WJW Herentals 05
Individuals:
Days One/Two
Day Three Report
Rd of 16 Report
Quarters Report
Semis Report
Finals Report

Teams:
Draw/Results
Day 1 - Pools
Day 2 - Rpt 1
Day 2 - Final
1st KO Round
Quarters
Semis
Finals

 

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USA Beats France  [The Pools]

AUSTRALIA UPSETS SOUTH AFRICA

For the injury-ridden team from down under, today was like winning the tournament. Seeded ninth and knocked sideways by the absence of their top three juniors through injury, they will be delighted at their 2/1 win over South Africa, seeded seventh. The victory means that they go forward into the top eight which is more than they could have hoped for. True, they will now be playing Egypt in the quarters, a fixture they have no hope of winning, but they could still finish as high as five.

This is true of the USA who beat France to advance to a meeting with Malaysia in the quarters. The playing order favored the USA with Lily Lorentzen playing first and the number three, Amanda Siebert playing second.

It was an anxious time for coaches Mark Allen and Natalie Grainger, especially as Lorentzen nervously lost the first game to Camille Serne 3-9. Lorentzen admitted later that this bad start was a combination of nerves and not being focused. But she is a tough competitor and she came back to dominate Serne in no uncertain way, taking the next three games for the loss of five points. Lorentzen was too good and too fast for the Frenchwomen all over the court; indeed you wondered how she ever lost that first game.

Amanda Siebert did not have the same pressure on her today, knowing that even if she lost, there was Kristen Lange to mop up at second string. She lost the first game to Marjory Fosse, a player who can hit some nice winners but they come packaged with a whole bundle of dreadful errors. All Siebert had to do was keep the ball in play and eventually Fosse would tin the ball. Siebert played careful squash and put in her occasional backhand boast which always seemed to surprise her opponent and earn the American a valuable point. Fosse’s scream of anguish on each of her errors turned the event into what sounded like a horror movie.

Siebert kept control to win the second game 9-6 and the third 9-3. The French player looked to the referee too many times to give her the point, but Dean Clayton gently pointed out that she had to play the ball. In the fourth game the lead changed hands a couple of time before Siebert led 7-5. The next point would put her at match ball and Fosse fought like hell to stop that happening. The serve changed seven times at that score before Fosse tinned another serve and Siebert had match ball and made sure of the point and the victory which put US into the quarter-finals.

“Amanda didn’t freeze today as she did yesterday when she led 7-3. Today she made sure that her opponent would have to win the points and she played tough,” commented US coach Mark Allen.

In the evening US will be playing Malaysia and Siebert will be rested in favour of Emery Maine. Allen thinks they have chance of upsetting the second seeds. “This playing order is in our favour. Lily beat the Malaysian number one, Sally Looi, in the individuals and Kristen Lange could beat Low Wee Wern,” Allen said.

ENGLAND CONQUERS GERMANY
Canada will have to play England in the quarters as expected. The England team took a fairly comfortable 3/0 win over German with Rachel Wilmott spearheading the England team. A skilled player, Willmot suffers from blank spots which keep the England management on the therapist’s couch. Willmott lead Pamela Hathaway 8-2 in the first game and had one of her spells allowing Hathaway to catch up to 8-6 before pulling herself together to win 9-6. She led 5-1 in the second only to fall away as Hathaway won seven points in a row to get to game ball 8-5.

Wilmott (who could well be playing for a US University team next year) fought back to force extra points and won 10-8. She does it the hard way; she plays well but she doesn’t yet have the killer instinct. However she had done enough to destroy Hathaway who put up no resistance in the third allowing Willmott to win in one hand, 9-0 in four minutes.

England’s number three Susie King is a great little shotmaker and loves hitting the ball a millimeter above the tin. She shows absolutely no emotion on or off the court. Beside her, Buster Keaton looks like Jim Carrey.

She beat Eve Rixen in three games, but like her team-mate plays at a slow pace and could be susceptible to an opponent who cracks the ball hard.

Fiona Moverly won the dead rubber 2/1 to complete the operation, but England should not be complacent. Canada has the firepower in the first two strings and Glenn Stark, the Canadian coach, was videotaping the England team in action yesterday obviously looking for the weaknesses. Clever guy: while other coaches are taping their own games, he’s studying the opposition. Could go places, this man.

New Zealand beat Wales 2-1 to move forward into the quarter finals where they will play Hong Kong.