Tournament of Champions: Sunday First Session


Martin Bronstein, Squashtalk reporter on the scene in New York City.

by Martin Bronstein, Grand Central Terminal, New York, 27 Jan 2002
All content © 2002 Squashtalk, photos: © 2002 Debra Tessier

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NICOL GIVES A LESSON

Twenty one year old Mansoor Zaman was given a valuable lesson when he played world champion Peter Nicol today. The very promising son of the great Qamar Zaman was taught just how fast, how precise how skilled and how fit you have to be to earn the title world champion. Nicol’s width, length and precision was as near perfect as you can get, each shot carefully selected and meticulously executed. The sort of pressure this puts on his opponents approaches torture: there is simply no let up, no time for self-congratulations on the last shot, because Nicol has just put in another drop at the other corner and you’re off again. Nor is there time to admire your last winner because it is not a winner - Nicol is there to punish it. How did he do it? How did he get there in time? How did he managed to crack it tight along the wall from that position? The answer to all these questions is; practise.

Nicol took the first two game to six points but Zaman kept trying and was rewarded in the third by fighting back from 8-10 down to take the lead 11-10. After 38 minutes of hard work he had the lead, which lasted all of 15 seconds as Nicol cracked another winner to level the score at 11-all and then take the next four points to win the game 15-11 and the 40 minute match 3/0. He will now meet Canada’s Graham Ryding who took almost twice as long to beat Alex Gough of Wales, once a top tenner but now coming to the end of his career.

THE AUSTRALIAN TIDAL WAVE

Stewart Boswell is yet another part of the huge Australian resurgance led by world number two David Palmer. Boswell just keeps getting stronger and better and plays the game with the minimum of histrionics and dialogues with the referee. I thought that Stefan Casteleyn would give him a good testing if not beat him, but Boswell was too strong for the Belgian champion. Boswell plays a very good basic game and moves with ease to cover the court.

Casteleyn is probably a better shot player than Boswell but could find no way through the Australian’s armour. In matches like this it is sometimes difficult to pinpoint why one player beat the other. In this case it was simply that Boswell made less errors and always played the percentage shot very well. This makes squash sound about as exciting as doing your tax returns and sometimes it is just that.

THE MARK OF THE PROFESSIONAL

Mark Chaloner is not known as a flair player: more of an athlete with terrific explosive movement around the court and the knowledge of how to appeal successfully. He is still in the top ten and his opponent, Karim Darwish of Egypt is ranked 19 even though he is still the reigning world junior champion. I forecast great things for Darwish when he won the title in Milan in 2000 because of his completeness as a squash player at such a young age. What he has to get is experience and only time can take care of that requisite.

He led the first game almost from the word go, his exquisite drops keeping Chaloner in all kinds of trouble. When Darwish led 10-5 it seemed he had the first game all wrapped up but as with all shooters, he made four important errors to allow Chaloner back in the game which the Englishman, with a load of experience behind him, took with both hands and then went on to take the game 17-15 after 20 minutes. Darwish led the second game 7-6 and then it happened again, another four errors and Chaloner was in the lead, and, more importantly starting to use his one sure winning shot, a forehand cross court slam into the nick. Darwish’s head dropped a little and another 20 minute game went to Chaloner 15-10.

Darwish fell 3-6 behind in the third and a couple of easy points gave him the mental energy to dominate again and Chaloner could do nothing as Darwish started slotting in the winners to lead 11-10. Things were getting a bit edgy as the appeals for lets increased to the point that there were more decisions than points with Darwish being cruelly denied a stroke at a crucial stage. I got the impression that he felt Chaloner was blocking and getting away with it and that he, Darwish, was getting the worst of the decisions.

It is at this stage the experienced play stays mentally strong - these are the big points - and this is exactly what Chaloner did, while Darwish’s determination dropped a notch or two. Leading 13-ll, he fell backwards to sprawl on the floor, and it was 13-12. He was then denied a let and it was 13-all. A winning drive from Chaloner got him to match ball at 14-13 and then a loose shot from Darwish and there was Chaloner in the middle of the court in a perfect position to smash the ball into the nick to win the game 15-13 and take the 68 minute match 3/0. But keep watching Darwish - a year from now he will be knocking at the door of the top ten.

Results (afternoon session):

Peter Nicol (Eng) bt Mansoor Zaman (Pak)15-6, 15-6, 15-11 (40 mins)
Graham Ryding (Can) bt Gough (Wal) 15-11, 15-13, 15-14. (73 mins)
Stewart Boswell (Aus)bt Stefan Castelen (Bel) 15-5, 15-9, 15-10
Mark Chaloner (Eng) bt Kareem Darwish (Egy) 17-15, 15-10, 15-13 (68 mins)
John White (Sco) vs Rodney Durbach (RSA)
Del Harris (Eng) vs Stephen Meads (Eng)
David Evans (Wal) vs Shahier Razik (Can)
Martin Heath (Sco) vs Olli Tuominen (Fin)

Graham Ryding signs autographs for his fans.