Canadians Shine In First Round Of Nash Cup Main Draw
by Dave Morrish

Martin Knight
Shawn Delierre

September 22, 2011 - The first round proper of the Nash cup saw a great day for the Canadians and mixed fortunes for the English.

The locals were treated to some wonderful squash during the course of the
evening, with the last match finishing around 10.30pm!

MARTIN KNIGHT (NEW ZEALAND) beat SCOTT ARNOLD AUSTRALIA)  11-4; 11-6;
9-11; 11-1 (56 MINS)

A good match with a nice blend of shot making and athleticism.  Martin was
not one to sit back and let the game happen. Although he played the better
of the 2 at the back, he played a big part in dictating the play,
especially taking it in short on the straight volley. Scott played some
great squash but the steadier player came through.

Martin Knight:

“My game is based around fitness and speed – I wanted to be steady but not
negative and looked for the volley. I worked him around the court and
tried to close down the angles. As the game went on and I felt I took the
sting out of him a bit, I went for a bit more. Generally I was aggressive
on the volley in the hope that he would go for his shots. Feeling really
good. The last few weeks I have worked on my movement and taking the ball
in more. Very happy with my performance.

Scott Arnold:

“I played alright for large chunks of the match but hit too many tins. I
feel I have the fitness in my lungs but lacking match play. Martin was
solid today – he didn’t make errors and he kept it tight. I haven’t been
enjoying squash for a while and I hope moving to Toronto will give me the
new lease of life I am looking for.”

DAVID LETOURNEAU ((CANADA) beat CHARLES SHARPES (ENGLAND) 12-10; 8-11;
9-11; 9-11 (57 MINS)

David stayed in front of Charles for most of the match and forced him to
play a different game that he would normally have liked to. The ball as
really flying around tonight and David coped with the conditions better
than Charles. A good performance from the tall Canadian.

David Letourneau:

“Felt I played really well. I always read squashsite and read about the
English boys talking about a “purple patch” – well I certainly had a few
of them tonight! All the games were tight and the fact that I already had
2 matches under my belt from the qualifying helped me. Charles is a real
fair player and it was “an enjoyable battle” if there is such a thing!

Charles Sharpes:

“Really gutted to lose. Didn’t feel like I played my best squash tonight
but fair play to David – he played a great game. Need to learn from this!”

EDDIE CHARLTON (ENGLAND) beat ZAC ALEXANDER (AUSTRALIA) 11-9; 13-11; 20-18
(60 MINS)

As the score line suggests, this was one hell of a game! So little in it.
Eddie put in a real good performance tonight and hit the ground running
right from the start. He controlled the ball well and made Zac twist and
turn. There were some superb rallies and Eddie eventually clinched it  on
his 8th match point.

Eddie Charlton:

“Really pleased. I have always felt I could compete with top 50 players
for a game or 2 but never really had the physicality to do it for a whole
match and this is the one big area I have improved as a squash player…..
mentally too. I put in a real good summer’s training and it is paying off.
I have been working a lot with Fiona Geaves (England junior national
coach) as well as David Campion and James Willstrop and have really
benefitted from it. I have done better than my seeding but don’t want to
sit back and feel job done as I could do quite well in this event.
Desperate to back it up now”

Zac Alexander:

“That wasn’t very good at all. Not happy. Feel like I am in the best shape
of my life right now but the problem with that is that I look to elongate
the rallies and forget how to win points. Got myself into some good
positions and basically hit it back to him. The ball was quite dead and I
should have taken it in more. I am 2nd reserve for the US Open so I hope
to squeeze into that and then  am off to California for a $35k event…..
and hope to do better than today”

SHAWN DELIERRE (CANADA) beat YANN PERRIN (FRANCE) 11-9; 11-8; 11-4 (62 MINS)

Shawn was solid at the back of the court tonight and didn’t give Yann much
to play with. Coupled with some great retrieving he forced Yann into
errors. It was a scrappy game with lots of lets which seemed to get to
Yann more than it did Shawn.

Shawn Delierre:

“I knew Yann had shots, something which I didn’t feel I had today. I
played quite an intense game today. There was quite a bit of obstruction
in our match and I knew it was each man for himself. I tried to focus on
keeping it down the walls and not making errors (I didn’t make many in the
match). I felt that I played my B game tonight as I didn’t feel
comfortable with my A game but I hope it will return tomorrow as I am
going to need it!”

Yann Perrin:

“I have not really played for the past 3 months – just trained. I am
really disappointed with tonight. It was a really disruptive game with so
many lets. I tried to stay focused bit he got to me. Really disappointed”

ANDREW WAGIH (EGYPT) beat JOE LEE (ENGLAND) 5-11; 11-6; 11-9; 11-4 (45 MINS)

Joe started off the match well with a superb length and great movement
around the court, containing his opponent and forcing him into errors. The
second saw Andrew take an early 7-2 lead and apart from a spirited fight
back from Joe in the 3rd after training 8-2, it was Andrew all the way. An
exciting game with a lot of “Egyptian flair” on display.

Andrew Wagih:

“It was the first time I have played Joe although I have seen him play
before. I felt I played catch up in the first but then decided to attack
more and cut the errors out. At 8-2 in the 3rd the errors came back into
my game but fortunately I held on to win it 11-9. I got a good lead in the
4th and closed it out. For a $10k event, this is incredibly strong!”

Joe Lee:

“I felt really heavy on court today. I had to work so hard to do all the
basics right and it caught up with me. I was nervous and think it was that
which made me feel heavy in the legs. I hadn’t done much in the days
leading up to this so it definitely wasn’t because if heavy training. Even
though I got close in the 3rd, I didn’t feel as though I would have
deserved to be 2-1 up. I knew it would be tough, and although I was not
scared, I still felt nervous. No shame in losing to him, he is a very good
player”

OLI PETT (ENGLAND) beat ALFREDO AVILA (MEXICO) 7-11; 11-3; 11-6; 11-6 (38
MINS)

Good solid performance from Oli. Alfredo is known for his speed around
court and ability to retrieve the impossible and this seemed to affect
Oli’s shot selection in the first game but after a few words of wisdom
from fellow countryman Eddie Charlton, Oli settled into the match and
controlled it until the end. A word of sympathy for Alfredo though – he
only got reunited with is bags a few hours before his match so hadn’t had
the chance to practise.

Oli Pett:

“I was nervous going into this as it was the first tournament since a long
time. I have trained really hard over the summer and my coach Tim Vail has
done some great work with me. I forced the issue too much in the first but
from the second game, I carefully picked my moments to take it in short
and felt in control and very comfortable. Really looking forwards to
tomorrow.

Alfredo Avila:

“feel sad because I had such a great tournament here last year, getting to
the final. I also feel angry because I have only played 2 matches in the
last month.  I didn’t feel that my preparation was good enough for this
event and it didn’t help matters with the airline losing my bags. That
aside, Oli played well – he is a good player”

ANDREW SCHNELL (CANADA) beat STEFAN CASTELEYN (BELGIUM) 5-5 RETIRED
INJURED (7 MINS)

Very sad for Stefan – he looked like he could have been an outside bet for
the title here but an inflamed knee put paid to that dream.

Andrew Schnell:

“I felt good tonight. I was moving the ball around well and moving well. I
knew he had a problem so I tried to make the court big for him. Shame to
win this way, he is a great player”

Stefan Casteleyn:

“I considered pulling out and letting a lucky loser take my place but
after some treatment from Lorie, it felt better so I decided to give it a
go. It was clear mid way though the first that I couldn’t move into the
front corners so rather than make it worse, I retired. Credit to Andrew –
he could see where I was struggling and played accordingly”

JAN KOUKAL (CZECH REPUBLIC) beat GEOFFREY DEMONT (FRANCE) 11-6; 11-2;
9-11; 11-0 (39 MINS)

Jan started the match off in a very authoritative manner, containing his
young opponent. Geoffrey really took the game to Jan in the 3rd but that
was really all he managed to get out of the match tonight as Jan was too
string and too steady.

Jan Koukal:

“I saw him play yesterday and he murdered his opponent so I came into this
game really focused. I got to 2-0 quite quickly and then stepped back a
bit and Geoffrey took full advantage of this. I got it back together for
the 4th though. I am very happy with the way I played – a win is a win and
there have been some upsets tonight (fortunately I was not one of them!)”

Geoffrey Demont:

“I am a bit disappointed because I didn’t play my game today. I did play a
good 3rd but generally I made too many errors. Jan is a good player but I
am disappointed that I didn’t play better – I need to be patient and
develop the rallies more”





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