2nd
Round - afternoon
Martin
Bronstein, Squashtalk reporter on the scene at Grand Central Terminal
by
Martin Bronstein, Live at Grand Central Terminal, New York, 22 Feb 2004
All
content © 2004
Squashtalk, photos: © 2004 Debra Tessier
[view the main draw/results] [view the qualifying draw/results]
|
| Paul Price(front)
served up three match balls in the third game before Thierry caught
fire. © 2004 Debra Tessier |
I don't care what happens in the rest of the tournament, the Houdini-Get-Out-Of Jail award will go to Thierry Lincou, the world number one who faced three match balls in the third against Paul Price, saved them all to win the game and then the match. The odds against him winning were huge: he was playing at half speed with his mind in auto pilot. This was far from good squash, with both players hitting loose shots and failing to clear, leaving a trail of penalty strokes throughout the match.(There were ten penalty strokes in the first games alone).
Lincou continued his style from yesterday, unwilling to volley, unwilling to attack in any way. This was good news for Price who happily attacked any loose ball, unafraid of the consequences if his shot landed in the middle of the court - his opponent would make no attempt to put it away.
It was Price's errors when going for spectacular slam winners that kept Lincou in the first game. Lincou reached game ball on two strokes when trailing 12-13, Price forced extra points and Lincou lost the game on a stroke and a no let to compound one of his own errors.
Lincou
led the second game 4-3, and lost the next point when the referee quite
rightly gave Price a penalty stroke. The Frenchman allowed this decision
to affect his game and from that point he barely tried as Price ran to
a 15-6 win to take a 2-0 lead.
Things were looking bad for a player who last year reached the final or
semi-final of every tournament that he played, amassing enough points
to shoot to number one after the world open in December. Now it appeared
he was on his way in the second round, yet another disastrous result after
losing to Mansoor Zaman in the first round in Kuwait.
|
| A stroke to
Thierry Lincou
at 14-all 'no set' keeps him alive. © 2004 Debra Tessier |
Lincou started the fourth in the ascendancy while Price had to overcome the fact that he had been at match point and lost it. There was more urgency in Lincou's play and a more positive attitude, he climbed from 1-4 to 9-6, which is when Price broke committing four unforced errors in four rallies and the last few rallies were played in near slow motion as Price decided to save himself for the fifth allowing Lincou to win the game 15-8.
But the truth was that he had nothing left and he offered token resistance to the surging world number one who took the final game 15-4 in just over eight minutes.
Lincou was all smiles - more like sheepish grins - as he sat signing autographs.
" I do not have any matches in my legs; I have hardly played for two months. In Kuwait I played just one match," Lincou said in an attempt to explain his form.
" My head is just not there and for three games I was behind Paul, just playing defensive all the time. I could not guess what he was doing. He was playing very well for three games, When I got back to 10 in the third I told myself that I had worked hard to get back to that point and I had to have patience. I think Price started to think too much about winning. When I won the third I knew I had a chance. I just had to keep pushing through."
|
| Jonathon Power
knocks out his second Canadian in
as many rounds. © 2004 Debra Tessier |
THREE FOR CANADA
Twenty years ago when I was full-time Canadian citizen, the thought of three Canadians being in the second round of a major softball tournament was just laughable. Laugh no more, ye scoffers. Here today, we had just that. Jonathon Power, Graham Ryding and Shahier Razik, all flying the red Maple Leaf.Power could be accused of crimes against the state, having knocked out another Canadian, Viktor Berg, in the first round, and today repeating the feat by knocking out Ryding, who seems to have the bad luck of meeting his countryman in every other tournament.
It looked like a walkover when Power won the first game 15-3, but Ryding made Power play for 56 minutes to earn his 3/0 victory. Power looked confident and played with patience when required but still slotted in the winners at the right time.
NICOL CLINICALLY PRECISE
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| There was nothing Shahier Razik could do about a sharp Peter Nicol. © 2004 Debra Tessier |
The match illustrated the difference between the world number two and the world number thirty two: constant precision. There was very little that Razik could do about the situation but hope that if he kept Nicol moving, the old man might collapse. No such luck and so Nicol won in three in 40 minutes to move into the quarters to face Nick Matthew.
The surging young Englishman beat Martin Heath as expected, but took four games to do it. There was a great deal of safe play which was in the younger man's favour. Perhaps Heath should have been more adventurous with his shots.
SECOND ROUND:
[1] Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt Paul Price (Aus) 14-17, 6-15, 15-14, 15-8,
15-4
[6] Jonathon Power (Can) bt Graham Ryding (Can) 15-3, 15-11, 15-10
[3] Peter Nicol (Eng) bt Shahier Razik (Can) 15-7, 15-8, 9-15, 15-10.
[8]Nick Matthew (Eng) bt Martin Heath (Sco) 15-10, 15-9, 13-15,
[7] Joe Kneipp (Aus) Alex Gough (Wal)
[4] Lee Beachill (Eng) Ong Beng Hee (Mas)
James Willstrop (Eng) [5] David Palmer (Aus)
[2] John White (Sco) Gregory Gaultier (Fra)
