Nash Cup Thursday September 20th
NASH CUP DAY 4 –
QUARTER FINALS: TOP SEED ILLINGWORTH
TAKEN THE DISTANCE
The London Squash Racquets Club was treated to another feast of squash tonight. The 4 quarter finals followed each other on the show court which was a total sell out…. And they certainly got their money’s worth! Top seed Illingworth narrowly escaped an early exit whilst last year’s finalist and 2010 champion Jan Koukal lost at the death.
ANDREW SCHNELL (CAN) beat JAN KOUKAL (CZE) 11-13; 11-6; 11-13; 11-1; 12-10 (70 mins)
This was a roller coaster of a game and Andrew was to some extent in control of his own destiny tonight and nearly committed suicide! He dictated so much of the play and forced Jan into a waiting and absorbing game. Jan’s retrieving was often breathtaking. Andrew most definitely took the game to Jan tonight and attacked at every opportunity, both short and deep. His error rate was pretty high for a match of this level but at the end of the day, squash was the winner as Andrew hit a few more winners than he did errors! Jan to be fair did not look like the player that got to the final last year – he looked laboured at times with his movement, but nothing must be taken away from Schnell – he wanted this and played well for his win. A good start to the night and a great start for Canada!
ANDREW SCHNELL:
Well Jan and I played a while back, that game also went to five, so I knew that when things got tough in today’s match I could pull through and take it. Really excited to get through considering Jan is a very good player and you never know how matches like that will go. Looking forward to tomorrows match, excited for the semis!
JAN KOUKAL:
Pretty gutted! He played so well tonight and I struggled to cope with that. I was in and out of focus and struggled to turn when he held me. I wasn’t not getting onto the ball as early and comfortably as I would have liked to. I have been coming here for 4 years and it is in my top 3 favourite tournaments. I will definitely be back next year!
OLIVIER PETT (ENG) beat YANN PERRIN (FRA) 12-10; 11-8; 11-4 (26 mins)
This game was a bit like a 20/20 cricket game – or at least from Yann’s side! He was for sure the more attacking player and definitely played more winners (and hit more sixes!) than Oli….. but a lot of errors too. It was clear that Oli found it difficult to get a rhythm (possibly Yann’s game play) but he was the steadier of the 2 players and countered at the given moments and kept a solid length. Credit to Yann for his flare- if everything comes off that he goes for, he is capable of beating the best.
OLIVER PETT:
I definitely played a better game tonight then I did yesterday. Yann was very impressive, gave me a tough match. The first game was very tight but after I managed to settle into a rhythm and I was able to take the match on fitness. Overall it was a great match!
YANN PERRIN:
The match started well, felt good, but he played really well and I just got tired after the second game and he was able to take it. I knew I had to stay focused and be patient with my shots, but Oliver played very well and was able to penetrate my focus and I realized halfway through that I was just not going to be able to accomplish what I wanted. It was my second tournament and I really need to get in shape for the rest of the season!
JULIAN ILLINGWORTH (USA) beat ANTHONY GRAHAM (ENG) 11-9; 2-11; 11-7; 6-11; 11-5 (74 MINS)
This was a very entertaining game that had a beautiful contrast of youth and experience. Ant in many people’s eyes snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. He dictated so much of the play, and at times totally out-played his higher ranked opponent. Along with some of his fantastic play were cheap errors and this at the end of the day cost him the match. Ant lost a narrow first and dominated the 2nd only to play a loose 3rd which against a player like Julian is not bright! He came back well I the 4th but Julian showed his experience at 5-5 in the 5th game by keeping the court closed and giving nothing away. A great match!
JULIAN ILLINGWORTH:
I feel really lucky to have made it through today! I checked out for a bit but luckily for me I was able to pull myself together and come back. Seriously, Anthony is great and I feel lucky to get the win. He is young and has a lot of talent which, if he nurtures it well could be anywhere in the top 40.
ANTHONY GRAHAM:
Gutted! I thought I played well, but I lost my concentration in patches and just couldn’t come back. If I had adapted to the change of pace that occurred during the third game that would have put me in a better position to take the match. A lot of positives to take out of this match- just need to learn to play better at the business end of the game.
CLINTON LEEUW (RSA) beat THOMAS BRINKMAN (CAN) 13-11; 11-1; 11-7 (39 MINS)
Clinton certainly looked as though he was feeling the efforts of yesterday’s match against Shawn. Thomas came out of the block quickly and took the game to his opponent. The experience showed at the end of the game when Thomas had a game ball, only to tin out. This was the turning point as the score would suggest and Thomas never really got back into it. His error rate was high but he probably knew he had to take the game to Clinton. As Clinton got into the game, he got better and better. He did however write the number 7 on the wall 4 times!
CLINTON LEEUW:
I am quite pleased to win. My goal was just to try and stay positive and make it as tough as possible on Thomas. I saw Thomas play in April and he has improved so much since then, I realized early on that I could not take this match lightly. Thomas has such amazing hair that I had to beat him because I could not let him have everything. Final thoughts, I am pretty sure I pulled off my lime green shirt better than Anthony!
THOMAS BRINKMAN:
At first I thought I could catch him off guard because of his hard match last night, which was not the case. In the second game he was all over me physically….and not in the good way. I really thought I would do better, I thought I could extend the rallies but I just could not get it done. I went into the match not wanting to feel and play like a mop – in the end I played more like a vacuum, I sucked!
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Photo Credit: Kim Atkinson