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US Open Qualifier Day One
By Martin Bronstein from Symphony Hall Boston
© 2003 Squashtalk, all rights of reproduction reserved.

Durbach Priced Out of the Market

Sept 11 2003, Allston MA - Harvard University Murr Squash Center

Paul Price(front) and Rodney Durbach in the night's longest match (photo: ©2003, Debra Tessier)

The match was fascinating because of its see-saw nature and constant flashes of great squash as both players used the entire court and knew how to throw in some fine cloud-scraping lobs. Price, we must remember is a player who once reached the top five before back injuries toppled him, while Durbach has never reached those heights. On paper Price should have waltzed away with a 3/0 victory and after he had won the first game 15-12, it looked as though he would. It was in the second game that the body contact started and Price, wearing his hard-done-by expression cranked up the aggravation.

It wasn’t surprising that Durbach, who uses irony rather than anger when talking to the referee, led 14-7. Price used his anger to stage a brilliant run of five points to get to 12-14, before Durbach managed to find a winner to give him the 15th point.

He then kept pace with Price in the third to 14-14, taking the next three points more on Price errors than his own winners. Rather than keep the pressure on Price in the fourth, the big South African let it slip away as Price ran to a 4-1 and at 10-4 Durbach decided to save himself for the fifth and Price won 15-8 to even the match. Price kept the upper hand for the entire fifth game to lead 13-10. Durbach would not concede and took the next three points to reach 13-all. Price stopped the run – a small run, but very critical at this stage of the match – to reach match ball 14-13. On the next rally, Price hit a ball down the middle of the court and backed into Durbach who was standing on the T.

Durbach raised his racket to show he was ready to hit the ball and held his shot, positive that this was a stroke in his favor. The referee gave a Let, to the howls of the gallery. He told Durbach that his shot didn’t work! This decision would have been bad enough in the first game of a match, but at this juncture of the fifth it was a near fatal body blow to Durbach. Poor old Rodney, instead of being 14-14 was still facing match ball. Price took the last point to win 15-13 and nobody went home happy.

ILLINGWORTH STILL THE STUDENT

College kid Julian Illingworth drove 130 miles from Yale, where he is number one on the squash team, to play Mark Chaloner. He looked pretty good until 6-3 in the first game when Chaloner decided not to put the ball away but prolong the rally. It must have gone on for 100 shots and Illingworth hung in there, getting everything back and putting in some testers himself. He not only lost that point, but for all intents and purposes, lost the match at that point too. Chaloner, the experienced pro had given the young pupil a lesson in fitness and by the third game Illingworth was probably dying to get into his car to drive back to Yale again.

“I learned I have to be much fitter. And suddenly my winning shots weren’t – Mark was getting them back,” he told Squashtalk wiping the sweat from his beet-red face.

Julian Illingworth(front) gets a workout from qualifying #1 seed Mark Chaloner (photo: ©2003, Debra Tessier)

Top qualifying seed Chaloner will now face Olli Tuominen for a place in the main draw, after he outlasted Nick Taylor (who is sponsored by the City of Manchester, England) 15-3 in the fifth.

MORE BEEF REQUIRED?

Stefan Casteleyn, on the other hand, is sponsored by Beef Jerky (honest!). Whether this helps his performance or not is hard to say: he won the first game against Graham Ryding of Canada and then obviously ran out of dried up beef and lost the next three.

Stefan Casteleyn shows off his red Adidas while Graham Ryding plays on. (photo: ©2003, Debra Tessier)

Damian Walker, the former Brit who now plays for the US lost to Adrian Grant. Jamie Crombie, who was born in the States but played for Canada is now back in the States playing as an American. Crombie, well into his fourth decade by now, was no match for Nick Matthew who thought their meeting was a nice warm up for his date with Simon Parke, who put out the last American, Lucky Odeh, who is actually Nigerian but got in the draw because of his residency in Boston.

Third seed Alex Gough was put out in four by Shahier Razik, the Canadian who grew up in Cairo. Razik will now have to overecome Grant for a place in the main draw, a match that takes place at the Boston Racket Club, rather than the grand setting of Harvard University. It should be the match of the day, after which Ron Beck and I are selling his car to buy two Green Monster tickets to see the Red Sox play Chicago. I know it ain’t squash, but sometimes you have to see how the rich live.

FIRST ROUND QUALIFYING RESULTS
Mark Chaloner (ENG) bt Julian Illingworth (USA) 15-6, 15-9, 15-3
Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt Nick Taylor (ENG) 11-15, 15-8, 15-11, 12-15, 15-3.
Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Damian Walker (US) 12-15, 15-8, 15-7, 15-9
Shahier Razik (CAN) bt Alex Gough (WAL) 10-15, 15-8, 15-7, 15-5.
Graham Ryding (CAN) bt Stefan Casteleyn (BEL) 11-15, 15-4, 15-11, 15-11.
Paul Price (AUS) bt Rodney Durback (RSA) 15-12, 12-15, 14-17, 15-8, 15-13.
Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Jamie Crombie (US)15-7, 15-5, 15-7.
Simon Parke (ENG) bt Lucky Odeh (NIG) 15-, 15-3, 15-4.

Nick Taylor and Olli Tuominen were close until the last game (photo: ©2003, Debra Tessier)

Jamie Crombie had the flexibility but not the stamina to get by Nick Matthew (photo: ©2003, Debra Tessier)

#2 qualifying seed Simon Parke finished off the evening and Lucky Odeh. (photo: ©2003, Debra Tessier)