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Reports 2003
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Patient
Lincou Prevails
By Martin Brontein
May 11, 2004
All content © 2004 Squashtalk
[last update was
12-may-04
]
Despite outplaying Thierry Lincou in the first two games, Lee Beachill came out on the losing side, partly due to fatigue and partly due to his increasing irritability with the officials. Let me say for once that the officials were mostly blameless and we must be charitable and put Beachill's state of mind down to the sleeplessness caused by a five-day old son.
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| Lee Beachill started out very strong, Lincou was patient (photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert) |
Lincou admitted later that Beachill was just too good in those first two games.
"Lee started well, made no errors and I couldn't read his game at the front of the court," Lincou explained. Indeed Beachill was almost past the winning post leading 7-2 in the third, four points from victory when the two players got involved in a long rally, probably the longest of the tournament. It was at this point that Lincou said he noticed that Beachill was getting tired and started making silly errors.
Lincou kept the ball going, not attacking anything and pulled all the way back and then led 8-7. This was far different squash than the first match of the evening which was all attack; this had now come down to all defense. Lincou persisted in his strategy and took the third game 11-8.
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| Thierry Lincou got more precise as the evening wore on (photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert) |
Beachill
became more critical of the referee in the fourth and at one point barged
into Lincou's back and immediately told the referee that he had warned
this would
happen. He was warned for unnecessary contact while Lincou winced around
the court in pain. Beachill looked unhappy most of the time while Lincou
doggedly stuck to placing the ball into the back corners. The dripping
tap got to Beachill and the error rate climbed finally giving Lincou the
game 11-6 to tie the match.
The fifth was more of the same with Lincou only occasionally taking the ball short and Beachill giving up important points when going for long drop shots…a sure sign of fatigue or frustration.
Lincou led 8-5 and then lost two points on penalty strokes, he lost another on a Beachill winner and the score was 8-8. Lincou never panicked and took the next three points with the help of a Beachill error to win the 71 minute match and put himself on course for a final place. This battle between the two pretenders to the throne will be repeated often in the future and is sure to be a feature of many semi-final match ups on the PSA circuit.
POWER
DAZZLES, MATTHEW WINS
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| Power didn't have the mobility against Matthew (photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert) |
It was not quite an exhibition match but Nick Matthew and Jonathon Power put on a hugely enjoyable display of skills and good sportsmanship. Nobody expected Power to win; he was almost one legged, his right gluteus maximus still troubling him and making it almost impossible for him to push off from that leg. All Matthew had to do was keep putting the ball into the right front corner and he would have won in short order. But nothing is ever that easy against Power. He was in better shape than last night and occasionally showed his lightning speed in retrieving some fine Matthew drives. Matthew knew that whenever he left a ball a little loose, the Power right arm would flash and twist sending the ball into the nick.
There were some brilliant moments from the Canadian magician; he dealt with a back wall boast from Matthew by suddenly hitting a top spin table tennis shot at the right front that left Matthew helpless and the audience roaring its approval. He could still move at remarkable speed and hit a deft winner at the same time. He hit a cross-court tennis top spin from the left wall that once again brought a roar from the crowd and a hug from a smiling Matthew.
Matthew could afford the display of affection because he knew that even though he lost the third game after a dazzling run of shots from Power, there was no danger of losing the match. He took the fourth 11-5 after 39 minutes of enjoyment to go home basking in the glory of beating Peter Nicol and Jonathon Power on successive nights.
KNEIPP LIVES TO PLAY ANOTHER DAY
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| Joe Kneipp got a crucial win over Amr Shabana(photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert) |
In the
final match of the evening Australia's Amsterdam-based Joe Kneipp kept
his title hopes alive with a 42-minute, 3-1 victory over world champion
Amr Shabana of Egypt. It was a crucial match, since the winner still has
the opportunity to advance. Kneipp's win set's up a winner take all match
with Lee Beachill tomorrow.
The winner of Kneipp's match against Beachill tomorrow evening will decide
who, from the Fleet Group, progresses to the last four with Lincou. Furthermore,
depending on Lincou's result tomorrow, the winner of the Kneipp/Beachill
match could even finish first in the group.
Kneipp said: "It will be tough against Lee. We have played each other
several times recently and he has come out on top, but I was moving much
better tonight and am looking forward to playing well again tomorrow."
SECOND
ROUND QUALIFYING (in progress) (Complete
results)
Fleet Group
Thierry Lincou bt Lee Beachill 5-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 (71 minutes)
HARROW GROUP
John White bt Peter Nicol 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (36 minutes)
Nick Matthew bt Jonathon Power 11-6,. 11-9, 2-11, 11-5 (39 mins)
