N.Z. assault stays on course

Press, 10 April 1987, Page 38

N.Z. assault stays on course

39NZPA staff correspondent London The New Zealand assault on the British Open squash championships stayed on course yesterday with the four remaining Kiwis cruising into the third round. The world champion, Ross Norman, looking for his first Open win, surprisingly dropped the second game to an English qualifier, Jason Nicolle, 7-9, having won the first, 9-0, but quickly bounced back to take the next two games 9-3, 9-2, in double quicktime. ‘ His next opponent will be England’s No. 2, Geoff Williams, who beat him in a British league match last November but has since been given two hidings by the Aucklander.

Susan Devoy, the world champion and British titleholder for the last three years, demolished the top Finn, Tuula Myllniemi, 9-5, 9-4, 9-1, in 26 minutes and should have a similarly straightforward match against the world No. 19 Heather Wallace, of Scotnnd, tomorrow.

She said she was looking forward to some harder matches as early round opponents could not put her under enough pressure to make games interesting. Such is the difference in ability between Devoy and the alsorans, the statement was made without a hint of conceit Squash fans who crowded into the converted movie theatre for the last time before the championships switch to the Wembley conference centre tomorrow, were treated to a brilliant display by the men’s third seed, Stuart Davenport Davenport beat Cerryg Jones, of Wales, 9-6, 9-5, 9-0. Jones hardly need have bothered going on court for the final game as the gangly Wellingtonian — never one to prolong a match if he can avoid it — rattled off a series of sizzling shots that would have caused any player problems. “I must admit I was feeling pretty comfortable today. I never felt threatened,” he said. New Zealand’s second ranked woriten, Aucklander Joanne Williams,

celebrated her first appearance at a British Open by handing out a squash lesson to a Nottinghamshire schoolgirl Donna Vardy. Vardy, only 15 years old but already the British under-19 champion, could not handle the varied game of the more experienced New Zealander, who won 9-2, 9-4, 9-6 in 33 minutes. “I kept the pressure on and managed to get on to the ball nice and early and hit it hard. I feel very relieved to be through,” said Williams, who had a walkover in the first round. Her opponent tomorrow is the third seed Martine Le Moignan. They met in 1984 and the Englishwoman won, 3-0, “but I’m playing much better now than I was then so I’ve got to give myself a chance,” she said. Norman said that dropping a game was a bit of a fright and he praised the performance of Nicolle. It was the sort of thing that could happen at the British Open, he said. Players often excelled themselves. “I remember a few years back when I #as coming through the rounds 1

played really well. I had nothing to lose,” he said. There was no question of rethinking his approach to The tournament because of one dropped game. “This is not the America’s Cup where you can change things at the last minute. I’ve been preparing for months, I’m happy with what I’ve done and I’m going to stay with it,” he said. Meanwhile the veteran, Geoff Hunt, an eight times winner of the British Open, missed the chance of a meeting with the present champion, Jahangir Khan, when he was beaten by a fellow Australian, Tristan Nancarrow, in the second round yesterday. Nancarrow, ranked thirteenth in the world, beat Hunt, 9-6, 9-3, 9-1, with breathtaking backhand strokes in the second and third games. Hunt, aged 40, who hopes to continue a comeback attempt in two invitation tournaments in Australia next month, said he had been encouraged by the result in his first British Open for six yearft