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Last updated 01/06/2002
US Open Qualifying
- by Martin Bronstein
Parke coasts, Americans perspire... expire
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The
Memorial US Open - Qualifying
January 4, 2001 Back Bay, Boston, MA--
EASY TIMES FOR THE BIG BOYS
With the withdrawal of Pakistan's three top players, the qualifying draw lost
much of its muscle. At the last minute organizer John Nimick had to find quick
substitutes and wisely opted to give three US players a chance at gaining
some valuable experience.
Poor young Beau River found himself facing the former world number three Simon Parke, who is making a quick mend from ankle surgery. It's one thing being thrown in the deep end, it is quite another to have lead weights tied to your feet and and River soon found himself back in the showers at the wrong end of a 15-3, 15-5, 15-3 scoreline.
OUT OF HARMS WAY
 |
| Robby Lingashi (left) kept Jago Nardelli on the run. Photo © 2002 Ron Beck |
Parke, who has dropped to 25 in the rankings, will have to work a little harder in the next round, facing the very talented Swiss player Lars Harms, who disposed of Imar Khan in three games today.
I first saw Harms at the world junior championships in Cairo in 1996 and he was a mercurial performer with some quite exhilarating shots and a real feel for the game. The fact that sometimes he lost track of sense produced results well below his abilities. In fact I was told that he gave up the game for a couple of years and then came back and is now applying himself fully. His match kicks off the second round at the Boston Racket Club at lunch time.
ANOTHER QUICK DECISION
Preston Quick is another promising American player who had to contend with
solid professional strength when he met England's Mark Cairns. Although well
into his thirties, Cairns is playing some of his best squash and, coupled
with his enormous experience at international level, is a formidable opponent.
Quick shouldn't be too downhearted with the final 15-11, 15-8, 15-7 scoreline;
it showed that he was not totally outclassed.
HOW GOOD WILL YOU BE TODAY, JOE
Joseph Kneipp is an Australian player of talent, but according to his
own self appraisal, tends to think too much on court. He has beaten most
of the top players at one time or another and should really be higher
in the rankings than 27. He has great results playing those ranked above
and stinking results sometimes against lesser players. Today he beat Segun
Maku of Nigeria in very short order - Maku got just 10 points - and will
meet Cairns in the second round. This will be a match well worth watching.
CASTELEYN STILL ON THE WAY UP AGAIN
Stefan Casteleyn was the first Belgian to ever reach the top ten and that
was barely two or three years ago. And then he went off to the West Coast
and slipped down into the thirties. For the last 18 months he has been trying
to work his way up again and he is still only number 30. He beat David McNeely,
the highest ranked American (96) quite handily and should have no difficulty
in making the main draw when he meets Robby Lingashi today.
NARDELLI VERSUS LINGASHI - IS THAT
TWO PASTAS?
 |
| Shahier Razik was a study in calm performance. Photo © 2002 Ron Beck |
Jago Nardelli - very Brit despite his name - has been around for a long time, his name appearing constantly in minor tournaments where he never gets past the second round. Nevertheless you would expect him to beat Bobby Lingashi. Bobby who? Lingashi. Well he was the Zambian number one for ten years in a row and he now trains with Richard Millman in Westchester New York.
For the first game it looked as though Nardelli was home and dry, winning 15-10, but from then on it was downhill. He failed to pin Lingashi into the back corners which allowed him to use his shots and to shrewdly distribute the ball around the court. (Anyone who has watched Millman play his beautifully crafted and weight shots will see Millman's influence). Lingashi was in charge from the second game and his distribution soon had Nardelli grunting with the effort of reach the drops or the disguised drives. Lingashi won the next three games and once more Nardelli's tournament finished even before it had really begun.
IS RAZIK SHARP ENOUGH FOR DURBACH?
Two more young Americans went down to superior experience when Shahier
Razik of Canada, ranked 41, beat the Harvard number one Peter Karlen 3/0,
and Rodney Durbach of South Africa beat Tim Wyant by the same score. There
were times when it seemed as though Razik was practicing his length. Certainly
Karlen after one long rally discovered the difference between being an
amateur and a professional. Durbach is simply too good, too strong and
too experienced for someone as fresh as Wyant, who trains under Neil Harvey.
Indeed, Harvey's most famous pupil Peter Nicol was at the Harvard Club
to talk to Wyant between games, but that could produce no miracles. Razik
playing Durbach is another interesting game to look forward to and should
help to make up for a lackluster first round of qualifying.
[First Day Qualifying Scores and Draw]
