James Willstrop Comes Through Classic Canary Wharf First Round Encounter by Alan Thatcher photos squashpics.com
March 8, 2016
- James Willstrop, a former world number one and a four-times champion
of the Canary Wharf Classic, was a very relieved man after withstanding
a ferocious onslaught from New Zealander Paul Coll in the first round
tonight.
The 22-year-old Coll, based in Amsterdam, is one of the fittest and fastest players the game has ever seen.
Willstrop,
a giant of an athlete at 6ft 4in tall, weathered the storm to win
14-12, 12-10, 11-8 as both players served up spectacular entertainment
in front of a sell-out crowd at the East Wintergarden venue.
Willstrop,
the number five seed this year, repeatedly found his best shots coming
back as Coll raced around the court, with the first game alone lasting
26 minutes.
The New Zealander came desperately close in the
first two games but the 33-year-old Englishman used his vast experience
to contain his opponent and win the vital points when it mattered.
Willstrop
had more of a cushion in the third thanks to tight and disciplined shot
selection, and he joined the applause as the audience gave Coll a huge
ovation at the end of the match.
He said: “I know it sounds
like a tired cliché, but that match clearly illustrated that there are
no easy matches in the first round of any tournament. Everyone in the
top 50 is capable of producing outstanding squash and when you
“When
this sport is played at the highest level, and audiences like this are
clearly enthralled by what they see on court, then you have to wonder
why we are not on prime time TV or in the Olympics. I would really like
to know the answers to those two questions.
“Paul is an amazing player and I am delighted to be off the court in three games and into the quarter-finals.”
Willstrop
now faces another phenomenal athlete in Mathieu Castagnet. The French
national champion became an internet sensation after an astonishing
dive and retrieval against Willstrop’s England doubles partner, Daryl
Selby, during last week’s Windy City Open in Chicago.
Castagnet
overcame talented qualifier Joe Lee, the world No. 62 from Weybridge,
and made similarly complimentary remarks to Willstrop’s about the depth
of the talent pool in squash right now.
Number two seed
Simon Rosner, from Germany, meets Australian Cameron Pilley after the
two big hitters achieved a clean sweep of straight-games victories over
qualifiers Charles Sharpes (England) and Mohamed Reda (Egypt).
Pilley,
who is based in The Hague, is a regular training partner of Coll and
lost to the Kiwi in the final of last year’s Australian Open.
He
said: “The way he played against James was no surprise to me at all. He
plays just like that in training every time we get on court. It’s full
on, non-stop aggression at a ridiculous pace.”
PSA M70 Canary Wharf Squash Classic, East Wintergarden, Canary Wharf, London
First Round: (6) Cameron Pilley (Aus) bt (Q) Mohamed Reda (Egy) 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (51 mins)
(2) Simon Rosner (Ger) bt (Q) Charles Sharpes (Eng) 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 (32 mins)
(3) Mathieu Castagnet (Fra) bt (Q) Joe Lee (Eng) 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 (48 mins)
(5) James Willstrop (Eng) bt Paul Coll (NZ) 14-12, 12-10, 11-8 (58 mins)
Quarter-Finals:
(1) Omar Mosaad (Egy) v (7) Daryl Selby (Eng)
(8) Borja Golan (Spain) v Fares Dessouki (Egy)
(3) Mathieu Castagnet (Fra) v (5) James Willstrop (Eng)
