Qualifier Final: Boswell to Face Matthew in Round One
Nov 32005, by Martin Bronstein   
Squashtalk Independent News; © 2005 SquashTalk LLC

FINAL DAY QUALIFYING AT THE MURR CENTER
[Mens Qualifying Draw]      [Womens Qualifying Draw]

There was a fair bit of contact in the crucial moments of the fourth game . Photo © Ron Beck

ANJEMA WINS IN THE BACK CORNERS
From the first rally it was obvious that Laurens Jan Anjema thought he could beat Alister Walker by keeping him in the back corners. And as the match progressed he was proved right because Walker was beating him in the front corners.

But to start at the beginning, the Dutchman played like a dream and it looked like he could do wrong. The first point came on a perfect length which died in the back corner; a low forehand drive earned his second point, the third came on a penalty stroke and the fourth on stunning forehand straight nick. At this point Walker had done nothing wrong, had not played badly, it was just that Anjema was on fire.

Anjema earned the fifth point by sending Walker the wrong way, the sixth point showed the gods were with Anjema as a working cross court hit the nick. The seventh point came from Walker’s first error, a backhand volley drop into the tin.

So, seven love to the first seed and he was cruising. His first error came on a backhand crosscourt slam into the tin, just at the point when I was admiring his textbook backhand preparation and execution. He made up for it by taking his eighth point with a backhand crosscourt into the nick and then that backhand messed up again with a slam into the tin. A tin which beeped when hit by the ball. Isn’t science wonderful? Except at this point the damn thing started beeping like a fire alarm at an arsonists’ convention. Every four seconds Beep Beep Beep. Play was stopped as various people tried to find the source of the beep. Finally the tin was removed and the offending “aide” was silenced. No, science can be wonderful but at other times it is a pain in the ear.

Anjema kept Walker from taking any initiative. Photo © Ron Beck

Play resumed, Anjema made three more errors to give Walker a respectable score but finished the game with a tight forehand to win 11-6 in 17minutes – including the beeping break.

Walker upped his game in the second to take control and started to exploit his favourite area of the court - the front corners. Anjema forgot his game plan and tried to match Walker in dropping duels and came out on the wrong side as Walker finished the rally by crashing the ball to the back. He led 8-6 to suggest a long match but Anjema steadied, hit a couple of wonderful cross courts that eluded Walker to get back to even terms at 8-8. Walker then made a crucial mistake with backhand volley drop into the tin and Anjema cashed in with two more winners to win 11-9.

Walker played the third in almost perfect fashion. Obviously miffed at not winning the second he played his game in the third and sucked Anjema into the front court duels, always coming out on top with his fine touch with a drop shot. He led 9-3, lost his concentration to allow Anjema back in with a run of four points to 7-9. Just when things were looking dangerous they played a long rally, full of good recoveries and tight drives. Unhappily for Anjema his run came to a close as he got in the way and Walker was awarded a penalty stroke to earn his tenth point and finished the game with perfect volley drop to win 11-7.

The fourth started with Anjema taking control to lead and then Walker fighting to gain the iniative, mixing the game up in an effort to destroy Anjema’s rhythm. He succeeded too and ran to a 5-2 lead. But he was unable to maintain his focus and two critical errors allowed Anjema to pull level at 7-7. It was still anybody’s game but Anjema seemed to go up a notch and took the final three points with a backhand drop, forehand drop and then a sizzling straight nick off his backhand to win 11-8 and take his place in the main draw. His reward? Anthony Ricketts. Don’t feel sorry for the Dutch guy – early this year he beat Peter Nicol and John White.

PILLEY PACKS A PUNCH

Razik Stretched but didn't attack. Photo © Ron Beck

When the tall skinny Australian John White hangs up his racket, there’s another tall skinny Aussie ready to step into his shoes. Cameron Pilley floats around the court effortlessly and smacks the ball into the nick with ease. He may not yet be able to hit as many winners as White does, but his ability to kill the ball and end a rally stood him in good stead in his match against Shahier Razik of Canada.

Razik started superbly, hit two dead nicks to win the first two points and dominated play to earn a 5-2 lead. That was probably his best run of play in the entire match. Pilley plays positive squash and when the opportunity arrives, he kills the ball stone dead. Razik is a reactive player who volleys the ball only when he has to; sometimes you get the impression that he keeps the ball in play hoping his opponent will make an error. This played right into the talented Pilley’s hand and he came back from the 1-5 deficit to win the game 11-8. The rallies were not short – with Razik they rarely are – and the game took almost 17minutes.

Cameron Pilley had Shahier Razik on the run. Photo © Ron Beck

Nothing prepared us for what happened next: The 23-year old Pilley simply overwhelmed Razik in every part of the court and ran to a swift 9-0 lead. Indeed Razik’s first point came when Pilley hit a forehand drop into the tin. It could almost have been seen as a charitable act. Razik returned the kindness by hitting a forehand drop into the tin and Pilley had the game 11-1 in nine minutes.

The third game was strange with no real direction or themes. There were predictable patterns of play but Razik was now going short more often and tight drops were keeping him in the game . Creative is not a word that comes to mind in describing this match. Trailing 8-9 Razik served into the nick to get level but then gave up a penalty stroke to put Pilley at match ball 10-9. Razik’s straight drive was too tight for Pilley to scrape out of the groove and so it was into a tie break. Another tight drive gave Razik game ball and an error from Pilley gave Razik the game and with it hope when it looked as though he would be out in three. Sadly he played the fourth game without hope and Pilley pulled away to win 11-4 to win the 71 minute match and earn a date with Jonathon Power in the main draw tomorrow.

Power will probably keep hitting short drops to make Pilley band and twist, which is what Razik should have done. But we shall see.

PIERREPONT’S REALLY LUCKY DAY
Suzie Pierrepont played better today against Canada’s Runa Reta – but not a whole lot better. She still made ghastly errors from the back of the court and constantly hit the wrong shot to allow Reta to drive it home for a winner. It was a close first game but Reta’s confidence and ease of hitting the all to the right place made it clear that she was not going to lose. She took the game 10-8 and the next two 9-5 and 9-4 as a dispirited Pierrepont failed to muster any real fight.

“I thought I played well. I had lost to Suzie some months ago, so I was really determined not to let her win again,” Runa told me after the game. But in fact the result didn’t matter; Carla Khan pulled out of the main draw and Pierrepont got in as the lucky loser. As some wise man once said: “It is better to be lucky than clever.”

BOZ GETS NICKED
Stu Boswell defeated the aging legs of Mark Chaloner to earn his place in the main draw and the lucky opponent is Nick Matthew. That should be a cracking match but I will have to put my money on Matthew - his great performance in the English Open in August still fresh in my mind. And by general consent Boswell is not quite back to his old form.

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