|
|
Smith won't remove his shorts
Men's Singles: Richard Eaton reports
 Andrew
Smith's unexpected reappearance at the English national
championships after playing in only three of the last six events
was predictably colourful and contentious – even before he got
on to court.
The second-seeded former England number one, who has long had a
checkered relationship with the national governing body,
appeared in a pair of gaudy golden shorts decorated with
crimson-lined squares which he was immediately asked to remove.
“You can't wear something which looks as though you're going to
play on a beach,” gasped tournament referee Keith Hawthorne,
who had rarely seen anything like it, despite being one of the
world's most experienced officials.
“Well I played in them in Korea,” answered Smith . “Well I
wasn't refereeing in Korea!” retorted Hawthorne.
Smith's assertion that there is nothing in the rules to stop him
won the day, however - for the time being at least - and he also
won his opening match with some forthright ploys, overwhelming
Tim Cope, a promising young player from Cheshire, 21-10,
21-9.
 There
was much to admire about Smith's performance, which displayed a
wide range of ways in which he can win points, even against
world class players, but the sartorial argument raised questions
about the strength of his desire to win the tournament.
Asked what had brought about the change of heart which had
decided him to take part in the nationals, Smith was
professionally vague. “I was a late entry – I have almost
surprised myself by playing,” he said.
It would be an asset to the tournament to have a final between
Smith, who has been England's best player for much of the last
three years, and Rajiv Ouseph, who is the defending
champion, and who started with a 21-5, 21-10 win over Stuart
Rowlands of Somerset, but Smith's youthful traumas are
self-admittedly still in his head.
 “I
always said that if nothing better came along I would play,” he
claimed. For those with short memories: as a junior Smith was
allegedly made to play too many events, apparently contributing
to injuries which have caused pins to be placed in his legs.
He would “try to win the tournament, but you have to look
further ahead than that,” he said, referring to his preferred
training arrangements in Kuala Lumpur which have now fallen
through.
“In Asia things change – just like that,” Smith said. “That is
my best option, being there, but now the same set-up isn't
there.
“No-one is really playing there now. Some are older and are not
playing and have just retired. I have options in Japan and
Singapore, but it's difficult to organise and the set-up costs
money.”
So Smith has been training with Ouseph and Carl Baxter at
Milton Keynes, where he admits he “gets done what I want to get
done.” But will his mind be right to get done what needs to be
done this week?
“I have been playing okay and I will try to win the tournament,”
he repeated. “But what I really want to do is keep up my level.
“To do that I just have to keep doing the right things, and
wait, and when you get the opportunity, to take it – and then
doors open up.
“But it might take until I'm 27 or 28,” the 25-year-old thought.
Later Smith reached the quarter-finals with a 21-13, 21-14 win
over Yorkshire's Alex Marritt with another cool performance –
and another sartorial surprise.
 This
time he appeared all in impeccable black, and with SMITH in
corporate capitals on his back. It all seemed like a change of
heart, and possibly attitude, until you looked at what was on
the front – KLRC, the Kuala Lumpur Racket Club where, he
had already made completely clear, he would prefer to be rather
than in England.
There were warnings, if any were needed, as to what can happen
if any seed falls below par, when three of them went out of the
tournament by mid-afternoon on the first day.
Number six, Nathan d'Cruz, an England squad member,
failed to survive a long, hard three-game encounter with Neil
White of Northumberland, while the number seven, Jamie
Bonsels, was halted in what may well be the shortest match
in the history of the tournament.
Bonsels, a member of the Great Britain squad and with ambitions
once day to win an Olympic medal, could even be a candidate for
the Guinness Book of Records by retiring with cramp after just
one point.
“I must practise that shot,” quipped Ben Tier, the
promising son of England's former word bronze medallist in mixed
doubles, after his instant win.
Another who went prematurely to the exit was the number eight
seed Chris Hotchen, who played mixed doubles in the
morning and then apparently felt he had not enough left to play
singles in the afternoon – and withdrew.
 But
the top-seeded Ouseph reached the quarter-finals calmly and
safely, beating Jack Molyneux of Surrey 21-14, 21-8, and earned
a meeting with another Surrey player, Sam Dobson.
Smith's second win gained him a meeting with Chris Coles,
an England junior international from Avon, and the quarter-final
line-up was completed by Carl Baxter, the third seed,
playing Ben Beckman, an England squad member, and by
Harry Wright, the fourth seed, facing Toby Penty, an
England junior who has just won his way into the Olympic youth
qualifying tournament.
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Cann can – after a
stumble
Men's Singles: Richard
Eaton reports
With supporters wriggling, Liz Cann stayed cool. And with
the crowd humming as the top seed trailed early in the third
game to a 17-year-old England junior, Helena Lewczynska,
she came up with the responses which silenced them completely as
she concluded a rocky opening match with a smooth finish and a
21-10, 21-23, 21-10 win.
It was as though Cann were teasing them. One moment she was 2-3
down in the final game; the next she had taken 11 points in a
row and trampled her way to an unassailable lead.
It made you wonder how the former champion from Jersey could
have allowed her opponent to get on top in the second game, and
whether it meant that all was not well with the player who
should be odds on to win the title a fourth time. Cann wasn't
into any of that sort of thinking. She reckoned it was in many
ways an ideal start – extra time to get used to the conditions,
a useful bit of match play, and an outcome with an impressive
nerve-settling climax.
 “I
really did think I would win in the third,” Cann said smoothly.
“As long as the result went in my favour, I was not too
concerned. ” But some were. Cann suddenly slipped suddenly from
parity in the second game to a deficit of 10-18 and then, in
some ways worse, after pulling all the way back to 19-19, she
still couldn't make it count.
During her worst spell Cann gifted several free points by
failing to put service returns in court, and found herself
defending a bit too often.
She had, she volunteered, made a “rugged” start, which prevented
her from acquiring the touch and confidence to control the
shuttle at the net.
 And
in the second game she was “not exactly fluent” and suffered
from “a lack of concentration.” Lewczynska responded
immediately, putting together some good attacking combinations,
and winning such lengthy sequences of points that they appeared
to contain a dangerous possibility of inspiring a developing
player to levels not previously attained.
But once Cann became more used to the quickish conditions,
improved her shuttle control, reduced the errors, and won a few
points, she hurried the rallies along so quickly that she
hustled her opponent out of her stride, ending the match as a
contest within three or four minutes.
 Near
the finish Cann launched herself full speed across the court's
entire diagonal, still retaining sufficient balance in the final
stride to make a near-perfect delicate little winning tumbler.
“I was moving better point by point,” she said. “I was never
worried.”
True or not, Cann's struggle may well have sharpened her up
nicely for Saturday, when she will have to win twice to reach
the final for the fifth time in six years. She next plays
Hana Littlecott of Hampshire, while the second-seed Helen
Davies also plays a Hampshire player, the promising
17-year-old Panuga Riou. |
|
Draws & Results
Draws & Results
|
As ever day one
is the busiest day, with two round of action in most draws,
starting at 10am with the last matches scheduled to start at
10.10pm ...
Mixed
Doubles ... seeds into quarters
With the seeds all receiving
byes in the morning session, it was a case of the rest of the
draw fighting for the right to face them in the afternoon's
second round, in which the four seeded pairs all progressed
easily enough.
Defending champion Anthony Clark and new partner
Heather Olver had no trouble winning their opening
second-round match while top seeds Nathan Robertson and
Jenny Wallwork also raced into the third round.
Both pairs had first-round byes.
  
Men's Singles ... 6,7,8 all gone
A full set of
matches in the men's singles, with the top five seeds safely
through, but 6,7 and 8 have all gone. Seventh-seeded Jamie
Bonsels retired injured after one point of his match against
Benjamin Tier, eighth seed Chris Hotchen who withdrew from the
singles after playing his mixed doubles match, and sixth seed
Nathan D'Cruz was beaten by Neil White.
Round two saw normal order restored with the top five going
through to tomorrow's quarter-finals.
  
Women's Singles
Top seed Liz Cann, after receiving a bye in the first
round, got her campaign under way, but she was made to work hard
by Helena Lewczynska, who took the second 23-21, forcing
the three-time champion into a decider.
Second seed Helen Davies came through in straight games
against Munn-Tzin Bong, 21-15, 21-17, but it was getting
close in the second as a good lead closed to 17-16 before Davies
pulled away.
 |
|
 |
|
