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21st
Oct:
SURREY CUP
OK, the Surrey Cup is not as prestigious as the
National
League, but believe me, the faithful followers like me enjoy
great matches, great fun,
and great players.
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REMINDER:
So guys, don’t forget to send us the results of your
matches, and nice little reports would be more than
welcome….
SURREY CUP
FIXTURES & RESULTS |
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THE MATCH:
A BIT DISAPPOINTED….
Sorry to be bland, but yes, the evening was a bit disappointing. The
mayonnaise didn’t take, as we say in French. All the ingredients
were there, but it just didn’t take….
No big stars for Esporta today, Peter Nicol was not playing, and
Adrian Grant is in Hungary, as you probably know. So the balance
between Esporta and Wimbledon was much better…
I saw 3 matches, and they were all a slight let down, for very
different reasons.
 At
number four Phil Rushmore, the Wimbledon pro, was playing
against James Robbins for Esporta. And even if Phil gave all
he’d got, it was not enough.
Robbins was in control from start to finish, always in front,
dictating the pace and the rallies. And even when Rushmore was able
to get in front, hit a few good shots, the speedy James would
counter with beautiful touch drop shots, that would surprise his
opponent.
Phil visited the four corners of the court, ran like a madman, never
gave up, fought hard for 35 minutes, gave it all his heart, but
sometimes, all is not enough…
1/0.
 On
court 2, it was Wimbledon’s number 5, the determined Mark Ford
that gave his club a well deserved win in four games against Issa
Kamara, like himself a club player. I didn’t see the match, but
I don’t know many players as “stubborn” as Mark is. He is like a dog
with a bone. He never ever gives up, and I admire him greatly for
it.
1/1.
In came Del Harris, former world number 5, and Rodney
Durbach, world number 30. Those two had some memorable
encounters, one in particular in Surrey League I think 2 years ago.
So, I was looking forward to the meeting but unfortunately, they
never played well at the same time….
To start with, Rodney virtually stepped off the plane from the US
the night before, and, as he says himself, “it took me a while to
realise that a match was going on…”
So very quickly, Del is up 6/1, and takes the first one 9/3 in 12
minutes. In the second, Rodney seems to wake up, and the score is
much closer, 3/3, 4/4, but Harris is hitting the ball very well,
very hard, and Rodney’s racquet has a strange resemblance to a dish
strainer… Del takes the second 9/5 in 16 minutes.
And then, Rodney started to play very well, and Del, not that well.
Last three games 9/0, 9/4, 9/0 in 18 minutes, the score says it all.
2/1.
On the next court a fierce battle was going on between the number
threes, Stuart Cowie for Esporta and Tony Hands for
Wimbledon, a match that could have been anybody’s, where both player
worked very hard for their club, but it’s Esporta that takes it
eventually.
2/2.
So the decider was going to be the last match, and I really was
looking forward to that one.
 Steve
Meads, the Grinding Machine, as I love to call him, and
Bradley Ball, slim, tall, discrete and yet passionate squash
player.
The first game was beautiful. The pace was high, both players
attacking, hitting hard. Steve Meads’ drop shots were frequent (yes,
he was the one dropping the ball, surprising, isn’t it?), he was
varying the pace beautifully, and Bradley Ball was hitting good
lengths, good width, good angles. Long rallies, beautiful squash, we
were on for a treat.
In 20 minutes, Steve takes the first one. “We could be here for a
while,” mentioned one of the spectators…
The second game is at the same level as the first, nice squash,
beautiful attacks, very close indeed: 3/3, 6/6, 7/7.
“Let please”, asks Bradley of the ref.
“No let”, answers the man in charge, quite rightly.
Bradley then went up to Steve, and with a smile, shook his
opponent’s hand, and walked off court.
And that was it.3/2 to Esporta.
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Colets Crash at St Georges
Champions Colets suffered a stunning 5-0 defeat at St Georges in
week three ...
Azlan Iskander bt Alex Gough 3-1
Laurens Anjema bt Scott Handley 3-1
Peter Genever bt Mark Cairns 3-0
Tim Garner bt Danny Meddings 3-1
Tom Richards bt Clive Ewins 3-1 |
DURBACH:
A MARRIED MAN…
 When
I asked Rodney Durbach, from South Africa, who’s been playing for
Wimbledon for a few years now, what married life changed for him, he
smiled.
“Time away seems much longer now! I just spent 4 weeks in the
States, a country I really enjoy, but this time, 4 weeks was just
too long. I still enjoy the travelling, but I just won’t stay away
as much as I used to.”
About his general form, Rodney confessed that “my form is up and
down really, I’m not as consistent as I used to be. It has to be
said that I do less training, as I'm playing more tournaments, it
could be an explanation.”
And another one who is off the market.
Blast! |
MEN AND COMPLIMENTS….
I think that men are 'compliment- gene' deficient.
All women (well, most of them anyway) will understand what I mean.
When a man makes a compliment, you can be sure that it’s not what a
woman wants to hear.
Hence Mr Steve Meads….
When I arrived at Esporta, he immediately noticed that I had lost
weight (thanks to Colets’ gym, classes and swimming pool, I have to
admit…).
So far so good.
But then, he HAD to spoil it all, comparing my boots to “Halloween
Shoes. Well they are a bit pointy, scary, aren’t they?”….
Men are hopeless… Bless them! |
FROM SQUASH PLAYER
TO FIRE-FIGHTER…
 Del
Harris is 35. As he says himself “too old for squash, but too young
to marry”…
He is still using a grip per game, still hitting the ball at 'John
White' speed, even if he hasn’t played much squash for 4 months and
if the fitness is not what it used to be.
At the moment, he is coaching long hours at Lexden, but he has
something else in the pipeline.
And when I say pipeline….
As a few know, Del tried last year to become a fire-fighter. Things
didn’t go that well for him, and his failure was hard to take,
especially as his squash career was coming to an end. But he got
back on his feet, refocused, and reapplied.
And this time, he passed.
So, in five months, he will start his training, starting with a
medical, then a two day induction followed by 15 weeks of intense
training, at the end of which he should be a fire-fighter on
probation for 18 months.
Del Harris is a happy man, and it shows.
So, thanks for the beautiful matches you gave us, and good luck for
your new life, Del…. |
MY BRAIN WASN’T
IN THE RIGHT PLACE….
 “I
shouldn’t have played tonight, I am physically and mentally
exhausted”.
It’s with those words that Bradley Ball, the tall English winner of
last week's Berkshire Open, Maryland, USA, explained his surprising
attitude during his match at number two against Wimbledon's Steve
Meads.
“In the past 6 months, I’ve been away for five months. I’m not
complaining, as these are my best six months ever. But since I got
back, I just stopped, and started thinking about a lot of things,
about what this job takes out of you.”
“I think I just need to rest and digest all that has been happening
during those past months. That is why I will not play in the British
Open. I just need to rest…”
Well, you do that, Bradley, because I’ve seen you play for 3 seasons
now, and you are a very talented player, who just needs to keep
believing in himself, and needs to realise that one can’t play every
ball perfectly, that mistakes are allowed, and that it doesn’t mean
that you are not playing well. You are a very beautiful squash
player, you had proof of that in the past months.
Keep focused, have a good rest, and come back to us… |
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