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9th Nov: I LOVE NOTTINGHAM….  A
few among you know I’m thinking of leaving London. For where? Not sure
yet. Paris, most probably, but with a “pied-à-terre”, a place somewhere in
the UK. And I have to say I am falling in love with Nottingham. I like the
human size of the town, the tram, the restaurants… But most of all, I fell
in love with Nottingham SC. Shame it’s so far from London…And thank God I like Nottingham Club, as I seem to spend my life up there recently! And how pleasant to be systematically welcomed by a “what are you doing here” from the tall Australian/Scottish John White, or a “hello woman”, from Ria… And big smiles coming from Nigel, Tony, and all the bar staff (I don’t know their names yet, but I’m working on it)… It’s the sort of place that makes me feel at home, where “everybody knows your name” kind of place… So, thank you Nottingham Squash Club, to make me feel like, for once in my life, I actually belong somewhere. Framboise |
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PARKE/KEMP: A CLASSIC…. I had the choice of title. “Classic”… “Homeric”… “Why make it simple when you can make it hard for yourself”… 11. It took Sir Parke 11 flicking match balls to win the match. Yes. You read correctly. So, imagine what the spectators were feeling… The Duffield ones were praying for their man not to lose, the Nottingham ones for theirs to win… A classic…  I
didn’t expect to see the match between Jonathan Kemp (who was one
of the first timers in the British Open) and Simon Parke (who must
own parts of the Squash Club by now…). I thought that, like in Manchester, I was going to see the Ladies, then number 1 & 2 on the same court. But I guess that, due to the popularity of Simon Parke, and his current form, the organisers thought it more appropriate to make them play on the main court. And I have to say they were right, as Cassie Jackman won “easily” in three games (even if the stunning Pam Nimmo fought very hard in the third to only lose 7/9). So, in front of a packed audience, world number 25 Simon Parke started a league match against world number 45 Jonathan Kemp. On paper, it should have been quick and easy… First game. Parke controls most of the rallies, but Jonathan succeeds to place a few lethal backhand drop shots to equalise at 6/6. Unfortunately, the Duffield man plays slightly too short, allowing the old timer to take the ball early and apply pressure where it hurts. 9/6 in 11 minutes. Second game. Parke is cruising 5/0, the rallies are short, a nice forehand drive, two glued to the wall drop shots… Fairly quickly, he’s got game ball, 8/4. But he will need three to close the game 9/7, as Jonathan kills the ball one rally after the other… Once again, 11 minutes. Third game. This time, it’s Jonathan who is cruising, 5/1. Too many mistakes from Parke, his defensive lobs are not high enough, he is not tight enough, the width is approximate … 8/2 for Kemp, who also will need a few game balls, four to be exact, to eventually win the game 9/5, again in 11 minutes… In the fourth game, Parke has tightened his game. Length, width, height… Much better. 8/4. Match ball. The first of four in the game. Kemp is attacking every ball, hitting, dropping, cross courting… Simon tins, mis-hits, is out of his depth… Jonathan will need only one game ball. 10/8 in 13 minutes. We are 2 all. How to describe the fifth one… Well, it could have been the final of the British Open, people wouldn’t have been more involved. “We need to win this one” murmurs Ria in my ear. “Come on Parkie”, “Come on Kempie”. “Come on Simon”, “Come on Jonathan”… Every rally finishes with an outburst of delight or despair… Kemp is attacking very well, but he starts to make a few mistakes, a few imprecisions… And quickly, Parke is up again with his fifth match ball of the match. 8/4. But drop shot after drop shot, Kemp is clawing back. 5/8. 6/8. 7/8. Another backhand drop shot, and it’s 8/8. Parke tins a cross court kill. 9/8, first match ball for Jonathan, who goes for a kill… and tins it. 9/9. Another backhand drop shot tin from him, 10/9 and a ninth match ball for Parke, who misses a drop shot… 10/10. Kemp places a remarkable drop shot, glued to the wall… 11/10. Second match ball for Kemp, but who won’t be able to return a cross court kill from his opponent. 11/11. The experienced Parke suddenly slows the pace down, catches his breath back while frustrating his opponent. A “no let” gives him a tenth match ball, 12/11. A “no let” will take it away from him. 12/12. But two mistakes from Jonathan will eventually, finally, AT LAST, give the 68 minute match to Simon Parke, and his eleventh match ball will the one…. And still two matches to go…. |
When I had match balls, I got very tense,
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“When
I had match balls, I got very tense, and went for the big winners
instead of doing what I did to get match balls… It took me two games
to understand what I was supposed to do to win, that I was going too
short too soon, so I started playing better length… 
“It
was a very long game for a game to 9! Jonathan kills the ball very
well, he puts it away extremely well, and he uses a lot of mix. So
the only way to contain him is to play tight enough, which I didn’t
manage to do that well today. I actually haven't played since my
match again Adrian in the BO. It has been a VERY long week…
“I
took the first game comfortably, even if the rallies were long and
hard fought. Paul made a few mistakes, but his game is always very
dangerous. In the second, he got a few winners in, as he started to
attack, and got the game.
And
as usual when those two meet, it’s a very close match, even if Greg
normally wins in three. And today was going to be no different…
“It
started on Sunday morning, while carrying my bags. I felt a violent
spasm in my middle back. As it was Sunday, I couldn’t find a physio.
On the Monday morning, I had osteopathic treatment, but again in the
afternoon, I found myself not able to move, basically stuck. The
Tuesday, went back to treatment. So today, I was not feeling that
great, I must say. 3 hours before the match, I was warming up with
Simon Parke, and could barely move. I think it’s just an
accumulation of tournaments, of matches. 
“It’s
always very hard to play another Frenchman. It’s always very tense,
in particular at the end of games. Overall, my backhand lacked in
precision, and I played a bit too much on Grégory’s backhand, as he
counterattacks superbly.