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Thierry Lincou and Joe Kneipp play tropical squash. ©2003 Dan Kneipp

We now live in Amsterdam which isn’t the warmest city in the world. We spent Christmas in Helsinki where it was –15 degrees Celsius and even the locals were complaining that it was much colder than usual. We returned to Amsterdam for New Year’s where the canals were beginning to freeze over, something that only happens every five or ten years. Joe’s first tournament of the year was in Dayton, USA where the weather was very similar to Helsinki. The Swedish Open followed was in February and wasn’t exactly warm. The recent Tournament of Champions happened just as a blizzard hit New York leaving the city knee deep in snow.

So we were overdue for some nice warm weather and welcomed the chance to be on a tropical island for the Logic Bermuda Open. Despite it only being a two hour flight from New York, the temperature is considerably warmer. But there is a down side to being back in a warm climate. Our wonderful game isn’t ideal for tropical countries that don’t have extremely well ventilated and air conditioned courts. Playing squash in the tropics is like taking a sauna while wrapped in a thick woolen blanket. That goes close to replicating how your body feels, but doesn’t help describe the lack of oxygen. These extreme on-court conditions was always going to be a factor in the results of the tournament.

John White versus Ong Beng Hee

The #5 in the world against the #9. White won their most recent encounter, but lost the one before that. Both players played local qualifiers the day before, with Bengy having to work harder with his match going to 4.

As expected the game started at a furious pace. Both of these players like to hit hard aggressive shots jumping onto the volleys and taking big swings. Delicate finesse play is a distant second to fast and furious ball hitting for both of these players. For the beginning half of the first game most points were decided by a player going for too much and slamming the tin. The score see-sawed from 7-7 until White was able to pull a couple of points away to 10-8, and then extend that lead to 13-10. Bengy hit a forehand cross court flick that sent White the wrong way, and followed it up with a back hand volley drop to bring the score to 13-12. The next rally was long and cruel with both players lunging to all four corners. When it seemed like White was finally going to win the crucial point he put a forehand drop into the tin. As Bengy walked to the service box, obviously hurting from the rally, the front few rows of the audience could hear him say “This is supposed to be a holiday Whitey”.

Bengy won the next shot to have the first game ball. Although White hit a superb winner to save it, Bengy was able to string a few more of the important shot together eventually winning the first game 17-15.

White seemed slightly more focussed in the second game and led from the beginning. He kept a two point lead until he was finally caught at 12-12. White extended that to 14-13 but put a forehand boast into the tin to give Bengy another chance. White wasn’t going to make the same mistakes as he did in the first game’s tie break, winning the next three points to take the second game 17-14.

The Malaysian started the third game with a slight extra bounce in his step. He seemed to be moving better, volleying better and reading where White was hitting the ball. This was the stage of the game where they both should be slowing down a lot, not moving better. It made me wonder if Bengy had been doing any training back in Malaysia recently which would help deal with humid and nasty playing conditions. But he told me later this wasn’t the case and that he had only been training in England so far this year.

The scores moved up slowly and evenly at the start. 5-4 to Bengy, then 7-6, then 8-8. This was the point where Bengy pulled away with a mixture of winners from working White out of position, and pressuring his opponent into going for a high risk shot. He won the next five points to get to 13-8, and then closed the game out 15-11.

As with the other three games, the first half of the fourth game was very even with no more than a couple of points difference. Both players were still trying to play at the same intensity as the beginning of the match and were going for very tight winners that were mostly becoming unforced errors. Eventually Bengy began lobbing much more to slow the game down and get a breather. White tried the same tactic and they both got a short rest. Throughout the match Bengy used a well disguised cross court hold that forced White to commit to the drop shot or straight drive. Bengy would flick the ball cross court at the last second and get the point as well as the added bonus of the wasted effort from White’s desperate lunges to try to make up for his mistake. The scores were tied at 9-9 before Bengy pulled away to 13-10. A forehand drive into the tin from White brought up the first match ball against him. A simple drop shot then cross court length combination saved the first match ball, and then a backhand drop shot into the tin from Bengy took the score to 14-12. But his next backhand drop was very short and tight, and despite a desperate dive from White, he was left sprawled on the floor with the match over.

Ong Beng Hee defeated John White 17-15, 14-17, 15-11, 15-12

Joe Kneipp versus Thierry Lincou.

This match was always going to be a tough match for Kneipp. Lincou is a very fit player that can be particularly patient and regimented with his shot selection and discipline. I would say at the moment that he is fitter than Joe, but I think Joe has a greater shot range. We were also aware that the first round matches could become a very important factor in the semi finals. Lincou played an 18 year old local qualifier who is a promising young prospect for Bermuda squash, but unable to push the world #6 beyond a light sweat as the 30 minute game indicated. Kneipp played fellow top 20 player Mark Chaloner and they were on court an hour longer than Lincou’s match. Kneipp was close to cramping and completely exhausted. How well his body recovered was going to determine his ability to extend the Frenchman.

But a fresh Kneipp usually means some glorious shots, particularly when he is in entertainment mode, which he was. The Bermuda Squash Club is obviously not use to this standard of squash exhibition. On numerous occasions a spectator would be certain that a shot was a winner and would clap, cheer or call out, only to have the other player retrieve the ball. The first time this happened was when Lincou hit a lovely drop to the forehand that looked like it was a clean winner. A few spectators yelled out ‘Wow’, ‘Ooooh’ and other noises to indicate being impressed. As Kneipp lunged for the ball and hit a cross court length he called back to the crowd “Thank you very much” and waved on his way to winning the point, which created much more laughter and noise.

Kneipp took an early lead of 8-3, but was dragged back to 11-10. But a focussed Kneipp and some mistakes by his opponent allowed him to take the first game 15-12.

Lincou probably did more running and lunging in the first game, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from Kneipp’s lethargy. Obviously the previous day’s marathon had taken it’s toll and he began playing like a man out of energy - going for high risk shots, guessing his opponents shots and lazy footwork. Lincou took an early lead and extended it quickly to take the second game 15-6.

Kneipp looked slightly better in the third, but Lincou was still going at full pace and was able to hit less mistakes and keep Kneipp on the back foot. 15-10 to the Frenchman.

The fourth started out with some exciting squash. Both players tried to get the other guy on the end of some nasty court sprints to finish the game quickly. From 2-2 Lincou pulled away to 8-4. Kneipp focussed more and stopped going for low percentage shots and played good length and smart rallies getting the score back to 10-10, which is difficult when you look like you’re about to collapse from exhaustion. Invitational tournaments like this one allow the players to be less serious than PSA events and have a little fun. By this stage Kneipp was trying every stalling tactic in the book which the crowd was enjoying for entertainment value. They appeared to want Kneipp to take the fourth so that they had a fifth game to watch. At one stage when he was receiving the serve he made Lincou serve three times as he adjusted his sock height – crucial for racquet preparation. But the fun didn’t disguise Kneipp’s exhaustion and Lincou was able to take the game 15-11 and the match.

Thierry Lincou defeated Joe Kneipp 12-15, 15-6, 15-10, 15-11.

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