CATELLA SWEDISH OPEN 2003 – SEMI FINALS JM Favourites through to the final. Scotland versus Australia was the order of the day in both semi finals of the 2003 Catella Swedish Open. Number 2 seed in this tournament and world ranked number 5 Stewart Boswell took on the experienced and highly talented Martin Heath from Scotland. Martin had a period last year when he slipped down the rankings but he has recently enjoyed some good results to surge back into the top 10. Always trailing by just one or two points in the first game, Martin managed to level the score at 13 all only to see the game slip away in the next two points. Stewart then managed to play near faultless squash to take the second game and the match seemed to be all over, especially with Martin becoming increasingly frustrated with the referee’s decisions. However, Heath drew on all his experience and fought back well, dominating the third game with a mixture of solid basic squash and exciting shot play, executed with great precision and accuracy. Could he sustain the pressure and take the mach into a fifth game? This is when Boswell showed that he is one of the new generation of players who will soon be challenging for the top position in the world. Pushing further up the court, he took the ball earlier, attacking the ball and keeping Heath behind him. His variation of shot out thought and wrong footed the Scotsman several times in what was to be the final game. Boswell comfortably took the game to become the first player to gain a place in the final of this year’s Catella Swedish Open. In the second semi final, a Scotsman born in Australia and living in England, John White, met Joe Kneipp, an Australian who nearly changed his allegiance for his native country to play for the Netherlands 18 months ago. The first game was very tight all the way through and played in a good humour except for two occasions when Kneipp left the court to remonstrate with the referee for not giving him a let on each occasion. Joe may have felt that they were crucial decisions that influenced the outcome of the first game, but television replays confirmed the referee was right both times. White was still lucky to win the first game when he hit a forehand volley that caught the corner between front and side walls to spin out at an angle that Kneipp could not retrieve. The number 1 seed and 4th ranked player in the world then ran away with the second game in just 9 minutes to go 2 games up. Kneipp needed to show more discipline in his shot selection to get back into the match now. It seemed that the only way that White would not go through to the final was if he failed to keep his concentration. At 7-4 up in the third game, then Joe had a chance but White played a delightful cross court drop to reduce the lead to 2 points. Another unforced error from White restored the 3 point lead for Kneipp and further endorsed the Scotsman’s loss of concentration. However he got it back in time to close the gap and increasingly sent Kneipp to all four corners of the court, desperately retrieving White’s shots to stay in the game. His retrieving frustrated White who made a number of unforced errors which, together with some outstanding squash from the world number 16, allowed Kneipp to take the third game 15/11. Game on! White got off to a great start in the fourth game, streaking into a 5-1 lead. Joe managed to reduce this to 5-7 and actually levelled the score at13 all. It was all a bit too much though and at match ball up, White received a stroke off a loose shot from Kneipp to win the match and so meet Boswell in tomorrows final. Sandwiched in between the two men’s semi finals, the sell out crowd at the Linkoping Arena was treated to an exhibition match between world champion and world number 1 Sarah Fitzgerald of Australia and Shelley Kitchen from New Zealand. Sarah’s position in the women’s game is legendary with her being widely recognised as one of the greatest players of all time. The Swedish public were truly privileged to have had the pleasure of seeing a player that has dominated the world scene over the last decade and taken the women’s game to a new level. Shelley also played her part in an entertaining match played as the best of 3 games, which Fitzgerald won 15/8 15/10. Full results: Stewart Boswell (Australia) beat Martin Heath (Scotland) 15/13 15/10 7/15 15/8 John White (Scotland) beat Joe Kneipp (Australia) 15/13 15/6 11/15 15/13 Go Back