Broken Strings & A Broken Shoe!
By Martin Brontein
May 11, 2005 All content © 2004 Squashtalk
[last update was 12-may-05 ]

Broken Strings, Broken Shoe, A Little Squash and the Big Finale... A Twisted Ankle.

Power had to carry the show with a somnambulant Amr Shabana (photo © 2005 Fritz Borchert)

There are flops, disappointments, big disappointments and, at the top of the pyramid, this match between Jonathon Power and Amr Shabana.

These are two of the top shot makers on the circuit and two of the most entertaining players
around and they produced a match that was a waste of 27 minutes of my life.

I have read cornflake boxes that held more excitement than this damp - nay, waterlogged - squib of a squash match.

Let me tell you the most interesting thing about this match. (A world first in my experience). In the third game Power hit the ball and we could
not see where it went. Then we looked at his racket - the ball had stuck where the string had broken.

The second most interesting thing was when his left shoe came apart at the seams. Fortunately Ken, the man who cleans the ball and court between games, wore the same size as Power (size eight) so he took off his shoes and Power donned them to continue the game.

Amr Shabana was in no mood to play, blaming the cold, saying he had trained in 70 degree heat in Cairo and here it was so cold that: "everything that moves is numb". The fact that he had no chance of advancing to the playoffs may have had something to do with his somnambulant performance. What should have been a sparkling match - and much anticipated by me - never got off the ground. To cap it all off, on final point Power twisted his ankle and left the court wincing in pain. There was fear that it was his old ankle injury but the latest news is that he will be able to play in tomorrow's
semi-finals.

PALMER BEATS A COMPLACENT BEACHILL

David Palmer downed an increasingly complacent Beachill (photo © 2005 Fritz Borchert)

In the Harrow Group Lee Beachill had already ensured his place in the playoffs with two victories so although his match against David Palmer was more like a squash match than the preceding debacle, it still wasn't totally serious. Palmer started off a little sloppy to lose the first game and then got down to serious business to win the second game. There was nothing flashy about the squash but it was interesting to watch as they probed each other for a weakness. Palmer was slotting in some nice winners and keeping the game tight. They kept much of the game on the left wall which led to
numerous lets and increasing body contact. Palmer tends to clear directly towards the T rather than arcing back to allow the incoming striker a direct path to the ball. Beachill was getting frustrated at the lets and no lets rather than the strokes he thought he deserved. I spoke to the referee after the match and he agreed but said the ball had to be 'right' before he gave strokes.

However, both players kept their composure and there were no blow ups. The reason became apparent at the end of the match after Palmer had won the second game, Beachill the third and Palmer the last two games, the fifth rather easier than could be forecast. This is not to detract from Palmer who was playing well enough to keep Beachill from winning in three in which case his stablemate, James Willstrop, would have got through.

When I asked Beachill for the reason for his lackadaisical performance in the fifth he said simply: "I've already qualified." What he probably didn't realize was that as he and Palmer had both won two and lost one in their group, there would be a countback on ties, games and then head to head.

They were dead even on the first two reckonings, and as Palmer had won the head to head, he would top the group, giving him an easier (theoretically?) semi-final (Jonathon Power) while Beachill will have to face Thierry Lincou.

RICKETTS COMES IN FOR NICOL

Lincou put it all on the line against Ricketts (photo © 2005 Fritz Borchert)

Peter Nicol's injured finger was too bad to allow him get back into the
tournament and so first reserve Anthony Ricketts was brought in to play the
final game in the group against Thierry Lincou. If he won 3/1 he could
theoretically go through to the playoffs. Once he had lost the first game
11-8, the Fleet Group placings had been decided. Normally the third day
brings everything to a head but this year the fates conspired to rob the
matches of any real drama. Except Ricketts never cruises anywhere and
always plays to win. Tonight was no exception and after losing the first
game took control to win the second game 11-8, the third game 16-14 and
had three match balls in the fourth before losing 13-15. It was hard squash
and neither player was giving away anything - the scores in the third and
fourth games showed just how competitive they were - but Ricketts did drop
off in the fifth to give Lincou the win.

The strange point about this match is that Lincou had already earned his
place in the semis and there was no way Ricketts - even had he won - would
have been allowed to progress through to the semis having played just one
game. The reason why Lincou played his heart out was due to the presence of
a French television crew and he had to give France something to be proud
of. Such is the sport of squash when the format is round robins. But it
gives us something to discuss and reasons to use our calculators. There's
nothing like statistics to ruin a sport.

Nick Matthew and James Willstrop closed out the evening with a meaningless
match as both had been eliminated. They too decided to make the most of the
court time and - being hard-headed Yorkshireman - played every point
with gusto and determination, with Willstrop coming out on top after some
wonderful rallies.

FLEET GROUP [complete results]
Jonathon Power (CAN) bt Amr Shabana (EGY)11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (27mins)
Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 11-8 8-11, 10-11 (2-4),
11-10 (5-3),11-5. (72mins)

FINAL POSITIONS:
1 Thierry Lincou, 2. Jonathon Power, 3. Anthony Ricketts. 4. Amr Shabana

HARROW GROUP [complete results]
David Palmer (AUS) bt Lee Beachill (ENG) 5-11, 11-5, 8-11 11-3, 11-4 (64
mins)
James Willstrop (ENG) bt Nick Matthew (ENG) 10-12, 11-8, 11-8 12-10 56
mins

FINAL POSITIONS
1.David Palmer. 2 Lee Beachill, 3. James Willstrop. 4 Nick Matthew

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