From the John Hancock Theatre, Boston    

David Palmer has an uncanny accuracy that he can bring from almost any part of the court.. (photo © Debra Tessier )

PALMER’S ATTACK OVERWHELMS  BEACHILL
When the match between these two tall players began, it looked like a  contest of equals.  Sixty minutes later it was obvious that David Palmer, the world number two, was very much more equal than Lee Beachill.

What became apparent to me today, sitting with my nose about three feet from the front wall, was that Palmer has a deadly attack, one which can force even the best of players into a reactive role. Sitting behind the back wall, the usual view, the speed and accuracy are not so apparent. Through the front wall, you get to appreciate the real power of the shots and the uncanny accuracy that he can bring from almost any part of the court.

Beachill started very well indeed and controlled the first game with ease moving well around the court and initiating the attack on both sides of the court. Palmer seemed strangely distant and lacking in his usual incisiveness and this lack of fight allowed  Beachill to run through the first game and win 11-5. The second game was a complete reversal with Palmer now in full fighting armour and  not only hitting the ball well but getting the lucky breaks with two fluke nicks at the back wall. Beachill was powerless to fight the skill and the luck and suddenly – in eight minutes – the game was over  11-5 for Palmer.

The squash was very good indeed; excellent length, some clever changes of direction and  constant attempts at winners at the front.  The fight was now well balanced and the nearly full auditorium (estimated at around one thousand people) were treated to  squash at the highest level. Beachill was catching Palmer out  with some of his guile and at 4-4  Palmer could do nothing but dive from another Beachill low drive. It wasn’t the sort of dive that gets perfect sixes in the Olympics and Palmer got up clutching his racket hand. Fortunately  it was nothing serious, no blood and nobody died.

At 4-4  David Palmer could do nothing but dive from another Lee Beachill low drive.. (photo © Debra Tessier )

To prove that he was better than alright, when trailing 5-6  he hit a length drive to get even and then a cross-court flick that left Beachill stranded. Palmer now led 7-6 and then hit four backhand drops in a row to take the game 11-6. He hits that backhand drop to the left corner even better than Jonathon Power, who used it as his main weapon to commence the domination of a rally.  Power’s was slow and precise, intended to take his opponent up the court while Palmer’s is a powerhouse shot, intended to end the rally then and there. 

In the 4th game Lee Beachill began to attack at every possible opportunity. (photo © Debra Tessier )

With Palmer leading 2/1 Beachill realized he had to do something serious and  began to attack at every possible opportunity. Suddenly the pressure was on Palmer as  Beachill built a 6-3 lead, ready to tie the match up. Palmer responded and won a monumental rally to reach 5-6. For me that was the turning point: Palmer stayed in the ascendancy sending the ball whizzing all over the court and Beachill could do nothing but react to what Palmer decided to dish out; it was almost Master and Serf and Beachill never got another point as Palmer strung eight points together using the most potent attack in the game – except perhaps for Ramy Ashour. It was an engrossing sixty minutes of squash and should give Beachill much cause for thought.

MATTHEW’S UNENVIABLE RECORD
Tonight we saw the first ever penalty stroke awarded against a player for sheer naked sexism. And the man who will hold that unenviable record is Yorkshire’s own  Nick Matthew.  He has had in the past a reputation for insulting referees, but in recent years he had cut that out and used wit to make his point. Tonight the demon returned and  Matthew paid for it.

Nick Matthew won the first game after a tie break. (photo © Debra Tessier )

Bloody silly really. He had earned the respect and admiration of the spectators by keeping Amr Shabana contained  in the first game  and trading shot for shot, length for length and sly boast with sly boast.  It was 20 minutes of sheer delight which Matthew won after a tie break, 14-12. I was expecting this; after his British Open win Matthew is full of confidence and ready to fight his corner.

In the second game Matthew was still looking for a win. A well-disguised drop had Shabana scampering to the front where he slipped. In fact he slipped about four times in the match. (Maybe he should change shoes?). But at 6-6 Shabana’s magic helped gain the upper hand  and he won  the game 11-8. They were again level in the third  and  when Matthew failed to call a ball down which Shabana had thought bounced twice, there was a sea-change. “I called three of mine down,” Shabana reminded Matthew  somewhat tartly. Matthew insisted his ball was up but it was a costly argument for him as Shabana pushed the overdrive button and lost only one more point that game as he raced to an 11-8 win  using a magic box  of shots to win four of the points.

Amr Shabana slipped about four times in the match. (Maybe he should change shoes?).(photo © Debra Tessier )

The fourth game saw more “discussions” with the referee and after one decision, which Matthew got really riled about, he said to referee Jennifer Birch-Jones. “Why isn’t a man reffing this match, it’s a man’s game and should be refereed by a man.” This naked sexism brought hisses from the crowd and a penalty stroke from the referee which officially was for dissent but as far as I am concerned it was the first ever punishment in squash for sexism. Matthew never recovered and  Shabana cut his way through to win the game in six minutes to earn his expected place in the semi-finals where  he will face fellow Egyptian  Ramy Ashour.

ASHOUR  QUELLS CANADIAN CAPERS

The newest wonder boy of squash, Ramy Ashour,  delighted everyone again with his speed and outrageous shotmaking. (photo © Debra Tessier )

The newest wonder boy of squash, Ramy Ashour,  delighted everyone again with his speed and outrageous shotmaking. His victim was Canadian Graham Ryding who may have not been at his healthiest. I  heard that he had intended to retire yesterday in his match against James Willstrop because of an injury. But Willstrop  retired first  giving Ryding the game, the match and a ride into the quarters which Ryding didn’t really want.    Ashour had to work for just 30 minutes for the straight games win, which gives him more time to  think about ways of beating Shabana, who had beaten him easily in Hong Kong. Whatever he comes up with, that semi-final should be worth watching.

GAULTIER HAS AN EARLY CHRISTMAS

The battle for French supremacy was resumed  in Boston tonight as Gregory Gaultier tried to prove his victory over perennial French champion, Thierry Lincou,  in the national championships  earlier this year was not a fluke.  The proof came far more easily than he could have hoped for.  Lincou started in second gear and finished almost in reverse.  It was a surprisingly lackluster performance from the world number three and one he will either want to forget quickly, or study the video of the match  before every future match as a guide on how not to play the game of squash in a major professional tournament. He produced no surprises in a mechanical performance that utilized about four shots. Simply put, his heart was elsewhere.

Gregory Gaultier defeats Thierry Lincou in straight games. (photo © Debra Tessier )

Gaultier was  focused, fast and hungry for a win. He  smacked in some lovely low drops on both side of the court, read Lincou like an open book with large print and generally  took the match from the beginning and refused to let go. Although many pundits fancied him to win the match, few of them thought that Gaultier would do it in straight games. Yes, the match did take 58 minutes which indicates  that there were protracted rallies, but watching it, the time passed more quickly.  Lincou trailed the entire match and never looked as though he could get his mind or emotions out of slumber mode.

Sorry to say, dear reader, there is nothing else to report, except the audience were never roused to more than polite applause  throughout the match.

US Open 2006, Quarterfinal RESULTS:
Back Bay Events Center:[Complete draw]
[[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) def [7] Nick Matthew (ENG) 10-11(2-4) 11-8 11-8 11-4
[[11] Ramy Ashour (EGY) def [16] Graham Ryding (CAN) 11-5 11-8 11-6
[6] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) def [3] Thierry Lincou (FRA) 11-5 11-7 11-7
[2] David Palmer (AUS) def [8] Lee Beachill (ENG) 5-11 11-6 11-6 11-6

Quarter-final action was on stage of a packed John Hancock Hall. (photos: © Debra Tessier )