Wow!  The final between Nick Matthew and Ramy Ashour was great.  What an interesting contrast in approaches to the game.  Nick played ultimate attrisional squash.  It was great to see ESPN 3 carry the coverage.  The production value is great and best of all - free!  Go out and replay the matches.  This is exactly what squash needs here in the US!  Now if we can just get coverage on regular ESPN...

Back to top

I just had a peep at the Quarter final between Gaultier and Ashour.  It is worth just looking at the ball placement of these two players.  The ball lands past the service box and pushes the player back making it more difficult to retrieve and giving the striker more time to prepare for the next shot.

Often matches are good with heaps of rallies and good retrieving but the placement of the ball is more often than not landing in the service box area of the court, and that is not deep enough to put pressure on the opponent.

So forget about looking at the rackets these players use, the strings they use, and try to copy their ball placement, which, if it is good placement, should take the opponent down low, on full stretch to get the ball back into play.  If it does not do that something needs to be done to change the tactics.

Back to top

Media Release

"Australian David Palmer has been forced to retire in the first game of his North American Open squash quarter-final against world number one Nick Matthew in Richmond, Virginia on Thursday.

Palmer was leading Matthew 9-8 in a tense and physical opening game when the two players collided in mid-court as the Australian tried to chase a ball into the back left corner.

After lengthy treatment to a twisted ankle, the 34-year-old Palmer decided that he could not continue.

“I have another tournament coming up soon and it would be silly to risk it," Palmer said, referring to the Rocky Mountain Open in Calgary next month.

"The ankle swelled up really badly. It's a shame because Nick and I were both playing well and it was shaping up to be a great match."

Top seed Matthew will now meet Amr Shabana in the semi-finals after the Egyptian overcame Malaysian Azlan Iskandar 11-7, 6-11, 12-10, 12-10.

 The second semi-final will be between England’s James Willstrop and Ramy Ashour of Egypt."

View the Semis and Finals live

Back to top

Squash Australia media release:

"Australian David Palmer continued his impressive form when he eased past Englishman Alister Walker in four games to reach the quarter-finals of the North American Open squash tournament in Richmond, Virginia on Tuesday.

Two-time world champion Palmer showed that he can still play phenomenal squash at 34 as he overpowered Walker 11-6, 3-11, 11-6, 11-9.

“I relaxed a bit at 8-2 up in the fourth and Alister showed what a dangerous player he is,” Palmer said about Walker’s fight back in the fourth game.

“It was very hard and I lost the plot a bit in the second game, but I’m happy to be playing well and pleased to be in the quarter-finals.”

Palmer now has a day off before talking on world number Nick Matthew after the Englishman beat Canada’s Shahier Razik 11-7, 11-4, 11-8.

In other second round matches Egypt’s Amr Shabana was forced to battle hard before overcoming England’s Jonathan Kemp 11-8, 13-15, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8 while Malaysian Azlan Iskandar beat German number one Simon Rosner 9-11, 11-1, 11-5, 11-7.

Meanwhile, Frenchman Gregory Gaultier on Monday ended Aaron Frankcomb’s tournament with an 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 first round win."

If you want to see some live action here's the link.

Back to top