It must be so frustrating to play the World number one Thierry Lincou when you are a contender. As he is always a bit tense, a bit uneasy at the start of his matches, especially since he’s got the pressure of being both World Champion AND World number one, his opponent must think that he has got a real chance as the match unfolds …

But every time, the scenario is more of less the same. The Frenchman is shaky in the first game, regroups in the second, confirms in the third, and punishes in the fourth… There are some variations on the theme, but the basis stays unchanged…

Today LJ Anjema played superb squash, fast, accurate, inventive, sharp and sprinkled with devastating winners. He threatened and worried Lincou big time, but the grinding effect of his opponent’s style was eventually to wear his combativeness away.

But the Dutch should take pride in his achievement this month yet again, as he played a tremendous amount of squash in the past 10 days, with great success I may add…

Next on for Thierry, the Rejuvenated Ong Beng Hee. That will not be a walk in the park either, let me tell you…
 

You’ve got those days where whatever problems you cause your opponent, he/she always seems to have the right answer that upsets your plans. Today was one of those days for Peter Barker.

He didn’t do anything wrong, he played quite well actually, hit the ball hard, his length was good, nice width, lovely drop shops, and he moved well with an impeccable fitness as ever. But he was more or less behind Greg Gaultier for the whole match…

Greg was controlling the rallies, despatching shots to the four corners, and even Peter’s exquisite drop shots didn’t seem to cause him that much problem as he was moving extremely fast and with great ease. And apart from the second game that Peter probably should have won, as the French seemed to lose focus a few times, the end result was not really in doubt.

I also want to stress that the match was played in a very good spirit, as I felt that both players respected each other, giving an appropriate atmosphere to the encounter - disputed but fair…

"I played OK, I was in all the games, but at the end of each game, we would have some disputed rallies, and he would play some outstanding winners, and that made the difference. At the end of the day, that’s what makes him a champion, the ability to play and win the crucial points at the end of each game…

"I wish I could have found a better balance between attack and defence, as there were some rallies I was attacking a lot, and got a bit carried away, played some loose shots, and against Shabana, he would crucify me every time. And if I was to lose concentration for a split second, I would find myself down three points, and suddenly, the game would have slipped away from me…"

Ben Garner

"I found that court extremely difficult to play, the ball got spongy after the second game…

"I’m happy to have a 3/0 victory, then a day of rest before player the Great Peter Nicol.

"Mansoor has the ability to put the ball away quite well, we had some pretty good rallies. I also played the ball too early too short sometimes, and that’s what he thrives on, as he can attack it.

"In the first, I was 6/9 down, and eventually got the game 11/9, just by playing basic squash. It’s a pity I have to be 6/9 down before I realise that I’ve got to play serious squash…"

John White

Kuwaiti pro Ali Al Ramezi didn’t stay long on the show court today, 16 minutes in all, against one of the greatest players of all time, the Boss Peter Nicol.

He offered surprisingly little resistance to the Englishman, which is a shame as I saw him play quite well  a few months ago in his home country against Peter Barker in the qualifiers of the Kuwait Open 2005.

I didn’t have the chance to speak with the young man after the match, but my guess is that he got a bit overwhelmed by the whole situation, and lost his way a bit…

Oh well, it all counts as experience now, doesn’t it…