LJ Anjema zorgt voor sensatie door winst op Lee Beachill

[Q] Laurens Jan Anjema bt [2] Lee Beachill   11/9, 11/6, 11/7 (41m) LJ’S DREAM WAS LEE’S NIGHTMARE… Framboise watches one of the shocks of many a season ... “Oh, he is playing a qualifier, that should be a one-sided match,” was the comment of a spectator next to me when the two players Lee Beachill and LJ Anjema stepped on court… Wrong. LJ was in a zone, Lee in the desert. Lacking motivation, having lost his desire to defeat his opponent, the World number two couldn’t step up the pace and react to a young man hungry and desperate for victory. Strange really, I saw Lee destroy so many players, mentally and physically, grinding their resistance and belief in themselves by his fantastic regularity, precision and intelligence of play, and yet, once in a while, I saw him lose all composure, like against Shabana for example, or Power in Bermuda 2005. Was his defeat against Nick Matthew in the English Open a few weeks ago the premises of the crisis he is facing today? Who knows… One thing is sure. LJ played a superb and amazing match. His shots were deep, incisive, he was sharp all the way through, dictating his rhythme, anticipating Lee's shots again and again, matching shot for shot, fearless of the status of his prestigious oponent, and offered us a daring, strong, mature performance. He found an energy, a passion, a precision that will help him climb another step towards his goals. Nobody can take that away from him. Today was LJ’s day. And Lee’s night… "There are a few times in your life where you play at your peak, and today was one of those days… It’s only the second time in my life that I played like that, once in Chicago, against Peter Nicol, and today… "I can’t really remember what happened, or what I did, I was just in a zone… I know that to start with, my only aim was to stay in the rally with him. You know, not to underestimate myself, but I don’t see myself at the same level as those guys, so when you have the privilege to play somebody like Lee, you just try and stay in the rally… "And that’s what I did in the first game… Then I realised that Lee was getting a bit tired, I managed to sneak in the first game, and after that, I don’t know… I know that I tried to keep playing simple squash, no fancy shots… "Talking about fancy shots, I’ve got to say that I got in some very lucky ones today, and although Lee had a few as well, mine were at the crucial moments, like on match ball for example… "Lee is the most consistent player on the circuit, and also one of the fairest. With Lee, there is no pushing, no blocking, just squash, pure squash, and that’s the way it should be…. "Today, I played like a dream, but I’ve got to make sure that I don’t have the lows as low as I can have them, that I can raise my level… "This is one of the most beautiful wins of my life, I’m very happy…" Laurens Jan Anjema "I’m not taking anything away from LJ, as he played extremely well, but I was just not bothered about winning or losing the game. Here I was, playing against somebody I should beat, and I couldn’t be bothered… "At the moment, I’m not enjoying being away and travelling at all. So it’s something I will have to address pretty soon, because I don’t want to travel across the world to find out that I’m not bothered about winning or losing matches… "I will have to find a solution, if there is one, if it is taking a break, or stopping completely, I’ll see… I don’t know, I just don’t know…" Lee Beachill News from The SquashSite: Squashsite.co.uk

Lees alle informatie over de St. Louis MPM Squash Open

Laurens Lashes Lee In St Louis

Dutch qualifier Laurens Jan Anjema pulled off a major upset in the first round of the MPM St Louis Open Squash Championship when he knocked out second seed Lee Beachill on the opening day of action in the five-star PSA Tour event at the Garden Court in the St Louis Galleria in Missouri, USA.

Anjema, ranked 33 in the world, needed 41 minutes to claim one of the biggest scalps of his life – beating the world No2 from England 11-9 11-6 11-7 to take an unexpected place in the quarter-finals.

His opponent Anthony Ricketts reached the last eight in the shortest of the first round battles – overcoming USA wildcard Michael Puertas 11-5 11-1 11-4 in just 20 minutes.

The eagerly-anticipated all-Australian clash between third seed David Palmer and qualifier Stewart Boswell ended without an upset, but former world No4 Boswell stretched his former national team-mate all the way in the first game before going down 11-10 11-6 11-3 to the reigning world No3 in 43 minutes.

The quarter-final certain to attract the biggest crowd in St Louis will be the latest clash in a well-documented series of matches since October 1995 between former world number ones Peter Nicol and Jonathon Power. 

Nicol, the fifth-seeded Englishman who is enjoying a newfound enthusiasm for the game with two tournament titles to his credit over the past two months, despatched Australian qualifier Raj Nanda 11-1 11-9 11-9 in 32 minutes.  Power, the fourth seed from Canada with three PSA titles to his name this year, defeated Australian Joseph Kneipp 11-4 11-4 11-4 in one minutes less to set up his third meeting with Nicol this year.

RESULTS:        MPM St Louis Open Squash Championship, St Louis, Missouri, USA

1st round:
[1] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt John White (SCO)                         11-6, 11-9, 11-10 (2-0) (44m)
[8] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Matthew Giuffre (CAN)       11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (27m)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Stewart Boswell (AUS)            11-10 (2-0), 11-6, 11-3 (43m)
[7] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Graham Ryding (CAN)                     11-1, 11-9, 11-9 (25m)
[5] Peter Nicol (ENG) bt [Q] Raj Nanda (AUS)                        11-1, 11-9, 11-9 (32m)
[4] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt Joseph Kneipp (AUS)                 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (31m)
[6] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt Michael Puertas (USA)             11-5, 11-1, 11-4 (20m)
[Q] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [2] Lee Beachill (ENG)        11-9, 11-6, 11-7 (41m)