USA Batting 500
Sept 27, 2004, Martin Bronstein; SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2004;

MARTIN BRONSTEIN REPORTING FROM THE FRANS OTTEN STADION IN THE SUBURBS OF AMSTERDAM      [pools draw]    [pools detailed results]

USA Batting 500

USA Team with coach Demer Holleran photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

After a fast – and expected loss to England, the USA crew evened the record with an equally fast victory over Japan. Latasha Khan gave up five points at number one, Meredeth Quick gave up 10 points, and Louisa Hall was meanest, allowing Sachiko Shinta just three points.

Manager Demer Holleran sees no indicators in either of these matches and feels that the big match in the pool rounds will be against Hong Kong. Should the US beat Hong Kong as well as Scotland, then they are assured a top eight finish.

“At first I thought that a top 12 finish would be good and then we got seeded tenth which was great because that gave us a chance of a top eight finish, which would be amazing,” Holleran told me today after the victory over Japan.

Meredeth Quick gave up only 10 points at #2 against Japan photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

Holleran played in five world team tournaments in the nineties, so knows all about the pressures of team play and the importance of team spirit.

“You can get bad team spirit, or good team spirit, or something in the middle. In the middle, the players don’t get affected, they are just out there, not involved, just expending energy. But bad team spirit can affect the players even though it is an individual sport and good team spirit can really make a player perform better,” she explained.

Contrary to my report yesterday Michelle Quibel did not play to day, Holleran putting in Louisa Hall at three. She is making no predictions as to who will be playing against Scotland and Hong Kong, inferring that there is little to choose between Hall and Quibel on the day.

“We’ll see how they feel and if anyone needs resting. We may play our top three against Scotland to get them sharp for Hong Kong…we’ll just have to see how it goes,” she said.

AUSTRALIA GOOD FOR TWO
The Grinham sisters ran through Germany’s top two players with little problem, but Melissa Martin at three had to fight through five games before delivering the third string victory over Carola Weiss. This could be encouraging news for the other top seeds who will pray that one of the sisters will have a bad day in the playoffs and tip the balance for the top seeds.

Third seeds Netherlands also picked up a 3/0 victory over Denmark but again the Dutch number three, Karen Kronemeyer, had to push through five games before beating Ditte Nielsen. This raises the question on how Kronemeyer will do against Martin or Amelia Pittock when Australia and Netherlands meet?

PREGNANCY IS GOOD FOR YOU

Cassie and England sailing so far photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

At the last championships in Denmark we witness Salma Shabana put in a superb performance on behalf of Egypt, he recently born son in a Dunlop sports bag by the side of the court. (Almost every player became an unpaid babysitter). Obviously pregnancy was good for her.

Austria’s Pamela Pancis appeared last week in Linz carrying her newborn everywhere except on court. She is here in Amsterdam, as the Austrian number one, the baby still in evidence. She also demonstrated that pregnancy is good for the racket arm as she beat Belgium’s Kim Hannes-Tuenen in straight games, a very good upset. It didn’t help Austria as Belgium won at two and three. But should we now consider pregnancy in the same light as drugs, ie giving a player unfair advantage? Perhaps a handicap system should be brought in: one pregnancy, two points a game; two pregnancies, start a game down; three pregnancies, banned for life.

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