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Malcolm Willstrop on the Semis
Whereas Gregory Gaultier - Peter Barker
might have been the probable semi-final in the top half, it was
Cameron Pilley, who put out Barker, and Alister Walker, who took out
Gaultier, who made it.
 The
bottom half had gone according to plan and clubmates James Willstrop
and Lee Beachill justified their 2 and 3 seedings. They would almost
certainly prefer to play other players, but they put on a high
quality display of squash which pleased the splendid capacity Canary
Wharf crowd.
Willstrop took the first convincingly enough, but Beachill, opening
up, played some fine winning shots and levelled the score.
Surprisingly Beachill was unable to capitalise in the third and
Willstrop won the game 11/5 to take a 2/1 lead.
The senior player, however, was not done with, and, moving better
than at any time since his hernia operation, he battled all the way
in the fourth, skilfully too, and in the end Willstrop was happy to
take the game 11/9 and the match 3/1, ending with an outrageous
fluke which won him the final point tom reach his seventh
consecutive final, five of which he has won.
 Walker
had surpassed himself to beat the French duo of Gaultier and Renan
Lavigne and started very slowly against Pilley, who romped away with
the first game with Walker, to the disappointment of the crowd,
offering very little.
He fell behind in the second, but he was beginning to find some
rhythm and in the end it was only on extra points that the
Australian took a 2/0 lead. It was hard to imagine Walker coming fom
2/0 down and so it proved, Pilley won the third comfortably to take
his place in the final.
Pilley didn't take much out of himself and has every chance of
giving Willstrop plenty to think about. They are two tall men, but
both move well and they should give the deserving Canary Wharf crowd
and the Events team a match worthy of the occasion. They are both
well disposed and there seems every chance of a thoroughly
competitive and watchable final.
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[2]
James Willstrop (Eng) bt [3]
Lee Beachill (Eng)
11/8, 8/11, 11/5, 11/9 (58m)
James on a roll
 That's
five wins out of the last six for James Willstrop over Lee Beachill
- not bad considering that Lee won the first dozen. As Malcolm
predicted, this was one that was bound to please the squash purists.
It did that, and was probably one of the most entertaining of their
series too, certainly the packed crowd in the East Wintergarden
thoroughly enjoyed it.
James got off to the better start, a 4/1 lead in the first was
enough of an advantage, but the boot was on the other foot in the
second as Lee - in the words of compere Alan Thatcher - "chopped"
James.
"Yes, but then he chopped me in the third! retorted Lee. Both true
enough.
James continued to hold sway in the fourth, a few early errors from
Lee not helping his cause, but James certainly wasn't able to play
the free-flowing attacking game he likes as Lee made it difficult,
as he does, by playing simple, effective, deadly squash.
James eked out a lead, 6/4. 8/5, 9/6 then 10/8, but Lee was on his
shoulder all the way. James finished it with an outrageous winner
from the back court to kill off a monster rally, and both rackets
went flying into opposite corners of the court - Lee's in disgust,
James' in relief that it was over.
 "Lee's
very difficult to play, he has an orthodox, pure and tight game, and
he has the ability to make you play his game, and by the end you
feel you're banging your head against a brick wall - I'm glad to see
the crowd enjoyed it, I certainly didn't ...
"I'm pleased to be back in the final, obviously, it's a great
tournament, a lovely venue and a very supportive crowd. I hope my
body holds up after a hard few weeks, but we look after ourselves
well these days, take good care of our bodies with a lot of support
and technological advances compared to a few years ago.
"It's good to get another win over Lee, but it's about time he got
lost really ..."
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 "He
played well there, I know what it's like to be confident when you're
on a run of wins, it gives you an edge, like when he played that
last b***** shot!
"I was happy with how I played, disappointed a little with the
third, but overall pretty good. I'm trying to be a bit more
adventurous than my old playing style.
"After playing so well in the second I was disappointed to let him
get away in the third, and in this scoring a run of a few points
gives you a lead that's hard to pull back, especially against
someone playing as confidently as James.
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[7]
Cameron Pilley (Aus) bt Alister
Walker (Eng)
11/1, 12/10, 11/5 (41m)
Cameron cruises into final
Their previous two meetings - four and five years ago - had both
finished 3/2, and both have improved immensely since then, but
Cameron Pilley had one big advantage over Alister Walker tonight ...
fresh legs.
It was fairly obvious fairly quickly that Alister's previous
exertions - two Frenchmen downed and only the third 30+ ranked
player ever to beat one of the top four, apparently - had taken
their toll.
Cameron recorded his fourth 11/1 game of the week - surely another
record - and proceeded to dominate the early stages of the second.
Alister made a brave comeback from 10/5 down to level, but two tins
finished the chance of sneaking the game.
Cameron was dominant again from the start of the third, and was soon
into his biggest-ever final, courtesy of a shot from the back that
hit Alister on the way to the front wall.
A disappointing end to the match, but in truth it was Cameron all
the way, and while Alister can reflect on a great week, Cameron
still has the chance of an even greater one ...
 "I
knew he had two hard matches in him so I tried to keep the pace as
high as I could, take it in shot when the chance came, but basically
keeping it fast.
"When I won the first few points I was thinking about another 11/1,
I don't know what's going on there but something's going pretty
well!
"Towards the end of the second I could tell he was feeling it, and
at the start of the third he was gasping for air in between points
and that spurred me on. In the middle of the game he hit a run of
tins and that spurred me on more.
"It's the biggest final I've ever made by far, I've only made a
three-star final before, so to make a five-star final, especially in
London with a great venue and a really appreciative crowd is just
awesome.
"I didn't come here with any expectations, I was seeded just to make
the quarters, but I can't wait for tomorrow now ..."
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 "I
was running on what reserves I had left there, which wasn't much.
"The match against Greg, and yesterday, knowing I was in with a
chance of making the semi, they took their toll on me mentally and
physically and I didn't have enough left.
"Cam played some special squash though, all credit to him, but it's
a pity I couldn't quite take that second game.
"It's been a great week though, I've had some good wins and the
venue and crowd have been fantastic, hopefully I can go on from here
..."
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It
was repeat of last month's British Nationals final first up tonight
at Canary Wharf's East Wintergarden as defending champion James
Willstrop aimed to keep his impressive 2008 run going against
his Pontefract nemesis Lee Beachill. It wasn't until their
13th meeting that James recorded his first win - here in Canary
Wharf last year - but he's now gone on to win five of the last six
to cut the head-to-head figures to 13-5 in Lee's favour.
The
top half of the draw had an unexpected look to it, with seventh seed
Cameron Pilley takes on Alister Walker in the second
semi-final, the prize of first major final beckoning for both. In
the event Camron had too much for Alister, who basically didn't have
anything left after his exploits earlier in the week.
