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England and Malaysia Reach Finals
(
Martin Bronstein, Squashtalk reporter on the scene in Penang's
Squash Centre.
[also:
team draws]
All content © 2001 Squashtalk
by Martin Bronstein, Penang,
27 July 2001 (updated 07/28/2001 6:14 AM)
All content ©
2001 Squashtalk. Photos © 2001 Ho Kah Yeow for SquashTalk
BUTTERFLIES
ARE FREE
John Bull finally stopped Uncle Sam in his tracks with a 2/1 semi-final victory played in a near deserted Penang International Sports Arena.The match started at 1 pm and was finished inside two hours, an hour before the crowds would arrive to watch Malaysia's down Egypt, getting one match closer to the individual and team double.
BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE
Unlike
journalists who have to sit and watch. Just before the start of the Jenny
Duncalf/ Michelle Quibell match, a butterfly was seen flying around on
court. Even though it was a dark brown butterfly and the ball used on
the glass is white, I assume that the players were scared of confusing
ball and butterfly.
Up jumped a man known as A.J Wong, the tournament director. A former colonel in the Malaysian army, he took over with authority: marching to the door of the court, he looked at two of the court attendants and said in a most military tone: "Catch it!". The two startled boys ran on to the court and chased the butterfly. One almost caught it by the tin, but it got away. After a couple of minutes the butterfly got bored and flew out of the court. Ten seconds later it was seen by the back wall. Up jumped all-American action man Aidan Harrison and with the fastest hands this side of the equator, grabbed the butterfly and took it out of the arena.
TWO ANTICLIMAXES IN ONE DAY
That was about the most exciting thing to happen today. The American girls,
on this of 
all
days, had an off day. The first American team ever to reach a world squash
semi-finals failed to keep up their stirring performances of the last
week and so were eliminated by Mother England. The Boston Tea Party? That'll
larn ya. Not that the US has anything to be ashamed of. In the other semi-final,
Egypt could barely muster a slap on the hand never mind a struggle as
they went down to Malaysia by a similar 2/1 score, both the US and Egypt
winning the dead third rubber.
GROSS STOPS HITTING
The Americans did not display the same confidence and focus that had seen
them stun Australia and New Zealand to make theme the first US team ever to
attain the semi final status at a world championship.
Amy Gross, that Philadelphia girl who hits the ball very well, suddenly stopped hitting it. For two games Laura Jane Lengthorn had it all her own way as Gross's short balls allowed her to dominate the centre court. On the third game, Gross remembered what length meant, hit five sizzlers down the left wall, all of which died in the back corner, and she was 5-0 ahead. But that was it: she never got another point and England were one up.
Amy was half the player of previous matches. She said much of her game is volleying and that she had trouble sighting the ball, which accounted for her fairly tame loss to Laura Jane Lengthorn 3-9, 0-9 and 5-9
IT'S ALL A MATTER OF DESIRE 
Michelle Quibell lost creditably, leading the first game 5-0 and the second
4-1 to lose them both to the steady Jenny Duncalf, who, I found out, is the
step-daughter of England's head coach David Pearson. Whereas Quibell has shown
that she can play at a constantly high level - consistency is one of her great
assets - today she lost that to have some bad patches.
"I felt I played well in parts but there were times when I felt that I just didn't want it enough," she said. She certainly wasn't outplayed but today Duncalf had the edge and was comfortable on the glass court. I felt that neither Quibell nor Gross had that ease in a totally strange environment.
SLOW START GREAT FINISH
Ali Pearson, however did the reverse, started badly and finished well. She
looked awful at points in the first game which she lost 9-2, but then got
back into her groove of good basic squash. Alison Waters is a unique player
with a wide forehand swing and some fine unexpected winners. Her languid body
language on court is quite the opposite to the all-action, ready-for-anything
attitude of Pearson. It was always on the book that Waters could be beaten
and it was a shame that Gross or Quibell could not have taken a rubber to
set up a decider between the number threes.
So it is a top four finish for the Yanks, with a distinct possibility of finishing third. Because Egypt's young players simply don't have the fitness to persist through three games, never mind five.
MALAYSIA FOR THE DOUBLE
They gave Malaysia an almost free ride into the final, Amna El Tarabolsy played
well for one game and then folded against Tricia Chuah, who played the very
best of her game, finding good length and some audacious winners. Omneya Abdel
Kawy lost her second game 9-0 in three minutes against Nicol David and managed
to save five match balls in the third before losing. The 14 year Sara Badr
gave Egypt its consolation in the dead rubber and once more served notice
that in two years time she, and the entire Egyptian team, will be unbeatable
in Egypt.
If Harrison and Natarsha Tippet consult their motivation books and get the American girls hungry again, they can beat Egypt and steal third place. I'll go even further: not only is it possible, they should win. Tomorrow's final is fairly simple: England have to win at two and three to take the title. Three will be no contest in England's favour, so it all rests on Laura Jane Lengthorn's shoulders. Can she take Tricia Chuah? Nerves will decide.
SEMIFINAL RESULTS
(Playing order 2-1-3)
ENGLAND 2 USA 1
Laura Jane Lengthorn bt Amy Gross 9-3, 9-0, 9-5. Jenny Duncalf bt Michelle
Quibell 9-7, 9-5, 9-5. Alison Waters lost to Alexandra Pearson 9-2, 6-9, 6-9
MALAYSIA 2 EGYPT
1 Tricia Chuah bt Amna El Tarabolsy 10-8, 9-1, 9-0. Nicol David bt Omney Abdel
Kawy 9-0, 9-0, 9-4. Ooi Ean Teng lost to Sara Badr 10-8, 9-6 (best of three)
5-8 Group
AUSTRALIA 3 INDIA 0
Kasey Brown bt Vaidehi Reddy 10-8, 9-5, 2-9, 7-9, 9-2. Amelia Pittock bt Joshna
Chinappa 9-1, 9-6, 9-6. Georgina Davis bt Supriya Balsekar 9-7, 9-7. (best
of three)
GERMANY 2 NEW ZEALAND 1
Sandra Ziemelis lost to Jaclyn Hawkes 4-9, 3-9, 5-9. Kathrin Rohrmuller bt
Kylie Lindsay 9-5, 6-9, 9-4, 9-0. Jessica Reese bt Larissa Stephenson 9-0,
9-6, 9-1.(best of three)
9-14 Group
CANADA 3 IRELAND 3-0
Ruchika Kumar bt Emma toolan 9-5, 9-4, 9-0. Jacqui Inward bt Tanya Owens 5-9,
9-0, 7-9, 9-2, 9-1. Kyla Grigg bt Zoe Barr 9-3, 9-0.(best of three)
HONG KONG 3 SINGAPORE 0
Frances Ho bt Pei Tei Tam 9-1, 9-6, 9-3. Karen Lau bt Janice Wong 9-0, 9-5,
9-2. Connie Choi bt Kar-Yan Koh 9-1, 9-1. (best of three)
NETHERLANDS 2 SWITZERLAND 1
Magriet Huisman bt Melanie Scarlato 8-10, 9-7, 9-4, 8-10, 9-2. Milja Dorenbos
lost to Manuela Zehnder 1-9, 1-9, 0-9. Orla Noom bt Corinne Scarlato 9-0,9-1,
9-1
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