WORLD SQUASH NEWS

RESULTS: Berkshire Squash Open, Williamstown, Mass, USA

Semi-finals:
[3] Bradley Ball (ENG) bt [1] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-2, 1-11, 11-8, 11-9
[2] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [6] Liam Kenny (IRL) 11-8, 10-11 (0-2), 11-7, 11-10 (4-2)

Ball Bounces Borja In Berkshire Open

After ten PSA Tour wins in a row, which including picking up the titles in the Atlanta Open and Brazil Open, top seed Borja Golan was brought down to earth in Williamstown, Massachusetts, with a four-games defeat by England's third seed Bradley Ball in the semi-finals of the Berkshire Squash Open.

Ball, beaten by Golan in the Brazil final just over a week ago, went 7-0 up in the opening game before coasting to an 11-2 win to go one up.  "I felt real relaxed out there," Ball said afterwards.  "I had lost to him twice before and I was really looking to get him the third time.  My swing felt loose early and I was just looking to attack at the right." 

While he was unable to get started in the first, the Spaniard wasted no time in counter-attacking in the second.  Moving Ball around with a combination of volleys, drops and boasts, Golan established himself in the centre of the court and never gave Ball a chance to find the groove he had in the first.   Just like Ball in the first, Golan never relinquished his early lead and tied the match up with a resounding 11-1 win.

With the score tied, both players came out hard in the important third game.  While the players traded points early on, Ball was able to seize the lead in the middle, helped by nick out on his serve return at 7-6.  Despite Golan's best efforts, Ball held off the top seed and took the third 11-8.

Facing elimination, Golan again came out strong in the fourth, taking both a 3-0 and 4-1 lead.  But this time Ball countered and ultimately captured his 11-2 1-11 11-8 11-9 victory - and a place in his 15th PSA final.

The patience and discipline of Ball and Golan's match made second semi-final between second-seeded Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema and Ireland's Liam Kenny, the sixth seed, seem like an exhibition in shooting and retrieving.  Playing against "his older brother figure," as Anjema described Kenny afterwards, the 21-year-old Dutchman matched his former teacher in a display of both shot-making and occasional mistakes in the first.  While neither player could gain much of an advantage early on, Anjema's speed and footwork allowed him to track down Kenny shots throughout the match and eventually carried him to first game victory. 

The duo held pattern in the second and third games, as both continued attack the front court whenever possible.  Using his impressive cut volley drops and drops, Kenny eked out a tiebreaker in the second 11-10 (2-0) to tie the score.  Anjema, though, responded with his own uncanny ability to hit winners off the serve and with reversed boast and eventually retook the lead with his own close victory in the third 11-7.

Anjema continued to attack into the fourth and took a commanding 6-0 early on.  Refusing to back down to his former pupil, Kenny slowly began to work his way back as Anjema started to struggle with unforced errors and Kenny consistently placed soft drop shots in the front corners.  Working against a four-point deficit, Kenny stayed patiently as Anjema continued to struggle and eventually tied the game at nine, only to make his own error, giving Anjema match ball.  However, Anjema's risky, on-the-run backhand drop found the tin and sent another game into a tiebreaker.  With the score at 12-12, the duo played the point of the tournament.  Caught up in the front court, both players exchanged a frantic series of volleys as each player tried to pass the other before Kenny sent Anjema into the back right corner.  Anjema then spirited back and made a lugging backhand lob that barely stayed in court, moved back to the front and then hit a perfect drop shot in the right wall nick.

"I wasn't even trying to hit that," Anjema said afterwards.  "I was just trying to hit a nice tight drop shot."  On the next point, Anjema put a forehand drop into the nick and clinched an exhilarating 11-8 10-11 11-7 11-10 victory.