|
|
[1] Anthony Ricketts (Aus)
bt [7] Karim Darwish (Egy)
9/11, 11/4, 11/5,
1/11, 11/6 (78m) |
INTENSE ANTHONY PREVAILS…
Framboise reports
First time I saw Anthony Ricketts play, it was in the English Open,
can’t remember who he was playing, I can only remember his not so good
behaviour towards the referee. A lot has changed since then, and this
week particularly, Intense Anthony deserves a medal for not piping a
word to the Man/Woman in the Hot Seat. When I say not a word, you know
what I mean. A little mention here and there, but nothing that could be
reported really.
 And
when he channels his energy into his squash, I consider him to be
invincible, as he is in my eyes the fittest man on the circuit, and can
relentlessly return any attack, as stunning and irretrievable as it
would seem.
And today, accurate player Karim Darwish experienced the burn of
Anthony’s determination, as he saw the Australian returning most of his
superb drop shots.
Karim is not as “flashy” as a Shabana, for example. He doesn’t play
zapping winners from one side of the court to the other, no, he is just
extremely accurate in both length, width, and feathery drop shots/volley
drop shots from all position in the court, that make him a lethal
opponent.
Their encounter was a bit strange, it has to be said, as they didn’t
seem to be able to play squash “de concert”, as we say in France, all
together. Yes, the first game was quite disputed and quite close, but
then, it all went pear shaped. Anthony led 8/0 in the second, and 9/2 in
the third before taking both games, and then it was Karim that
prevailed, again 8/0 in the fourth!
In the fifth, Anthony’s relentless hammering had exhausted the
Egyptian’s reserves, and despite trying to get a bit of breathing space
in the middle of the decider by noticing the Australian “bleeding” (a
very small scratch really, but yes, it was bleeding), he was not able to
stop the rollercoaster Ricketts, who fought his way through yet another
five setter.
But if anybody on the circuit can get to a final fresh as a rose despite
hours spent on court, it’s Anthony….
 "In
the second and third games, I was quite tired both mentally and
physically, as the first game was very long, Anthony made me work
very hard, and prevented me from moving him around…
"In the fourth, he got a bit tired I think, and I was able to
control the game quite well, but in the fifth, I got tired myself,
and when I saw his knee bleeding, I thought that could be a nice way
to catch my breath back.
"But it backfired on me, as Anthony got a rest too, and I had cooled
down!
"Anyway, I’m happy with my performance this week, I trained hard for
this tournament, and hopefully next time, it will be different…"
 |
|
 "Karim
is an unbelievable attacker, who can really impose his game with his
shots and racquet skills.
"I coped with that by trying to take the ball early, by stepping up
the court, by being more aggressive and by taking the initiative of
the rally.
"That was another tough battle and Karim has some of the best
racket skills, if not the very best, on the world tour. So any
victory
against him is a good win."
"I’m really glad this week about my behaviour toward the referee,
I’m keeping my calm, and that’s what I’m trying to achieve… Happy
with that…"
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
[2] Thierry Lincou (Fra)
bt [4] Peter Nicol (Eng)
11/8, 11/10(3-1),
11/9 (54m) |
MR LINCOU : AT LAST…
Framboise reports
 Don’t
you think it’s funny how life has got a way of kicking you where it
hurts most, only to offer you a unexpected lifeline when you’re
drowning…
After losing pretty much everything he spent years to build, World
Champion title, world number one ranking straight to number five, and
last Sunday, final injury, his dominance on the French scene to close
mate Gregory Gaultier, the Frenchman beat his bogey player, at long
last.
Mentally tired after keeping up his world number one position for a
whole year (that nobody else has achieved since Peter Nicol's
predominance), lost in a sea of doubts, the Frenchman was not expected
to win tonight. Especially as the Englishman gave a few stunning
performances during this week, and seemed invincible.
But quietly, relentlessly, Lincou volleyed his way into the Boss’ game.
Patiently, he bombarded Peter’s backhand, a change of tactics that one
of his coaches, Franck Carlino and himself designed after Franck came to
both the British Open and the Worlds in Hong Kong. At the time, I had a
long chat with Franck, who pointed out that yes, there was a mental
block/respect that needed to be addressed, but also a tactical level
that needed tuning.
Guess they found the right approached.
But do not think for a second that Peter Nicol threw the match away, or
that he made mistakes. The game was superb of precision, intelligence,
commitment and determination from both players. It reminded me the first
time I saw those two battle away. It was in London, during the Super
Series 2003, where Peter won (from memory, don’t shoot if I’m wrong)
15/2, with not a mistake from either player.
And you cannot not admire the class and professionalism of the Boss, who
refused to blame his defeat on the fact he is also the promoter of the
event, or on this or that, stressing that Thierry played exceptionally
well. He didn’t even mind that my heart went for my compatriot when he
finally, finally, clinched that o so awaited victory. Why do you think I
call him “the Boss” for….?
Tonight, we had two amazing ambassadors for the game of squash on court.
May they both be thanked.
 "Today,
I tried to play a game more efficient, and to save energy. Because
if you burn too much energy in the first two games against Peter,
you don’t have anything left in the tank, he burns you out, I’ve
experienced that with him so many times….
"So I tried to move him, but not too much, keeping in the rally… I
was very relaxed today, I had nothing to lose, no pressure on me
because of the awful record, so like yesterday, I went back to
basics, instead of looking for the exceptional shot all the time….
And when I play like that, I don’t make many errors…
"With my coach, we’ve learnt from my last two defeats, in the
British Open and in the World Open, where I lost, but where it was
really close, and I’ve tried to play more on his backhand, because
he is much more dangerous on his forehand, and I like to play
backhand drop shots, so I was constantly playing to his strength.
"I also tried to play long on his backhand, because his defence at
the front is so good, so dangerous, you’ve got to make sure you put
the ball way in the back…
"It’s funny you know. Three days ago, I was completely down after
losing against Gregory, so today, I had nothing to lose, I just
wanted to play for myself. Just for myself. I just didn’t want to
lose today."
 |
|
"Thierry played exceptionally well today, he never let me settle in
the match, my length was not good enough…
"At the end of the first game, I got very frustrated because at the
time, Thierry was not playing as well as he did later on during the
match. And he looked at me a few times, as he was surprised at my
errors. And if I hadn’t made those mistakes, he may not have had so
much confidence in his game, he would have doubted a bit more, and
we could have had a longer game…
"The score may have been close in the first two games but it didn't
feel like it. Thierry had me under constant pressure.
"I didn’t play badly at all, he just played exceptionally well
today, and that’s all there is to it."
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
