BEACHILL STEPS UP, SHABANA AFOUL OF REFEREE  [Draw/Results]

Lee Beachill stepped up a notch to defeat Thierry Lincou in the first semi final. (photo © 2006 Fritz Borchert.)

Beachill: Confident in all phases of his game. (photo © 2006 Fritz Borchert.)

MASTERFUL BEACHILL NOTCHES UP FIRST WIN OVER LINCOU
Watching Lee Beachill take a straight games victory over Thierry Lincou, a player he has never beaten in tournament play before, put me in mind of that memorable British Open four years ago when Beachill did the same thing to Peter Nicol, then at the height of his power and seemingly unbeatable.

In Birmingham Beachill seemed to simply take the court away from Nicol, leaving the then number one almost helpless. Tonight Beachill was in a similar frame of mind and, as he told me before the match, fully confident in both his health and fitness.

We have to give Lincou his due; this was his ninth match in nine days. This is cruel and undeserved punishment for a professional athlete and he paid the price of trying to please everybody by being outgunned and outplayed by the gangly Yorkshireman.

Beachill said he had no idea that he had never beaten Lincou which made him even more determined. He played the perfect game from the very start, keeping the ball straight and leaving only the occasional opening for Lincou to start an attack. It may have been said a million times before but nevertheless it is still true: he who controls the T wins the match; Beachill controlled the T.

Shabana: What Happened? (photo © 2006 Fritz Borchert.)

When Lincou did go short with a drop or a controlled boast, Beachill loped forward to send it soaring to the back. He lifted the ball effortlessly, no matter how good the drop shot was. The Beachill defense was almost perfect and had the effect of a dripping tap as far as Lincou was concerned; severe psychological damage of the ball constantly coming back no matter what he tried. Furthermore he knew that the longer the rallies lasted the more trouble he was in: after nine days fatigue had to set in.

Lincou did not give up for the entire 46 minutes and Beachill rarely strayed from his chosen strategy. When he was leading 5-2 in the first game Lincou hit the tin four times in quick succession and from that point there was no way back for the Frenchman.

The second game was over even quicker with Lincou looking dispirited and obviously unable to summon up any real fight. But he has shown remarkable abilities in coming back from two games down before and it was always possible he could do it again. Sure enough, fight he did, making the third and final game last for 19 minutes.

Beachill was denied a let when leading at 9-7, a perverse decision which put Lincou within one point at 9-8. But in the next rally Beachill really turned the screw with a series of lobs and drops that had Lincou grunting with effort at each get. It was a masterful display of strategic squash and a textbook example of how to gradually play your opponent out of position. Beachill finished the rally with a perfect drop to ringing applause. The match ended with Lincou hitting the top of the tin to send the ball out of court and Beachill was through to the final.

Beachill acknowledged his tired opponent but said he was very happy with the way he played - “I was strong when it mattered” - and he would take this into tomorrow’s final, where he will meet a very fresh Anthony Ricketts.

SHABANA QUITS
The match I had billed as the big one, turned out to be the small one as Amr Shabana returned to old bad habits and virtually gave the berth in the final to Ricketts with a lackluster performance not worthy of a reigning world champion. Maybe he found Ricketts too focused and accurate; maybe he felt that without ranking points the effort was not worth it.

Shabana: Old Habits resurfaced (photo © 2006 Fritz Borchert.)

In his first pool matches Shabana had started well; today he started with a winning forehand boast followed by two errors and never recovered as Ricketts played him tight and demonstrate that he could get to the drops. What Shabana had to do was hit outright winners and that touch was not there today. Ricketts hit a couple of beauties of his own and took the first game 11-7. Towards the end of the second game Shabana reverted to his old I-really-don’t-care persona and the Ricketts won 11-5 in under eight minutes.

Shabana, watched by his wife, obviously wanted to turn the match around in the third and actually led 7-5 giving hope to the packed audience that there would be, after all, a fight.
Ricketts hit the next serve into the nick to make it 7-6 and then Shabana was given a let when the correct call should have been a stroke. Ricketts had hit the ball down the middle of the court and Shabana was standing right behind him. It was an inexplicable call and one which put the first nail in the coffin. Shabana dived to get a ball in the next rally, failed and smashed his racket in anger. Not only did he lose the point, the referee awarded a conduct stroke against him. So now Shabana was 7-8 down instead of being 8-6 had he been awarded the stroke.

He hit the next three serves into the tin; he had had enough. It was a miserable ending to what could have been a good match. The sooner the WSF/WISPA/PSA bring in a three person reffing system for top tournaments, the better we shall all be. I am certain that two
linesman/appeals refs would have over-ruled that bad call and given Shabana the stroke.

The final will not end like that: neither Beachill or Ricketts are in the habit of abdicating. Beachill’s confidence is on the rise while Ricketts is not that happy with his form so far this year.

Watch this space….

SUPER SERIES FINALS
SEMI-FINALS.
Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Thierry Lincou (FRA) 11-5, 11-5, 11-8.
(46mins)
Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt Amr Shabana (EGY) 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 (33mins)

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Broadgate Arena, London. (photo © 2006 Fritz Borchert.)