DRAWS/RESULTS    EN BREF
  

The men's final may have featured the two oldest players in the draw, but they served up a treat for the crowd at Colets this lunchtime.

In the first two games both players were pushing hard, engaging in rallies that left the crowd breathless and Parke, in particular, hardly able to stand at the end of them.

But although Gough looked to be the stronger in those opening games, in the end it was the Welshman who ran out of steam as Parke kept his game going to collect his third BSPA title of the season and consolidate his position at the top of the Grand Prix standings.

In the women's final top seed Lauren Briggs continued her fine recent run of form as she recovered from a game down to beat Rebecca Macree in a typically well-contested match.

Hall of Fame 2005/06

ALIVE AND KICKING…

A match with Rebecca Macree is always an extremely entertaining moment, as the woman has  the shots and the personality that goes with it…

Young Lauren Briggs never had the opportunity to play Rebecca in competition, and she soon found out that although she was a logical favourite, BSPA Colets was not going to be an easy cheque to pick up...

Miss Macree didn’t play for a long time after she retired in February ’05, she took a pleasant period off, enjoying her freedom. “I used all the money I had, spent it all, and then just got back to work…”

Now she’s got two jobs, in the morning, she works for a delivery company, and in the afternoon she coaches in Woodford Wells. In other words, “I don’t have time to play at all!” she laughs..

And that fact was a bit obvious in the first game, as she seemed a bit lost, looking for her marks, and not used to sticking in a rally, quickly finding herself down 8/5 game ball. But whether it was pride, or ingrained years and years of well oiled reflexes, it all came back. The speed. The shots. The precision. Soon she had equalised at 8/8.

Discussions with the referee started, you know the drill, there are very often a few too many lets in close matches with Rebecca, and she took the game 10/8, much to the astonishment of Lauren, who couldn’t believe that she had let that one escape from her…

The next two games were extremely close. Lauren’s game was accurate, she placed some lovely straight drop shots and low drives, matched by Rebecca's boasts and deep cross courts. Lots of long rallies. Lots of lets. Lots of pace, energy, with lots of adrenalin floating around...

But in the fourth, the pressure and hard work imposed by the Swiss and Finnish Open Champion paid off. Rebecca was struggling with her fitness, and the match was soon over.

But the spectators didn’t mind, as those two ladies offered them a superb final, one of those they’ll be speaking off in the years to come…
 

CRACKING FINAL…

Body language.

When those two got on court today, on Simon’s face was written “I don’t mind playing five games”. On Alex’, “I need a 3/0 win”. Already yesterday, Goughie struggled physically in the middle of his game against Scott Handley and I was worried about how he would handle this encounter with old pal Sir Simon…

But boy did those two threw all caution out of the window, and started off with a rally that went around 60 strokes… They were hitting so hard, running from corner to corner, pushing each other constantly out of balance, it was an amazing battle, where Alex was attacking in his so typical flamboyant and unexpected manner, and Simon retrieving impossible shots.

Normal day at the Lunatics' Office really.

They both reach a culminating loss of common sense at 7/8 in the first when we had the longest and most amazing rally of the season, Alex trying everything in the book to kill the Heaton Coach, who kept on retrieving, and retrieving, and retrieving. The crowd was amazed, subdued, astonished. Surely that one would be the end, but no, and Alex kept on dropping, and Simon kept on sending it back, moving by then in slow motion. Pure magic. Pure madness. And what had to happen happened, the Welsh Captain put it intothe tin.

9/7, announced the ref David Peck, and in the same breath added, “That was just ridiculous”…

But it was far from over. Alex, feeling that his mate had to be exhausted, pushed a last push, equalised at 9/9, but couldn’t find answers to two winners from his opponent, 11/9 for the Englishman.

The second game was again of the same calibre, but with Alex just a bit more present at the front, and from 7/7, Simon seemed to only find the tin, losing the game 11/7. Continuing on the same momentum, Goughie took a comfortable lead 5/1, but this time it was his turn to accumulate unforced errors. Tiredness was starting to show its ugly head, and a frustrated Welshman could only see the points and the game running away from him.

In the fourth, it was all about Simon, who just kept controlling the middle of the court, and hammered an opponent too tired, both mentally and physically to find any solution.

So, another victory for Simon, but most of all, an amazing match, a fantastic entertainment, and one real winner.

Squash.
 

FOUR FINALS FOR PARKY

Simon Parke, already assured of the 2005/06 BSPA Grand Prix title, nevertheless moved into yet another final, beating top seed Adrian Grant in the semis at Colets.

Grant got off to a slow start, recovered well to take the second game but made too many errors in the third and fourth as Parke reached his fourth BSPA final of the season.

"I think it’s the errors that made the difference, you tell me, seven unforced errors in the fourth, it’s nearly a game! And that says it all… "I was moving well, I was attacking well, but against somebody like Simon, you’ve got to keep on fighting because he’s got the confidence to keep going until he drops. A few other top players would fold, but he doesn’t… "I’m not taking anything away from him, he played superbly well, but I’m not perfectly tuned yet. After the big gap that was the Commonwealth Games and Bermudas, I had a long time doing nothing, and the whole purpose of this tournament was to get some good training, two matches per day. And I’m really looking forward to two weeks of hard training, and also to Liverpool, as it’s the last tournament of the season, and a big one… "Although it’s a loss, I’m trying to get the positive out of it, it all came down to a few mistakes, and I think that maybe Parkie wanted to win that much more than I did…" Adrian Grant

GOUGHY SURVIVES ...

Second seed Alex Gough had his work cut out tonight to contain a Scott Handley in superb form. With precise return of serves, delicate backhand straight drops and playing as well as he has for ages, Scott took the game to Alex and although the Welsh veteran appeared to be tiring, he just managed to weather the storm to run out the five-game winner ...

"I’m enjoying my game, it’s a bit like a chess game, you know that you are tired, but you are aware that your opponent is tired too… "I’m glad that I’m actually having fun on there, I had a few niggling injuries recently, that gave me a bit of an excuse to not believe in myself, to not compete. Whereas now, I’m injury free, and I’ve got the confidence that I can actually do it, and I’m looking forward to playing… "What made the difference today, but then again, that’s what a squash tournament is all about, is that my match this morning was much harder than Alex’s, and when it’s so close, it all comes down to that extra shot per game…" Scott Handley

"We played about a month ago, and I thought that I made much fewer mistakes today….

"I was up 8/5 in the first, and then, a complete blank, a glazed look passed over my face... No, I simply couldn’t convert that one point, I didn’t have the confidence to think that I could do it, it was a bit like I was expecting her to come back.

"The second was quite quick, although we were pretty close up to 3/3, but then she started to take more control of the T, and I found myself retrieving all the time and making a few errors…

"I was quite happy with the third, as I wanted to go home with the feeling I worked hard and did my best, so I thought I was more aggressive, I volleyed more, and my placement of the ball was much better, instead of hitting the ball endlessly…

"Lauren played a very clever game, pushed me from corner to corner, and never let me feel comfortable on court…

Aisling Blake

"I was game ball down, but even then, I always try to push as hard as I can, I never think that I’ve lost the game. I try and minimise my errors and have them win the point off me rather than me losing the game.

"After winning the first, I was more confident, but Aisling likes to take the ball early and rallies a lot, so you’ve got to still be careful, but also, I knew she had had a hard five-setter in the morning, and I was hoping it would kick in at some point… And it did…

Lauren Briggs

"I tried to keep the game as short as possible, as I wanted to save my legs ... I’ll need all the energy for tomorrow’s match!"

Rebecca Macree

"I wasn’t on court today I’m afraid. I’m not taking anything away from Rebecca, she is great player, and she kept the pace up, but I just didn’t turn up, and I’m very disappointed with my performance.

"And I’m not even tired from this morning’s match, where I took the first two games quite easily, and maybe lost a bit of concentration in the third. No, I arrived on the court against Rebecca feeling quite fresh…

"Just a VERY bad day at the office… But I’ll be back…"

Laura Mylotte

STRONG GRANT, PRECISE ROSS

I just love watching those two battling on court. I’ve been witnessing a few of their matches now, and it’s always a very close call. And as they seem to have a very complementary game, the matches are always full of intensity and suspense. With often a little edge for Adrian, but that underlined the knowledge that, if the Catford boy would lower his guard, Stacey would be in there like a shot.

Today was not different, and apart from the fourth, all games were extremely close, with Adrian hitting hard and tight, and Stacey counterattacking beautifully, placing some lethal counter drops and volley drop shots.

Pure pleasure, that was…

A few discussion with the ref, nothing bad, long and intense rallies, nice runs, both on a free visit of the four corner, but in the end, fitness played an important role, and Adrian finishes on top. A good warning/preparation before meeting Parkie in a match that could be as close as their last encounter was in the final of BSPA Boston, five games, with Adrian taking it in the end…

"I played well today, and actually, I played better in the quarters than I did in the 2nd round, and better in the 2nd round than I did in the first round, I got better each match! "In the first game, I thought I had a good chance, and a little incident, I broke a string, had to change my racquet, threw my concentration away a bit… "But overall, it’s the best I’ve played for quite a while… And today, I feel much more relaxed and confident about the future…" Stacey Ross

SCOTT TOO FAST…

After a blazing start against a Scott Handley that seemed a bit nervous, Joey Barrington was struggling with his energy levels throughout the match. I guess that the quite heavy schedule he had in the past days may be one explanation for his lack of steam in the second and third.

But also, Scott raised his game and cut the unforced errors that spoiled his fun in the first game. He was very aggressive, well positioned at the front, and seemed to find a good balance between attack and defence shots.

Joey has changed his game too, he is able to place some exquisite straight drop shots that really put Scott under pressure. But as the match unfold, Scott was controlling more and more rallies and took the second and the third rather easily.

Having had a little breather, Joey started to put much more weight on his shots in the fourth, and it could have gone either way, but Scott is never more dangerous than when he’s got the confidence on his side. And today, the self-belief was in the Handley camp…

"Like yesterday, I had a shaky start today, but once the ball died out a little, then I started to enjoy it more, and the physical side of it got easier… "It’s never easy against Joey, he is so strong, it’s in his blood! Last time we played, I beat him in Wimbledon, but then again, the two times before that, he beat me, it’s always very close… "You’ve got to beat Joey, he doesn’t give you any point, he very rarely make mistakes, so you’ve got to hold in there and work hard…" Scott Handley

"Normally our games are close, but today was a different story, my week finally caught up with me…. But I can’t be disappointed, but I played quite well recently, and if I can keep it up to that level for the last two months of the season, I’ll be happy…

"Parkie is always on the ball, he never gives you anything, not even one point, and today, working hard for each point took its toll in the end…. And it’s good to play those guys, it’s great to get to compete with the likes of Simon or Bozza.

"And now, two days of complete rest…"

Daryl Selby

"I was slightly in control in the first, and slightly in control in the second. I had a good start in the second, and he did pretty well to come back.

"In the third, he played some really good shots, attacking well and going forward, attacking well, but in the fourth, he was shattered.

"All of our game, it’s about the same, he is quite strong at the start, fading a bit later on. But I think he is a good player actually, he’s got a lot of potential, he has improved a lot during the last year…"

Simon Parke

KNOWN TERRITORY…

Those two know each other’s game inside out. They train together, and they have done so for a long time now, and you can feel that they do enjoy their matches.

Today was no exception, lots of running, lots of retrieving, hitting, accuracy, top spin, volley drop shots, you know the drill with Alex, and Steve is the perfect opponent to disrupt the Welsh flow…

The result, a very pleasant and entertaining match…

14-April, Round One & Two:
A HECTIC DAY…

Draws & Results

Colets EN BREF

You’ve got a few players that always keep me busy, as they are a source of inspiration, and Joey Barrington is one of them…

After playing a not so incisive match against friend Shahid Khan, that went on for four games and over one hour of very intense and long rallies, I saw Joey disappearing in the changing rooms, coming back with another shirt, and as I was at the time interviewing Daryl Selby, I didn’t pay any attention.

He must be stretching, I thought, and carried on talking. Then I turned round, and Joey had disappeared. “Joey, he is playing,” I was told when I inquired where the young man had gone.

“What do you mean he is playing????”

Well guess what, as Ben Ford had had a walk over in the morning, he had asked Joey if it was possible to play earlier than originally planned. As Joey didn’t mind, off they went only a few minutes after the end of the previous one…

As they were both ready, they started the match as the referee was still not in place, and in the middle of it all, the court number five on which they were playing (the extra court I told you about already) was actually booked by club members, so they had to change and move onto another one…

After all that, and after witnessing young Barrington actually going for shots (I know, I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself), and both players hitting the ball trying to compete with Mr John White, Joey eventually took the match in three…

The good thing about Joey is, life is never dull when he is around…

"Last night I had an exhibition game with James Willstrop at Liverpool Cricket Club to promote the Liverpool tournament, and this morning, a journey that should have taken 2.5 hours took nearly 5 hours, so I was late getting here… "Shahid played really well today, but I was not attacking enough, so it was nice to finally get to chop the ball against Ben as certainly didn’t do that against Shahid! I changed my game and went for shots, it made me sharp, the match was short and sweet, and that was nice!" Joey Barrington

IN PATCHES…

As is often the case with both Stacey Ross and Tom Richards, the match was a bit up and down, with one making the game then getting into a “let’s see who can make the most unforced errors” contest.

As for Tom, he’s got still those magic shots coming from nowhere, followed by a series of meaningless shots that don’t make his game go anywhere… But as my grandmother used to say, “youth is a disease that is quickly cured”.

And I’ve got no doubt that, once he gets a bit more mental discipline injected into his game, the young Englishman will do wonders on the international scene…

"I knew he was playing very well, so I was not taking it lightly, but he was just too quick and too good, especially in the beginning… "I’m as unfit as I’ve ever been, it’s been one injury after another, a run of bad luck really. And when I play two rallies against somebody as quick as that, I’m blown really, I feel like I’m 45!!!" Stacey Ross

Mind my words, guys, Joe Lee is a name you’d better get used to, because with the way he played experienced Alex Gough today in the first two games, I thought an upset was possible…

No respect for Alex’s grey hair, Joe retrieved extremely well the Welsh’s infamous sneaky drop shots and great lengths…

Very long rallies, shots glued tight to the walls, battle of drop shots and redrops and counterattacks, Alex was slightly overwhelmed, and although he took the first game and was 10/7 in the second, he made five unforced errors in a row to offer the game to his opponent.

But saving those games balls took all that the young Englishman had left in the tank, and he could only defend and retrieve from now on, the Welshman cleverly picking up the pace in a “assez ri” spirit, that could be translated by “that was fun, but let’s get serious now…”

One thing is sure, bless who ever invented BSPA, as it allows amazing elders to play with ever so promising youngsters…

Funny match that one was really… Don’t let the score fool you, it was not the whitewash that it looks like. The match was still long and quite disputed. But Australian Paul Davis seemed to be all the time one step forward, moving well, placing some lovely drop shots combined with stunning lobs….

Against him, Graham Melvin was well in the rallies, but just made a few silly errors, due mostly to the pressure he was under. In the third, the Scott seemed to find a bit of confidence at last, but it was all a bit too late…
 

And what a beautiful encounter that was! One hour and thirty four minutes of long rallies, good precision from both Alan Clyne, who I had the pleasure to meet while in Islamabad, and Peter Creed, from the Millfield camp, who is now coached by famous Welsh/Australian coach Chris Robertson…

Lots of running, both defending then attacking when possible and taking control each their turn, the outcome was undecided until the last rally, as both had match balls…

An extremely close game, played in the intended spirit. Perfect start to the day.

Another close call, and again two perfectly behaved gentlemen, Rory Pennell and Andre Texeira.

Rory was caracoling away with the match, seemed to lose a bit of focus, and next thing he knew, the discrete Brazilian was back into the match, and could have easily taken the fourth game too, as 20 year-old Rory from Chelmsford was making unforced error upon unforced error.

But according to Andre, the difference today came from the poor quality of his drop shots, which were “that high”…

End of quote…!

Jamie Matthews is one of those lads I’ve seen around forever. I think the first time was about 3/4 years ago in Wimbledon. A very quiet young man, with a hearing aid, a bit too slim for his height, obviously having grown a bit too fast…

Cut to a few years later, and he is still quiet, he still can’t hear much of my French blathering, but can he hit that ball… He was up quite comfortably 2/0, got match ball in the third, Issa Kamara saved it with a splendid nick, and young Jamie’s concentration seemed to go right out of the window.

After he took the third, Issa took an awful long time to come back on court, and announced right away that he was suffering from back spasms. Taking a little time between games, the Esporta based player got three minutes in the middle of the fourth, but was still able to clinch the game, forcing a decider.

Issa seems to dwell on long rallies, and adores up and down the wall shots, doesn’t mind lengthening rallies as he’s got the fitness to hold them, and the precision to get the point in the back. Jamie got sucked up into his game, whereas the boy’s game would be more of a hitting and playing short kind of squash.

There was nothing to separate the two until 8/8, when Jamie suddenly accelerated the pace and got in some lovely backhand kills, and ended the match on a stunning crosscourt winner. His parents were over the moon, and very proud…

Jamie with his parents,
Jenny Matthews and Jonathan Norris

DRAWS & RESULTS

11/3, 8/11, 11/7, 12/10
 

11/9, 7/11, 11/7, 11/5

9/11, 11/6, 11/13, 11/2, 11/6
 

 Men's: £5,000
Women's: £2,000