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RICHARDSON:
STRONG AS EVER…
 Steve
Richardson, who is playing for Lakeside, is not competing at a
professional level anymore. I was told that family life gave him all the
excitement one needs to find life enjoyable…
Steve was playing Wimbledon R & FC’s pro, Phil Rushworth (who I
called Rushmore in my last report, oups sorry man…) at fourth lstring. The
match was extremely pleasant, as Steve was attacking as many backhand
balls he could put his racquet on, and Phil was retrieving as many lost
causes he could fight for.
 In
the first, Richardson went up very quickly 6/1, let his opponent catch up
4/6, but quickened the pace to grab the first game 9/5 in 17 minutes.
After which he decided to rest for a while, and let the second go to
Rushworth 9/0 in 3 minutes.
In the third, Phil could only serve 5 times, but still, the rallies were
intense, disputed, even if the score doesn’t reflect it, 9/1 for
Richardson in 12 minutes.
The fourth and last game was the most interesting one by far, both players
giving us their best. Rushworth took the lead 4/1, but Steve caught up at
5/5, and with good hitting, great length and a mind on the game, took the
game 9/6. Overall, an extremely pleasant encounter that lasted 45 minutes.
Phil Rushworth lost to Steve Richardson
5/9, 9/0, 1/9, 6/9
5th STRING: A MARATHON…
As I was watching Richardson/Rushworth match, I missed the first game
between Mark Ford, a club player at Wimbledon for a few years now,
and Alex Couch, alias “the Lungs”, in reference to his endurance on
a squash court.
“Well, I only have one lung left now, I’m getting old…” smiled Weybridge
David Lloyd’s squash coach at the end of his marathon against Mark.
Alex "one lung" Couch
But boy o boy did those two run tonight!
It started very well indeed for Alex, as he took the first two games, 9/7,
9/4, and it looked quite a doomed future for the home camp. But as usual,
Mark Ford fought very hard, and made the comeback of the week…In the
third, up 6/0, he let veteran Couch come back to 4/7, but still picked up
the game 9/7. Same story for the fourth, Mark is up 6/2, Alex comes back
at 6/6, but Mark still forces a decider.
The decider lasted… forever! We stayed a little while at 2/2, at 4/3, I
thought we would never get out of 6/4… But tiredness started to take its
toll on the elder player (well, even if he is Mr Lungs himself, he is
still 38), and faults started to creep in, drop shots went in the tin more
than they should have, and after a 100-minute match and three match balls,
Mark Ford gets a well deserved victory, that I think gave his team the
edge…
Mark Ford beat Alex Couch
7/9, 4/9, 9/7, 9/6, 9/7
In other words, 2/2….
ANOTHER INJURY…
 In
came the number ones, Rodney Durbach, R & FC, and Stacey Ross,
Lakeside. Once again, I was looking forward to that game, as although the
world ranking of those two players are quite apart (Durbach is 30, Ross
58), Ross has been winning some hard matches against players ranked much
higher than him (Alex Gough for example, two weeks ago at Esporta).
Rodney started the match a bit grumpy, and wasn’t really concentrating on
his squash, allowing Stacey to take the first game 9/0 in 7 minutes. Very
quickly, he got his act together, and the second was very interesting,
both players sticking to their game, Rodney lobbing beautifully, varying
the pace, and Stacey dropping irretrievable shots, and although Stacey had
a comfortable lead of 4/0, Rodney wins the second in 21 minutes 9/6.
In the third, again Ross takes an early lead, 4/1, but Rodney clings to
his opponent 5/6. The rallies are long, quite physical, and the match is a
bit tense, but seems to ease a bit around the end of the third. We saw
some beautiful return of serve nicks from Stacey, and some lethal cross
court shots from Rodney. Some very good rallies indeed. Stacey takes the
game 9/6 in 16 minutes.
Once again in the fourth, Stacey is up 3/0, but at 3/2, falls heavily, and
twists his ankle. Very understandably, just two days from the start of the
British Open qualifying draw, he chose to stop and assess the injury
quietly.
Rodney Durbach bt Stacey Ross
0/9, 9/7, 4/9, 2/3 rtd
So that gave a slightly unexpected victory to Wimbledon R & FC, who will
be extremely happy to win the match, meaning that once again, in my view,
they win thanks to the gutsy performance of their number 5, Mark Ford. |
WEEK FOUR RESULTS:
St George's
4-1 Wimbledon II
Colets
5-0 Christophers
W'don R&F I 3-2 W'don Lakeside
Surbiton 0-5
Esporta |
STILL
NO JOY CLONING ...
