JAMES: THE END OF THE ROPE

Thierry Lincou and James Willstrop didn’t meet that often in PSA tournaments, but the last time those two champions played was in St Louis a few months ago. But today, we had the World number 1 playing the World number 2. And that was just the quarters. It doesn’t come better than this…

Thierry has found some drive in the past two weeks. He has stopped defending, he is not afraid of losing matches anymore, he comes on court with hunger in the guts and the will to win. And he was playing today a physically exhausted James, who has had a tremendous run, wining Qatar, reaching the semis in Hong Kong, and wining with his team mates a long over due world team title in the number 1 position.

Thierry played the perfect tactic against the young man, pushing him regularly in the back with his famous length that prevented his opponent to attack from a good position. The conditions also didn’t help the Englishman, whose attacks would sit comfortably waiting for the Frenchman to pick them up…

The first game was point for point up to 8/8, extremely technical, the two players patiently measuring the other one, a steady pace, neither of them going for too much. But a stroke and two tins in a row gave Thierry the game 11/8 in 20 minutes.

Now that he doesn’t throw the first game away that easy anymore, my compatriot relaxes slightly in the second. And that what he did today, tinning 4 points in a row to give James a comfortable lead 4/1. But a James uncharacteriscally discussing some decisions from the ref lost a bit of concentration, and gave the Frenchman the second game allowing him a 2/0 lead.

Giving it everything he had, James got in good position to take the third, leading 9/6. An amazing/tremendous/stunning rally, the best of the Asian Tour as far as I’m concerned gave the young man his first game ball, but took out all the energy that he had in the tank I’m afraid. And even if he succeeded to save a match ball and took finally the game 11/10 (3-1), he was simply flat in the 4th, and shook his opponent’s hand to offer the Frenchman his second semi-final of the Tour.

"I was very positive from the start. I found a bit of confidence in myself, and my game feels more natural, more fluid. "I thought that the match was very tight throughout, James only let go at some moments of the match, for example at the end of the first game, when we were at 6/6. "I was able to make the difference by putting him under pressure with my back of the court game, and by preventing him from attacking. And as soon as I had the opportunity, I was attacking as well… "But it was very difficult conditions, the ball is so bouncy, and it’s very hot…" Thierry Lincou

DO IT TO ME ONE MORE TIME…
Framboise reports

Squash is really the best sport in the world.

It’s such a melange of mental and physical strength, isn’t it? You need fitness, you need technique, but most of all, you need belief. The confidence to know that you can do it, that you can win, that you can score the last point.

Today, Nick had that belief. This summer, during what I called at the time his “coming of age”, he not only beat Lee, but he was the first player EVER to come back from a 2/0 deficit against the Pontefract man.

And today again, Lee played superbly in the first two games. Precise in the back, lethal in the front, the former world number one was hardly moving and despatched the blows to an opponent left to visit the court so many times. But still, the first game was very close, 7/7, 8/8, with Lee ending it on a superb last backhand straight drive 11/9 in 25 minutes, with the second a formality, 11/4 in 7 minutes.

That’s it, then, thought both Jonathon and Karim who I saw disappearing to warm up for their next match. Three times they had to repeat the same routine, as Nick, with no consideration whatsoever for his colleagues, decided that after all, he fancied a bit more time on court…

The third game was quick and painless really, Lee taking a little breather, and won most of his points on the return of serve, as he seemed to read his opponent's game like an open book.

Things got serious in the fourth, as Lee took an excellent start to position himself for an easy victory 7/3, then 9/5. A no let, a forehand crosscourt kill and two out of court shots, and Nick clawed back to 9/9. The crowd, impressed by the young man's tenacity, was all behind him. Awarded a stroke, Sheffield Man guessed the good side of one of Lee’s attacks, and was able to play a sumptuous forehand kill to level things up 2/2.

But Lee didn’t crack mentally whatsoever. He didn’t let Nick’s momentum dictate the last game. A nail-biting decider had us all on the edge of our seats. 1/1. 2/2. 3/3. 4/4. 5/5.

My money was safely in my pocket, let me tell you, no way anybody could have predicted the winner. But one of them was so hungry, desperate for victory. And it was Nick who dug in, pressed on the accelerator, find that extra strength, that extra push.

Lee didn’t score another point…

"I was very pleased with the way I played the first two games, I won without having the need to move that much, and as I’m not 100% fit at the moment, I’ve got a sore knee, I will have a scan when I go home, I was really happy to play that level of squash in the first two games and even in the fourth… "But when Nick got really desperate and fired up, and it became a physical battle, I just couldn’t follow. "I’m disappointed to lose in the end, I guess that I was expecting too much of myself…" Lee Beachill

LINCOU WINS TOP TWO BATTLE

The first quarter-final was a meeting between the current world number one and number two, as both players pressed their claim to be world number one come January.

The match started off evenly with neither able to assume control, and in a long first game points were traded until 8-all, but a couple of errors from James Willstrop gave Thierry Lincou the gap he needed as he took the lead after 22 minutes.

It was the Frenchman who produced the errors at the start of the second, but he cut them out, pulled back from 1-4 to 6-all, and two fortuitous nicks at the back of the court put him ahead 9-6. At game ball Lincou forced three consecutive back-wall boasts from the young Englishman, finally putting in a drop to double his lead.

Willstrop led throughout the third, 4-2 becoming 8-4. But Lincou is renowned for comebacks, and although this one ultimately failed, the huge rally that took Willstrop to 10-8 and left Lincou sprawling at the back of the court was to ultimately take its toll on the Englishman.

Willstrop edged the third in the tie-break, but from 3-all in the fourth errors crept into his game as tiredness set in and Lincou was quick to seize the advantage, racing to clinch the game and the match. 

RICKETTS ROLLS OVER NICOL

British Open champion Anthony Ricketts underlined his rise to the very top of the world order in Saudi this evening. Playing controlled, precise squash, he weathered a strong start from Peter Nicol, worked his way back into the match and finished it totally dominant.

It was Nicol in charge at the beginning, moving smoothly and leading 7/2. But the Australian was not to be denied tonight, pulling the lead back point by point, saving two game balls and taking it on the tie-break.

A 2/0 lead for Nicol in the second was soon gone, and as Ricketts edged ahead the Englishman showed his frustration as Ricketts consistently got the better of rallies that were tailor-made for the Australian's game.

Nicol seemed to be playing short much more than is usual, and Ricketts dominated, taking full advantage of the court conditions and his opponent's problems.

Nicol started off the second with two unforced errors, and in a flash found himself 9/0 down. A point was gained to save the whitewash, but it was all over, and after 26 minutes Ricketts was on his way to a semi-final meeting with Lincou.

NICK DOES IT TO LEE AGAIN
 
It was a cagey opening to the start of this quarter-final between two of England's World Team winning heroes. If Peter Nicol's match finished with a flurry of quick rallies, this one started with a series of long, probing ones, with both players getting used to the court and the conditions - the first game was to take 25 minutes, just one short of Nicol's entire match.

It was Beachill, the 'senior' player, who managed to find the edge to take the first, and he moved quickly ahead in the second to establish a two-game lead.

Matthew is the only man to have beaten Beachill from two down, and if he raised the prospect of doing it again by taking the third, it began to look unlikely as Beachill reasserted in the fourth, moving to 9/5 and just two points from the semi-final.

The rallies throughout were close, neither able to dominate, so the margins were slight. Things started going Matthew's way again, and he reeled off six consecutive points - not with spectacular winners, or errors from Beachill, just by getting the better of finely contested rallies - and we were at two games all after 70 minutes of play.

The pattern continued in the fifth. 2/2, 3/3, 4/4, 5/5 ... but some quick points all went Matthew's way as Beachill started to feel the pace, and suddenly it was 10/5. Beachill knew the game was up, and although he pulled one point back, it was.

Nick had done it to Lee again ...

POWER LEAVES IT LATE

The final match of the day looked unlikely to be a marathon in the style of the previous match, with two shotmakers facing each other in a 10pm start, but that wasn't quite how it turned out ...

Jonathon Power started favourite, but having won three of their last four encounters Karim Darwish held no fear of the Canadian's famed prowess, and raced to a 4/0 lead with some dazzling winners. The lead was held as the Egyptian took the first 11/7 to whoops of delight from the Saudi supporters.

Darwish started the second better, leading 6/3, but Power started to find his range, taking the next four points to lead, and extended it to level 11/7.

There were few whoops for a while after that, as Power took control, working Darwish around the court and despatching winners at every opportunity to take the third.

Darwish held a slight lead for most of the fourth and capitalised on his second game ball to level the match and ignite the crowd again ... but only briefly, as the Canadian totally dominated the final game, reaching 6/0 and 10/1 before a raised fist signified his progression to the semi-final.