Beachill Stops Palmer...
Dec 2, 2004, Colin McQuillan Reporting from Doha for SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2004;

[Draw/Results]                                            [also Womens quarters from Doha]
Lincou Stops Ryding at the Very Edge

Graham Ryding came close against Thierry Lincou. Photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

Graham Ryding, the unheralded, unseeded veteral tour player, raised his game to the heights but just fell short in a scintillating semi final contest at Doha against the second seed, Thierry Lincou. Though Ryding left the arena disgruntled about a critical refereeing decision that went in Lincou's favor, Ryding was truly a winner tonight, showing just how high he can raise his play on the world stage.

There was nothing straightforward about Lincou’s extraordinary fifth game win over Graham Ryding, the unseeded Canadian revelation of the men’s tournament.

A lifelong second fiddle to Jonathon Power, Ryding has mastered the unforgiving Doha court as well as any player in the field. Rallying with extraordinary speed and dominating the front court with outrageous racket skill, he dismissed Peter Nicol from the quarter-finals and tonight started in the same mood against the much fancied Frenchman.

“I was very nervous and off my game with the tension,” admitted Lincou. “Graham has played here as I have never seen him play before. I simply could not beat him in the front court, which is where I expect to score many of my points. In the end I was forced to play into the back of the court to win the rallies there. It is very hard to win a match playing just into the back of the court.”

With honours almost even in the first four short sharp games, it was the 25 minute fifth game in which the heart of the second semi-final lay. Lincou was struck on the trail hand by Ryding’s racket when leading 3-1 and had to take three minutes to tape up a split in the little finger. He returned to find the Canadian in complete ownership of the front court again and himself contributing to the opposition cause with repeated tinned errors.

When Ryding advanced to matchball at 10-9 with a backhand straight kill, a deft backhand drop shot at full extension and a forehand drop that Lincou could only push ibnto the tin once more, the second seed stopped the rot in the next rally with a forehand cross court drive of such perfect length and direction that it actually rattled around in the back left corner while Ryding scrabbled at it with his racket.

A penalty stroke for a deep midcourt scuffle in which the players clashed rackets gave Lincou the advantage and he finished off with a backhand straight drop into the smallest of vacant spaces left to the left of his opponent.

Ryding was less than pleased with the penalty stroke, but did not stay to discuss it. He will rightly feel displeased to have been so narrowly dispossessed of a place in the World Open final in the finest week of his playing career, but he will have to blame Lincou rather than Nasser Zahran, the Egyptian referee.

Beachill's Revenge Puts Him In The Final

Beachill gets revenge for British Open loss. Photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

Lee Beachill, the first English player to be top seeded to win the Men’s World Open Squash Championship, has reached the final in Doha with a 70 minute 11-8 11-6 5-11 11-10 (2-0) win over David Palmer of Australia. He will meet the second seeded Thierry Lincou of France, who defeated Canada’s Graham Ryding 6-11 11-3 11-4 7-11 11-10 (2-0) in the second semi-final today.

The Yorkshire based 27-year-old dominated the first two games of his semi-final but allowed the tall Australian to force his way into the front court in the third game. He was game ball down at 8-10 in the fourth, but reached a tie break at 10-10 when the referee, Ray Gingell of Wales, twice penalized Palmer for interference. A marginally missed backhand pick-up in the top left corner put the Australian match ball down and he was dismissed when both the referee and the marker, Jack Allen of Ireland, agreed that a forehand volley drop shot from Beachill was above the tin while Palmer was insisting loudly that it was down.

The situation was an extraordinary reversal of last month’s British Open semi-final in Nottingham when Palmer reached the final, and eventually the title, thanks to a brace of questionable penalty strokes from the referee that wiped out a 9-7 lead held by Beachill in their fifth game.

There was no doubt that when he returned to speak to the press that Palmer felt tonight’s decision was equally questionable. “It was definitely down and everyone outside the front wall knew it was down,” said the triple British Open Champion who won the 2002 World Open title in Antwerp from matchball down to John White. “I understand the referees’ position to some degree. They are not on top of the court and they have to call things as they see them. But players know is balls are up or down and it on them to make the right decision.

“ I kept Lee on court and asked him if he really thought it was up and he said he was unsure but people he trusted said it was up.

“There is nothing I can do about it now. I don’t really know how I feel about losing that way. I have never experienced it before. Lee is in the final and he is playing well enough to win tomorrow. He could be World Champion at the end of the tournament. And this will be on his conscience.”

Beachill was content immediately after the semi-final that he was the rightful winner. “I was bitterly disappointed at the British Open and David will be bitterly disappointed here,” he said before Palmer made his opinion clear to the press. “We have no choice but to live with the outcomes and perhaps tonight evens things up.

“I started very well here but he took me off the Tee in the third game and on this court if you are forced back down the court it is hard to play the shots that are needed to win. I got my length back again in the fourth but his confidence had risen so he was playing a lot better. It was pretty even through that game and I was driving at him hard enough at the end to earn those two penalty strokes that brought me back from game ball down to 10-10 and the tiebreak.”

The last man to reach a World Open final for England was Del Harris, who lost the 1995 final to Jansher Khan in Cyprus. Peter Nicol reached the 1998 final in Doha and the 1999 final in Cairo, which he won, but was still playing as a Scot at that time. A win today over either the second seeded Thierry Lincou of France or the unseeded Graham Ryding of Canada would make Beachill the first English Winner of the championship.

Qatar Men's World Open Squash Championship
Doha, Qatar

Semi-final Results:

[1] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt [4] David Palmer (AUS) 11-8 11-6 5-11 11-10 (70m)
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Graham Ryding (CAN) 6-11 11-3 11-4 7-11 11-10 (2-0) (65m)

Women's Qatar Classic
Doha, Qatar

Semi-final Results:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [4] Natalie Grinham (AUS) 9-5 9-3 9-4 (47m)
[3] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [2] Cassie Jackman (ENG) 9-10 10-9 9-6 (ret inj) (46m)

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