as the incredible pace told on Anjema and he could not mount anywhere near the challenge that he had in the first two games.  Willstrop, like Power, is able to play at a tremendous pace and can distribute the ball to the four corners.  Anjema could not stay the pace, but it won't be long before he can.

Now Anjema heads back to Holland to focus on the important prize of the Dutch Nationals, and then the American audience will see him in New York at the TOC in February.

SSA GLOBAL WINDY CITY OPEN 2006
FIRST ROUND - Top Half of Draw
FULL RESULTS FROM THURSDAY JANUARY 19TH 2006

[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) def Mark Chaloner (ENG) 11-5,11-6, 11-9,(45 mins)
[7] Amr Shabana (EGY) def Cameron Pilley (AUS) 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-5 (38 mins)
Adrian Grant (ENG) def Shahid Zaman (PAK)  1--9, 11-6, 11-8 (26 mins)
[6] Jonathon Power (CAN) def Liam Kenny 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (41 mins)
[10] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) def  Borja Golan (ESP)11-4, 3-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-0 (57 mins)
[4] David Palmer (AUS) def Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-7, 11-8, 11-2 (38 mins)
Mohammed Abbas (EGY)  def [15] Ong Beng Hee (MAL) 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9 (63 mins)
[2] James Willstrop (ENG) def Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-8, 11-10 (2-1), 11-4 (40 mins)

The remaining eight first round matches will be played on Friday.

More first round action from the University Club of Chicago. (Photos: © 2006 Debra Tessier)