Top Seeds Through To Semis In British Grand Prix
by Steve Cubbins
Gaultier - Rosner courtesy Squash365
September 22, 2012 - The semi-finals of the Springfield Solutions British Grand Prix will be contested by the top four seeds, but none of them had it easy as their opponents all made strong starts to today’s matches at the National Squash Centre in Manchester.
Quarter-Final Results:
[1] James Willstrop (Eng) 3-1 Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) 8/11, 11/5, 11/3, 11/5 (66m)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) 3-1 Simon Rosner (Ger) 12/10, 10/12, 11/5, 11/7 (68m)
[4] Peter Barker (Eng) 3-0 Adrian Grant (Eng) 11/8, 11/1, 11/3 (43m)
[2] Nick Matthew (Eng) 3-1 Alister Walker (Bot) 9/11, 11/8, 11/4, 11/3 (58m)
Match by Match
Gaultier tested in opener
Third seed Gregory Gaultier became the first player to reach the semi-finals, but he had to overcome a strong challenge from Germany’s unseeded Simon Rosner to do so. Rosner, the world number 18, stayed with Gaultier every inch of the way in the first two games, failing to capitalise on a game ball in the first as Gaultier took it 12/10, then taking the second 12/10 on his second game ball.
The Frenchman dominated the third, and although Rosner was back on competitive terms in the fourth, Gaultier pulled clear at the end of the game to take it 11/7.
“After wining the first, I was up 4/0 and just relaxed too much,” admitted Gaultier. “It’s only in the third and fourth I started to vary my shots to the four corners, I was able to speed up the pace. But he didn’t make it simple for me, that’s for sure!!!”
“In the third, my game just wasn’t there, but I got it back for the fourth,” said Rosner. “I’m proud I’m able to compete with Greg and make it a hard fight for him, he is one of the players I’ve been looking up to since I was 12,, and I hope that I can sneak a win one day.”
Barker breezes past Grant
After a 20-minute opening game between English left-handers Peter Barker and Adrian Grant, which Barker took 11/8, the fourth seed took complete charge of the second quarter-final of the day, completing the win 11/1, 11/3.
“I had to be solid and focused, because I wasn’t either of those things yesterday,” said Barker. “I’m not sure Adrian was at the top of his form or even 100% tonight, but he is still dangerous and can hit shots from anywhere, so I really had to stay focused.”
Willstrop shrugs off slow start
World number one James Willstrop has never lost to Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema over a dozen encounters, but it was the the Dutchman who made the better start to the forst match of the evening session, taking a highly competitive first game 11/8.
The top seed struck back though, taking control of the next three and taking them 11/5, 11/3, 11/5 in little over the time the first had taken to set up a semi-final meeting with one of his closest rivals Gregory Gaultier.
”I had to cover a lot of ground today, LJ is very strong physically,” said Willstrop. “It’s a good result for me to beat him 3/1, happy with that, he really got me sharp for tomorrow.”
Matthew survives a shaky start too
The final match of the day was almost a carbon copy of the previous one, as Alister Walker played superbly to go 11/8 and 8/5 up against second seed Nick Matthew. But like other seeded players before him tonight, the world champion weathered the storm, came back to snatch the second 11/8 before dominating the next two games 11/4, 11/3.
“Ali sure makes you work hard, but it’s funny how quickly things turn round, I was facing going 2/0 down and maybe going home, and the next thing I know I’m 7/1 up in the third,” said a relieved Matthew.
“He was immaculate for the first two games and the best compliment I can give him is that I had to change my game. James spoke earlier about the game of chess, that’s exactly how it felt for me tonight.”
So the semi-finals will be between the top four seeds, the world numbers 1, 2, 3 and 7, and a real treat awaits the fans tomorrow afternoon at the National Squash Centre ...
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