PST Viet Nam Report
from Tour Media
Championship
Travis Fennell (Aus) def. Guillaume Humbert (Fra) 11-8, 13-11, 11-5
December 2, 2012 - After the first two playoff matches we wind up with the Grand Final. Travis with his 'Australian Length Game' versus the power, speed, and doggedness of the Humbert Bullet. Actually, to say that Travis plays the Aussie long game is a bit of a misnomer. Through his experiences overseas he has really evolved his game to include angles from the mid and rear courts. Although, when he goes back Australia each year, for league play in the southern winter, he does renew his familiarity with the length game. Once away from Australian shores, Travis generally goes for angles and up short much earlier than is seen in Australia. But not today. Knowing that Guillaume is playing at a supreme level at the moment, Travis went back to the Aussie game and stayed consistently deep, mostly straight, with judicious cross courts thrown in. This helped to negate Guillaume's speed, and reduced his ability to force Travis into lots of corner to corner retrieving sprints. So while there was a lot of movement around the court, and lots of running, the underlying, fundamental straight long tactic allowed Travis to always stay just a bit ahead. After taking the first two games, Travis' confidence in his strategy, and Guillaume getting a bit frustrated, the third game became more and more the foregone conclusion. Even so, the rallies to the end were competitive and hard fought.
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Playoff for 3rd and 4th Place
James Fox (Aus) def. Ken Wilhelm (Aus) 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5
Did the spectators get their worth today? Based on these first two matches no one could argue that they weren't on the edge of their seats. James came through on this, and that was probably expected by most. James has been competing regularly with good results, and always looked the fitter of the two, and Ken had his lingering injury. With rest, Ken's ankle came in a lot better than it seemed when he left the court after his disappointing semifinal. Not 100% but he was running for this match. For the first four games, totaling up the scores, there was only one point separating these two. But then, after the fourth game was over, it was obvious that Ken was pretty much a spent force. James knocked off a string of points to get a 4-0 lead, and from there it was more competitive as Ken got moving again. But, the initial four point lead was quite enough for James to take the final game comfortably. Post match, James commented that he never got into a rhythm against Ken, as he was constantly off balance against Ken's tactical game.
5th-6th Playoff:
Arnaud Caubet (Fra) def. Simon Andrews (Aus) 10-12, 11-9, 12-10, 12-10
3rd-4th Playoff:
James Fox (Aus) def. Ken Wilhelm (Aus) 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5
Championship Final:
Travis Fennell (Aus) def. Guillaume Humbert (Fra) 11-8, 13-11, 11-5
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What can one say? A tight match? Is this an understatement? The match went four games and each game was won by the slimmest margin. Three games going to extra points. Two gentlemen on the court, contesting every not just the rally, but really fighting for each shot. This was an extremely clean match from the referee's point of view, and through the whole match there were only three calls that needed to be made by the official. In the other cases when interference did occur, the offending player simply walked away from the point or called the interference on themselves. Both players were really in a sharp focus and did very well to keep the ball away from any possible interference. Throughout the four games there was only one string of points longer than three points. Only one. That indicates the see-saw battle this was. Simon's accuracy straight and cross court, against Arnaud's use of angles. In the end, Arnaud had the finishing touches needed to claim the last three games. Four games, only four points difference.
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First Semi-Final:
Travis Fennell (Aus) def. James Fox (Aus) 14-12, 11-7, 13-11
Okay, this usually would be expected to be a final.... Which couldn't happen this time, because Guillaume took the #2 seed based on recent results. Generally, Travis has James' number, but this is when they are playing for anything less than a trophy. The last time these two played in a tournament final, James marked down a significant four game win over Travis. And this had to be playing out in both their heads.... Each wondering how it was going to go.... Was Travis going to take the match based on averages, or was James going to show his big match mentality? In the end, Travis exhibited the maturity to withstand the running, driving, lunging onslaught that is the James court show. With the first and third games going to extra points, it was about as close as it can be. That said, Travis always looked a bit more succinct with his shots.
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Second Semi-Final:
Guillaume Humbert (Fra) def. Ken Wilhelm (Aus) 11-3, 11-5, 11-3
This one about a third of the way into the first game had basically already ended, as Ken twisted his ankle coming out a corner, and from there on it was slow moving for him. Which against the Bullet Train is simply no game. Without any push off from the left foot, Ken couldn't really get his tactical game going, because he when he did get to the ball, it was just reaching the ball, with no time or position to have options. So Guillaume moves on very comfortably and confidently to the Championship Final.
Travis Fennell (Aus) walkover as David Feldman (Can) was unable to make the venue in time.
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James Fox (Aus) def. Arnaud Caubet (Fra) 11-6, 11-8, 11-9
This one started out with James on a bit of a flyer, and Arnaud was a bit cold. But about half way through the first game Arnaud warmed up, and started working the angles, and into the deep corners. Once warmed up Arnaud made this an uncomfortable match for James. Certainly, James was not expecting such a tight battle, but near the end of each game he found the winners, or the errant shot of Arnaud found itself out. Definitely, a performance that shows Arnaud is getting back to his 'former' self, before several debilitating injuries.
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Ken Wilhelm (Aus) def. Stuart Haine (Rsa) 13-11, 11-4, 11-2
It's probably been near a year since Ken has played on a tournament court, and there was definitely some 'competitor rust' (could be called nerves) that had to be knocked off. But after getting through the first game in extra points, he started working the court, working Stuart around, defending high and long when needed, and efficiently sending the ball to the open corners.
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Guillaume Humbert (Fra) def. Simon Andrews (Aus) 12-10,11-9,11-6
Simon is a lovely player to watch, very nice techniques, good tactics, and a genuinely nice demeanor on court. And knowing of his recent league results, he's coming back into good nick. But that didn't stop the Humbert bullet train. Guillaume is extremely fast, and fit, to go along with the speed. So even when he gets behind in the rally tactically, he's still getting to the next shot digging it out. Many shots would have been winners against anyone else, but not versus Guillaume. And that's a very difficult attribute to get over, unless one's regularly getting matches against such speed. And Guillaume's speed is simply not common. So one could say that Guillaume ran away with this one, but only barely, as Simon's accuracy kept him in each game up to the end.
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