MCWIL COURTWALL PLAYERS CUP FINALS. --- SEMIFNALS

Martin Bronstein reporting from Harvard University.

THE BAD NEWS GODS STRIKE AGAIN

I don’t know what John Nimick has done to upset the deities, but they are certainly getting their revenge. Apart from all the setbacks he had to overcome to get the Players Cup Series on the road, this week they gave him two sprained ankles and a bad back to contend with. First it was American star Julian Illingworth who had to pull out of  his quarter-final match. Then Mohammed Abbas  had to withdraw  with another twisted ankle.  And then after two good matches last night when everything was going just fine, Karim Darwish, the winner of last night’s marathon over Wael El Hindi, withdrew from his semi-final match with a bad back, giving James Willstrop a walkover into tomorrow’s final. This left just one semifinal with which to entertain the spectators.

Nimick thinks on his feet: a quick phone call to Chris Gordon, who put up such a good display against Willstrop last night, offering a re-match against Willstrop tonight, purely as a crowd please with nothing other than pride at stake. Gordon grabbed at the chance and Willstrop sportingly agreed.

But the serious business was the other semi-final; David Palmer against   Thierry Lincou, both former world number ones and both still playing at the top of their form.

But what a strange match it turned out to be with both players starting cautiously  and playing at a constant tempo. They have been playing each other for ten years or so, they held no surprises. It was strangely  flat  with neither player as sharp as they normally are. Palmer started by unveiling his new shot, a rapid forehand roll corner at the front of the court that took Lincou completely by surprise.

They settled down to some predictable patterns of play and things were pretty equal to 6-6 and then Lincou got a couple of decisions that he didn’t like. They were good decisions: the second one was a  No Let against him after he had stopped playing two strokes after some obstruction – he alleged – had occurred. He argued his case too long, lost his concentration and Palmer  took the game 11-6.

In the second game  Palmer went as flat as a cornflower pancake, at times seeming as though he wanted to lose the game. Lincou rushed off to a 6-0 lead and then after a few contested rallies won the game 11-4 in eight minutes. I saw Palmer’s wife talking earnestly to him in the break, but  he hit two forehand drives into the tin, caught up at 3-all and then could do nothing as Lincou ran away to a 9-3 lead. I am almost certain  Palmer had given up at that point. But then a nonchalant forehand  drop gave him his fourth point, a low forhand drive caught Lincou napping to make the score 5-9, two errors from Lincou and the score was 7-9. Lincou got a point to get to game ball and then watched as Palmer fluked his serve for a winner. Palmer got a stroke  and then another No Let for Lincou it was tie-break time.  Curiously this set of plot twists finally gave the game some drama and as the players started arguing more and more as they got in each other’s way and pushed and barged and bellyached, the suspense was ratcheted up even more.  They exchanged points – and heated words - all the way up to 14-all before Palmer  finally got the two points needed for a win, 16-14.

(Will Lincou ever stop having bad dreams about that 9-3 lead?)

That third game had lasted 37 minutes with at least seven of those minutes taken up with discussion.  (Now I know what it must be like in the United Nations when discussing the Middle East crises).

Sadly Lincou could not muster any fight for the fourth and final game which was over in about six minutes 11-4 in Palmer’s favour.   Speaking to the MC (who had a remarkable resemblance to John Nimick)  Palmer said of the arguments: “We’re 31 and 32 years old, so we are not doing  badly. But even though we have played each other for years, we still haven’t worked out our movement on the court.” Which I though was quite witty.

I never stayed to watch the Willstrop/ Gordon exhibtion. I hate sequels and re-runs.

SEMIFINAL RESULTS
David Palmer(AUS) beat  Thierry Lincou (FRA) 11-6,  4-11,  11-10(6-4), 11-4 (71minutes)
James Willstrop (ENG) beat  Karim Darwish(EGY) walkover.

The Player's Cup is taking place at Harvard's McWil Tournament Court. (photo:©2008 Ron Beck)

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