After being 2/0 up in the final last year, and losing out to Adrian Grant, Simon Parke must have felt a bit nervous when Scott Handley managed to level the match at 2-2, after Parkie had gone 2-0 up.

In the first two games, Parkie had simply got everything back, played his winners and generally outplayed Scott, to take them 11/3, 11/4. But Handley fought back, through solid, no-mistakes squash, slowing it down and taking it to a fifth with victories to 5 and 6 in the third and fourth.

However, unlike last year, the fifth was not tense and neck and neck throughout. Parkie got off to a good start, and continued it, to take the match and tournament 11/1.

“I played a quick tempo in the first two games, which I think Scott struggled with. I think it took its toll though, I was physically a bit tired, and Scott slowed it down in the third and fourth. However, in the fifth I got off to a good start and then just controlled it. There were no close games, one of us dominated each one really… I’m happy to win in Boston for the first time!”

I had the pleasure of standing next to Tania Bailey’s mum in the gallery that overlooked the glassback court for this match, and she informed me that Laura was going to take a year off her fulltime job as a fire-fighter and try her luck on the WISPA tour for a season. And you can see why!

This was a very long match, 77 minutes, for one that only went to four, with only one close game. The rallies were very long, mostly thanks to Laura’s excellent retrieving.

This wasn’t just ‘throw your racket at it’ stuff either, she was getting to it, and playing a shot that put the pressure back on Dominique.

Lloyd-Walter made a few mistakes, tinning it sometimes, and probably not attacking enough, but from what I saw today, not a lot would’ve stopper Laura from picking up the title…

         
MEN'S TOP HALF            MEN'S BOTTOM HALF                Women's Draw

Whew! Parkie was amazing today… Played at a high tempo and got every ball back. Slowing it down couldn’t work for Meads either, as Simon was dictating the pace and the match was panning out exactly as he wanted it to. Meads had to win a rally two or three times to win a point, with some spectacular smashed nicks simply being lobbed into a back corner. As several members commented, “You can see how he was a World #3!”.

In thirty or so minutes, the players were off court with the top seed into the final, and we were all wondering if the winner of Daryl and Scott would be able to live with Parkie if he plays like that tomorrow…

This was always going to be a close match, with Selby ahead in the world rankings, and Handley having the edge in the nationals. To be honest, it was hard to pick out what was separating the players today, the rallies were long and drawn out, just Handley kept winning them all! If anything, Selby’s drops maybe came a bit high up on the front wall. In the end though, Handley came through to cause a minor upset and set up what should be an interesting final with Parkie tomorrow.

Parkie has had a relatively easy ride through, having a bye through the Round of 64 (as did Scott), then admittedly a 3/2 win, then a rest on the Friday evening due to a dropout. Today, he has had two comfortable matches. Scott has had a slightly trickier route, but I think that both players should be fairly fresh for tomorrow.


  

The top seed made the finals with a win in four over Pontefract’s Kirsty McPhee.

After a close and lengthy first game which went McPhee’s way, Lloyd-Walter went on to win the next two quite comfortably. Dominique was simply finding those winners to often for Kirsty to cope…

This was a bit closer than it appears… There were some good rallies from both players, and in particular Beddoes’ drop shots were precise, honing in just millimetres above the tin.

However, with Hill managing to make clean retrievals of many of said shot, the rallies were drawn out. In the end, Hill ground out a steady 3/0 victory.
 

Shorbagy in Quarters

Women’s Round of 16

The first women’s round was struck by two no-shows. However, it did let us catch up and get back on schedule…

Dominique Lloyd-Walter (1) beat Emma Chorley:
9/5, 9/1, 9/10, 9/2

Phew! That third game was tense! Dominique and Emma were scrapping around at 8-8, then 9-8 to Emma, 9-9, and after a flurry of hands Chorley was back in the match, 2-1 down.

However, Lloyd-Walter closed off any chances of a comeback, sealing the match 9/2 in the fourth.

Karen Schultz: w/o

Rachel Wilmot: w/o

Kirsty McPhee (3/4) beat Lauren Selby: 9/2, 9/7, 9/0

Emma Beddoes (3/4) beat Irina Critchley: 9/0, 9/2, 9/1

Emma Beddoes completed a reasonably comfortable passage for the 3/4 seeds, beating Irina Critchley 3/0.

Leonie Holt beat Kira Petersen: 9/6, 9/7, 9/5

Although the scores in each game were close, this match actually seemed over quite quickly, from my point of view, perched at the back of the gallery typing these reports up (although not actually watching).

Victoria Lust beat Claire Kidd: 9/5, 9/5, 9/3

Laura Hill (2) beat Katherine Quarterman:
9/1, 9/0, 9/0

Laura Hill looked very, very impressive in this match, as she breezed past Katherine Quarterman. Her length was good, choice of power was good, as was her finishing of the rallies.

If she goes on and meets Lloyd-Walter in the final, it will be a very interesting match!
 

Magical Coppinger ... Here I was, typing up my notes, when Steve Coppinger comes along and shows me and some other players his ‘magic trick’. Coppinger, who had earlier come from 0-2 to win 3/2 against Stuart Crawford, went on to tell us how a doctor had given him three pills to take through his nose, through his ear and rubbed in through the back of his neck. He proceeded to do this, leaving us all clueless as to how those ball bearings had disappeared…

Men’s Round of 32

Fortunately, we were over to just the two glassbacked courts for most of today, with just the women’s first round being spread over four courts (we had to use one more than indented to catch up, with long matches early on in the day meaning we were at least an hour behind for most of it!

Simon Parke (1) beat Arthur Gaskin: 7/11, 6/11, 11/3, 11/2, 11/5

Last night, Arthur Gaskin beat Will Newham, after losing the first game, getting injured, coming back (it was classed as contributed), to win in four. In the morning, he showed no signs of that injury, going 2-0 up against the #1 seed. Eventually though, Parkie fought back to win in five.

Nick Wall beat Kris Johnson: 11/8, 8/11, 11/9, 8/11, 11/10(4-2)

After beating Kris Johnson 14/12 in the fifth, Nick Wall set up what we thought could be a very slow match in the evening with Simon Parke, after both players had a very hard win in five. However, Nick has pulled a hamstring, so to what is no doubt a huge relief to Parkie, he gets a rest until tomorrow.

Mohamed El Shorbagy beat Chris Bentley: 11/7, 11/8, 11/8

After both players just had one match that was finished in three yesterday, both should have been quite fresh. They were, but El Shorbagy, the highly rated 15 year old Egyptian, continued his run, just pipping Chris Bentley in each game to win 3/0.

Ben Ford (5/8) beat Neil Hitchins: 11/4, 11/4, 11/4

The seed went through in straight games to four to set up which should be a very interesting match with El Shorbagy in the last 16.

John Rooney (5/8) beat James Snell: 11/7, 11/6, 9/11, 11/7

After going to five yesterday, James Snell did remarkably well to win a game against Rooney, who had had a much easier passage yesterday, going down in a fighting 3/1.

Clive Ewins beat Jon Tate: 11/8, 11/10(3-1), 7/11, 11/1

Ewins had another match that would have been energy draining today, after winnig in the fifth yesterday. However, after Tate had won the third to get back into the match, Ewins took control to finish the fourth 11/1.

Tom Phipps beat Tom Pashley: 11/8, 7/11, 11/8, 10/11(0-2), 11/4

Beginning to see why we’re behind now? Yet another five setter!

Steve Meads (3/4) beat Adrian Waller: 11/7, 11/4, 11/8

3/4 seed Steve Meads moved into the last 16 with a 3/0 win over Adrian Waller.

Scott Handley (3/4) beat David Barnett: 5/11, 11/7, 11/6, 11/5

Although none of the games were too close, it took Scott Handley, the other 3/4 seed four games to get past David Barnett.

Neil Cordell beat Lewis Walters: 11/9, 11/6, 11/8

It is proof of how fit squash players are when one plays a match that goes to 11/9 in the fifth, and then come out to win 3/0 on the following day…

Steve Coppinger beat Stuart Crawford: 8/11, 6/11, 11/5, 11/2, 11/5

Why do you have to win from 0-2? Why do all the players have to take it to five? Just win in three! Pleeeese!

Tom Richards (5/8) beat Adam Fuller: 11/3, 11/4, 11/7

This match was actually a lot closer than the scoreline would suggest, with extended rallies, amazing retreives and some flamboyant shots entertaining onlookers.

Peter Billson (5/8) beat Alan Clyne: 11/9, 11/1, 5/11, 11/4

After a comprehensive, quickfire victory over Neil Desai yesterday, Alan Clyne managed to get a game off the 5/8 seed Peter Billson.

Joel Hinds beat Clive Du Toit: 11/6, 11/3, 11/5

Another player wins in three after being forced to five yesterday…

Joe Lee beat Ben Coleman: 11/4, 11/9, 8/11, 11/9

Well, I don’t have a clue how this match went, and it’s not like I can gloss over how one of them went to five yesterday, so…


 

Draws updated 09-Dec

      
 

Back to Boston ...
Preview from Adam Hildred

Do you know the names James Willstrop and Vicky Botwright? They are both ranked in the top five in the world in the men’s and women’s game. They both played here at Boston in 2001. Although we may not attract too many World Top 10 players, we do attract up and coming ones, as shown in 2001. Willstrop and Botwright were not as well known then as they are now, but the fact remains they have still played at Boston. They both achieved to some extent: Botwright did reach the semis of the women’s tournament, but then 3/4 seed Willstrop handed Stuart Cowie a walkover when he had to pull out injured.

There are again players who look to have a very bright future in the game. At 15, Mohamed El Shorbagy will take up his place in the first round draw. The British Junior Open U15 Champion is already ranked 330th in the world, and has impressed many squash experts.

There are also players who have had success in much larger events. For example, Kirsty McPhee, 3/4 seed, has recently been crowned a European Club Champion with her Pontefract team mates. Laura Hill, second seed, reached the final of the English Open a few months back.

Then there are the #1 seeds. Simon Parke in the men’s and Dominique Lloyd-Walter in the women’s. Parkie was formley an England #1 and World #3. He’s still the English #6 and World #34, and after so nearly winning last year, with a display of relentless retrieving in the final, few could begrudge him going the whole way this time.

Lloyd-Walter is ranked #18 in the world, and #7 in England. If England weren’t so strong as to be World Team Champions in both the men’s and women’s format, both these players would undoubtedly be current England internationals.

Perennial entry Steve Meads is again seeded 3/4, and although he no longer competes on the PSA World Tour, he’s still ranked #16 in England. His fellow 3/4 seed is Scott Handley, the World #57 from Oxford. According to the seedings, however, Parke’s biggest rival will be Daryl Selby, the World #50. Again - it shows England’s strength in depth in this sport when a World #50 is ranked only 16th in their country.

The final of the top four seeds in each event to mention is Emma Beddoes of Warwickshire, the England #16. Emma last entered in 2004, where, again as a 3/4 seed, she reached the semis, losing to runner-up Laura Hill… And that makes a full circle!

Any of the top four in either event may give themselves a strong chance of victory, and probably the most interesting round will be the semis where we will see the top four players of the tournament in both events go head-to-head.

Adam Hildred