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Palmer Dispenses with Boswell in the Nightcap

The big surprise came from the Malaysian, Mohd Azlan Iskandar. (photo:©2006 Debra Tessier)

On an evening of steady rain, the 2006 Village Open semifinals produced unexpected results. In front of a strong crowd, which filled the Newspace in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, the match expected to be routine wasn't and the match expected to end in fireworks didn't. The big surprise came from the Malaysian, Mohd Azlan Iskandar, who at least temporarily has now replaced Ong Beng Hee in the hearts and minds of the Malaysian fans.

The heavy favorite in tonight's first semi final match was British Open Champion Nick Matthew, who came into the semi-finals fully rested and with a big on-paper edge over Azlan Iskandar.

However, the night belonged to the upstart Malaysian star, world #16. Iskandar, who fearlessly implemented an attacking game in the last three games, took the initiative from Nick Matthew and took home a very impressive four game win over the British Open Champion. And retired world #1, Jonathon Power, was front and center to see Iskandar's big win.

The first game gave little indication of the action yet to come, as Nick Matthew worked Iskandar around the court, moved fluidly, and forced errors from the young Malaysian.

REGROUPING ACTION

Nick Matthew worked Iskandar around the court. (photo:©2006 Debra Tessier)

Iskandar clearly did some serious regrouping between games. Coming out in game two, Iskandar was a new player, patiently working with whatever pace that Matthew gave him, moving forward in the court, and attacking any loose balls with fearsome accuracy.

Azlan Iskandar, who hadn't had to show much in the way of tactical sophistication in his first two contests (against Illingworth and Lavigne), stuck to a solid game plan, which mixed a reasonable measure of basic play with aggressive short shots whenever given the slightest opportunity by Matthew.

Nick Matthew's strength is his ability to move and think fast and to create positional advantage from which he can attack. There was no space between the two players throughout game two, as the score marched upwards, each player getting the best the other had to offer and playing error free. The points became increasingly dramatic as each worked hard to pressure the other.

A SPORTSMANLIKE ACT

Iskandar took home a very impressive four game win against Matthew. (photo:©2006 Debra Tessier)

At 8-7, Iskandar's favor, he was awarded a stroke by referee Mike Riley, (the correct call in the view of much of the audience). Matthew argued vigorously the call, and after some discussion, Iskandar suddenly asked Riley to play a let instead of a stroke, which Riley assented to. The ensueing rally went in Matthew's favor, and after another long rally which took the score to 9-8 in Iskandar's favor, a dramatically long and difficult point ensued, with both players making several impossible gets in the front and excellent defensive rescues from the back. The point went on, exhausting the crowd, until Matthew ended the point with a dead nick. This knotted things at 9-9 with a stroke to Iskandar. Matthew argued again, but to no avail. And another strong attack from Iskandar gave him game two 11-9.

Game three showed an entirely different side of Mr. Iskandar. The game began with a flurry of unforced errors from the young Malaysian. It appeared that the intensity of the prior game may have gotten to Iskandar. I found myself thinking that maybe, unfortunately, he had played his best squash of the night. Iskandar found himself down 1-7 in a matter of minutes. At which point things took a sudden turn. Iskandar reached inside, regained his composure, and unleashed a flurry of all out attacking points. Almost as quickly, Iskandar had rode a series of winners to a quick recovery at 6-7. Now, remarkably, in the midst of a long, furious rally, Iskandar called an apparent winning ball down on himself.

Really the sportsmanship and self confidence shown here stood out. Matthew, despite benefitting from an 8-6 lead was looking slightly tentative.

In succession, some touch from Iskandar took it to 7-8. A dramatic volley kill brought Iskandar level at 8-8, a luckly cross court that fell to perfect length gave Iskandar the lead, and another rally ended with some greatly executed length brought game ball at 10-8.

All of a sudden, Iskandar had the third game, the lead, the momentum.

Matthew remarked post-match, that he was feeling slow for some reason. But it seemed more that he had simply been outplayed by the increasingly confident length and short game of the Malaysian.

Game four began with some volley kill shots and a few tins by both players, but at 5-5, a series of long intensely played points showed the two protagonists to still be playig quite evenly. At 7-6 in favor of Matthew, another long point ended with an overhead volley that Iskandar somehow reached and drove down into the nick, again tying the score at 7-7. Matthew was attacking short, looking to use his wonderful backhand drop, but Iskandar was able to retrieve everything, lengthening the points, and gaining advantage with more accurate length. Iskandar finished off his unexpected upset with with a cross-court volley nick that gave him an 11-9 fourth game and a 3-1 score.

PALMER, ALWAYS TOUGH

David Palmer came out today, wearing blue instead of red. (photo:©2006 Debra Tessier)

David Palmer came out today, wearing blue instead of red. It made no difference, his focus and court presence were terrific.

Stewart Boswell, who had closed out Tuesday's action with extremely inspired play, was unable to sustain the same level of play against an on-target David Palmer in the evening's nightcap.

In the first game, Both players were feeling each other out, mostly playing to length as they felt each other out. With so few hours since Boswell had gotten off court the prior evening, it was tempting to compare his play with that of the night before. He seemed just slightly less sharp, slightly less aggressive. Of course, David Palmer had something to do with that. Palmer just keeps so much pressure on his opposition, with his terrific pace and power and speed. Palmer's quickly developing drives were preventing Boswell from stepping up to the volley, as he had the prior evening, and instead, Boswell was throwing up some loose shots from time to time, when forced out of position. It was enough to allow Palmer to build a small lead that he kept to give him the first game.

In the second game, it almost appeared that Boswell wanted to throw in the towel. He played some uncharacteristically quick short shots, leaving him out of position.

"I needed one of the first two games." Boswell told SquashTalk afterwards. "Then it could have taken a different path."  (photo:©2006 Debra Tessier)

Despite all that, and speaking to Boswell's instinct and talent, he struggled through those difficulties and somehow found himself tying it up at 9-9. Characteristic of the two players involved, the next two points, were the best played points of the match. Palmer and Boswell probed and attacked, parried and defended. After long battles, both points ended dramatically with brute-force power blasts into the front left corner by Palmer, which Boswell reached in both cases but was unable to successfully return. 

"I needed one of the first two games." Boswell told SquashTalk afterwards. "Then it could have taken a different path."

And that was pretty much the story of the match, as Boswell seemed unable to rise to the challenge of coming all the way back from a 2-0 deficit. David Palmer, smelling the win, redoubled his efforts and Boswell faltered, quietly going in the final game.

The crowd emptied out, onto the rain fill streets, in anticipation of an unexpected final between one familiar face, David Palmer, and one new face, Azlan Iskandar. Again, Palmer has the big edge on paper, but Iskandar is rested, and is playing terrific squash.

Semi Finals:
[5] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) def [2] Nick Matthew (ENG) 5-11 11-9 11-9 11-9 (64min)
[1] David Palmer (AUS) def [8] Stewart Boswell (AUS) 11-8 11-9 11-5

Semifinal action. (photos: ©2006 Debra Tessier)