Amateur squash ‘career’ begins promisingly

Press, 16 August 1978, Page 22

Amateur squash ‘career’ begins promisingly

Bv

TIM DUNBAR

Any doubts the 22-year-old British squash player, Phillip Kenyon, has about the wisdom of his recent decision to become a fulltime amateur should not linger too long. Last week Kenyon became the first overseas player in seven years to win the New Zealand title when he beat the world’s top junior, Glen Brumby (Australia), in impressive fashion at Timaru. The nationals were the culmination of a two-week tour of New Zealand by the British under-25 team and Kenyon said that beating everyone at Timaru was a big boost. He rated the success as the second most important of his career after the British amateur closed title which

he won with an 3-1 upset off Jon Leslie. Kenyon came to New Zealand as the fourthranked British amateur but expects to return home as No. 2 behind Leslie, a semi-flnalist in the world amateur championships at Toronto last year. “I only became a fulltime amateur about eight weeks ago,” he said. “Since then I have been playing four hours a day and I am really pleased with the way my squash is coming on.” The Englishman has a degree in food technology and he spent three years working in food research. After that he was em-

ployed by a private company trying to get an aluminium squash (and tennis) racket on the market. “This involved too many hours and it was affecting my squash,” Kenyon said. Hence his decision to leave the company and take up the sport full-time. At present the British team is in the middle of a two-week tour of Australia with three tests against the strong national team of Donnelly, Cheeham, Yates, Steward and Brumby. It will also take part in the Australian championships. Kenyon will be having some very tough matches

across the Tasman, but in New Zealand he thrust aside all opposition apart from the very promising Auckland 19-year-old, Ross Norman.

The 3-1 loss to Norman (eliminated by Brumby in straight games during the third round of the nationals) came only two days after the team arrived and Kenyon says he was suffering from “jet lag” and did not think the defeat was worth mentioning.

When asked what players he was most worried about before the New Zealand championships started, Kenyon said unhesitatingly: “the other Englishmen.” He had no reason, however, to worry too much about his compatriots. The hard-hitting Aucklander, Neven Barbour, put out both Peter Verow and, surprisingly, the top overseas seed, Gawain Briars; Craig Blackwood thrashed Andy Dwyer in straight games; and Brumby eliminated John Le Lievre in the best contest of the tournament.

Both Kenyon and the English team manager, Chris Stahl, agreed that the toughest New Zealander was Barb.our, who actually beat Briars twice on the tour and had a great chance of beating Brumby at Timaru. Barbour’s only meeting with Kenyon — in the final of the Royal Oak tournament — resulted in a straight games loss, 8-10, 5-9. 3-9.

Kenyon said he was not too worried about the brilliant Howard Broun “as we knew his fitness was suspect.” But he admitted to being a little concerned in the quarterfinals when Broun won the first game and was 7-1 up in the second. “It was a long way to come back,” he said.

Apart from the Englishman’s very sound all-round game, perhaps the most impressive thing about Kenyon was his refusal to wilt under pressure when a cause seemed almost lost. He came from 1-2 down in games to beat Broun; recovered from a crushing 9-0 loss in the fourth to outlast Blackwood; and overcame a very slow start to win the final against Brumby. Significantly, Kenyon, who had two tough fiveset battles before reaching the final, said that he had not really felt tired at all during the championships. “My fitness is good and I feel I am moving well.”

He said he thrived on hard-hitters, but is adamant that a top player has to be adaptable as well. New Zealand players should, perhaps. note Kenyon’s remark that he “plays all the shots in the book” during practice with other British players. Thus he is ready for anything in a match while those who have restricted themselves to fewer shots in practice are more limited.

Kenyon might tum professional after the 1979 world amateur championships in Australia. He is extremely serious about his squash and his mental preparation for a big match is such that he was not keen to talk to this reporter until he “had time to unwind” after the final.

There is a definite sense of humour just below the surface, though, as he showed in the presentation speech when he attributed his win to “going to bed early and training .on highspeed fruit salad.”