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Boswell Snuffs out Beachill in the Nightcap

Matthews Wins the Shootout

Tuominen opened up quarterfinals night with a fast-paced attack on Nick Matthew..(photo:©2006 Debra Tessier)

The "flying Finn" Olli Tuominen opened things up on quarterfinals night with a fast-paced attack on the calm and cool-as-an-icecube Nick Matthew. Stewart Boswell and Lee Beachill closed things out, after Midnight, with a gem of a match that had everything.

Though Tuominen's severe pace and constant angles took their toll on Matthew in game one, giving Tuominen an early 11-8 edge, Matthew was calm in the face of the Finn's frontal attack, applying his usual economy of motion and fluid touch to ever so slowly and inexorably put Tuominen under increasing pressure.

It was a great start to the evening, with few errors, interesting attacking squash, and two players both on their games.

Tuominen was trying to keep Matthew moving and off balance, by alternating blistering drives with feather drops and boasts. But Matthew was fully focused and able to neutralize Tuominen's approach by constantly taking a slight bit of pace off of the ball, forcing Tuominen to increasingly bear the burden of trying to up the speed.

Matthew, though, later remarked that he was having trouble with his concentration.

He told SquashTalk after the match that, "I was having touble with my concentration, somehow with the size of the venue I was having difficulty with my focus, it was going in and out, nothing I could put my finger on."

But Matthew was moving well, rendering Olli Tuominen's increasingly frequent attacks to the front court increasingly ineffective. Matthew was replying with measured length which spurred Tuominen on to try to bring the pace back up.

From 1-1 the increasingly confident Matthew was rarely in real trouble, though Tuominen was playing very well, just not quite well enough. It was entertaining squash.

PALMER, UNDER PRESSURE, PLAYS THROUGH

El Hindi built up a sizable lead against Palmer.  (photo:©2006 Debra Tessier)

For the second night in a row, David Palmer was under a lot of real pressure, and for the second night he showed why he is #2 in the world - his mental toughness, heady tactics, and all-around match presence.

At the beginning of this match, the story was, however, Egyptian Wael El Hindi. El Hindi, clad in a sleeveless shirt, came out of the chutes playing all-around flawless squash. Palmer was there, focused, and ready to play but El HIndi was too. And it was El Hindi's brilliant play to the front court, by volley, drop and boast, that both put Palmer under heavy pressure and brought the crowd to life. With the crowd mesmerized by his fluid and deceptive play, El Hindi was attacking, defending and moving and building up a sizeable lead.

Palmer caught up, knotting the score at 10 apiece. At which juncture the crowd was treated to some phenomenal rallies, involving both walls, both front corners and the backhand rear. After some exhilarating rallies, it was El HIndi who collected game one.

Unfortunately for him, he got into a pointless argument with the referee after losing a stroke at 0-0 in game two, and thereby lost his concentration for the next six point. It was a testament to his offensive abilities and potential future danger to the top players, that he was able to almost rescue himself from a big 2-8 deficit in game two to bring the score back to 6-8, in a string which included two dead winners off of volleys and two points in which he had the usually in-control Palmer moving the completely wrong way.

Though the score says that David Palmer won the second, third and fourth games with some room to spare, the scene on court says elsewise. Wael El Hindi was fully in most every rally. There were many phenomenal battles, especially down the backhand wall. And it wasn't boring squash down the wall. Both players attacked the front. Both players successfully rescued themselves from disaster with more rails from which they succcessfully cleared. It was the highest level squash of the tournament so far, that is until Boswell and Beachill took the court an hour later.

And game four was illuminating. With Palmer in "the zone" he was totally on fire, driving winners, devastating volley boasts, and other attacks that El Hindi had no answer for. With an 11-4 close, Palmer advanced.

El HIndi was disappointed, Palmer relieved, and the capacity crowd delighted.

LAVIGNE SCRAMBLES FOR SIXTY SEVEN MINUTES

Lavigne rode his scrambling, running style to a good win in game one against Iskandar.   (photo:©2006 Debra Tessier)

It was a tough act to follow, for Lavigne and Iskandar to follow the gem produced by Palmer and El Hindi.

This was a grittier game of squash, with less precise length, less clear cut tactics, and more simple scrambling, especially on the part of the always all-out competitor Renan Lavigne. Lavigne rode his scrambling, running style to a good win in game one. But, as with the previous match that Iskandar played against American Julian Illingworth in round one, Iskandar never really looked pressed or worried.

As Lavigne pushed his game to its limits, Iskandar retrieved, held position and patiently created his winning situations.

After 67 minutes of interesting, but slightly chaotic squash, Iskandar emerged with a semi final date against Nick Matthew. To Lavigne's credit, he pushed all-out to the very last point, competing every shot and rally.

BOSWELL NABS BEACHILL

Beachill unleashed some brilliant attacks up front, which took its toll on Boswell.  (photo:©2006 Debra Tessier)

The last match of the evening had everything to offer, everything that is but an audience, because the crowd that had assembled earlier in the evening had all but departed by the time Lee Beachill, in red, and Stewart Boswell, in white, started warming up. Beginning shortly before 11PM, and lasting until just after Midnight, this was a gem of a match, and it was regrettable that one of the contestants had to lose.

With the two players so closely matched, and both expert at using the angles of the court to positional advantage, these two clean players jockeyed for the slightest advantage, moving in closer and closer quarters. Each hit the other in the face with the racquet, inadvertently, so intensely were they pushing.

Lee Beachill, normally taciturn on court, must have known from the outset that Stewart Boswell would present all that he could handle, because the early stages of the match devolved quite rapidly into a series of arguments and conversations between Beachill and referee Mike Riley.

Riley, freshly arrived in New York this evening from Florida, signalled early that he was going to be stingy this evening with both lets and strokes. Beachill took a while to get the message, arguing through most of the first game, up until he was charged a stroke 8-9 in the first, argued loud and long, and was charged a conduct warning.

The first game saw Beachill playing almost completely to length, while Boswell attacked up front when the opportunity arose, forcing the Beachill counterattack. With help from Beachill's distraction by argument, this first frame ended in Boswell's column, 11-8.

As the intensity increased in the second game, Beachill unleashed some brilliant attacks up front, which took its toll on Boswell. As the game progressed, with each point developing slowly, with rallies stretching both players to the limits, Boswell carelessly left several balls short, especially on the forehand. giving Beachill the initiative and the game, by an indentical score. It was know knotted, 1-1.

Between games, Rodney Martin, in Boswell's corner, exhorted Boswell to eliminate the impatient shots.

In the third game, the intensity increased some more, if it was possible. Almost every shot from each player was placed with high accuracy. Boswell was looking for the opportunities for the attacking volley while Beachill was looking for the off-target boast.

Boswell took the game into the tiebreaker. (photo:©2006 Debra Tessier)

There were no easy points, and the players were punishing each other physically. Boswell was looking as if he might be tiring, but he stayed even 6-6, then 7-7, then 8-8. When Beachill pulled ahead 9-8, a crucial juncture in the match had been reached. A long point, with neither player able to place the ball out of reach of the other, ended in a let. The point was replayed, again with over thirty rallies, but Boswell ended it by anticipating a cross court from Beachill and volley cross court into the nick, evening the game at 9-9. Another volley, this time from the forehand, gave Boswell the crucial game ball.

But a no-let call on Boswell took the game into the tiebreaker. Another volley nick, this time from the backhand, again gave Boswell game ball.

Again, the two combatants tested each other, the point ending with Boswell calling the ball down on himself. Then two more long points each ended with a backhand volley nick, giving Boswell the crucial third game.

Beachill wasn't giving in as the fourth game began. The second point in the fourth game was a fantastic point, with each player throwing everything at the other. At 4-3 for Beachill, another mega point ensued, ending in Boswell's favor. When Boswell ended the next point with a lucky nick, Beachill dug deep and evened it back at 5-5. But at six-five in Boswell's favor, Beachill dropped to the tin, a rare error giving a glimpse of oncoming fatigue. Beachilll again battled and battled and evened things at 7-7. But that was his last hurrah as a lucky nick to the back gave Boswell the lead for good, and then the match at 11-7.

If Boswell has enough reserves, we may be in for a classic contest between the two Australian protagonists, in tomorrow's semi final.

Village Open, New York
RESULTS Quarterfinals: [Draw/Results]
[1] David Palmer (AUS) def [8] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 10-11(0-2) 11-6 11-7 11-4 (75m)
[6] Stewart Boswell (AUS) def [6] Lee Beachill(ENG) 11-8 8-11 11-10(3-1) 11-7 (80m)
[5] Mohd Azlan Iskandar def Renan Lavigne (FRA) 10-11(1-3) 11-7 11-6 11-5 (67m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) def [7] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 8-11 11-8 11-6 11-6 (51m)

Quarterfinal Action at the 2006 Village Open.. (photos:©2006 Debra Tessier)