AUSTRALIAN Aaron Frankcomb denied Chris Simpson the gold medal as the first ‘alternative’ games reached its climax at Beau Sejour. The world-ranked number 51 beat Simpson, ranked two places below,
3-1.
In the first round there were no surprises as the seeded players got through except for Dean Watson of the Caymans.
Watson came up against a formidable opponent in Adam Nowakowski from Yorkshire, who as a junior played a lot of his squash with Simpson and is still very talented.
Watson won the first game 11-6, but lost the next two on tie-breakers 14-12, 13-11 before finally losing the fourth 11-7.
The tournament’s professionals, which also featured Kiwis Martin Knight and Campbell Grayson, proved to be too strong for Watts, Phillips, Kneller and Nowakowski and only Watts was able to claim a game.
In the semi finals, Simpson beat Knight 11-2, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9 after 53 minutes, while Frankcomb was involved in a real marathon, taking 86 minutes to beat Grayson 11-6, 6-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9.
Knight took the bronze medal after beating his fellow countryman, Grayson, 11-13, 13-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7 after 83 minutes.
Over the course of the two days Grayson had been on court for over five hours which just goes to show how fit you have now to be to compete at this level.
In the final Frankcomb took an early lead, winning the first 11-9, only for Simpson to bounce straight back by taking the second 11-6.
The Guernseyman continued to press in the third but this led to his downfall as errors began to creep into his game.
He battled hard but it was in vain as Frankcomb took the next two games 11-7, 11-7 to win the match and the gold medal after 71 minutes.
In the women’s draw, nine players including two professional in Emma Beddoes and Kirsty Mcphee from the UK, were battling it out for the medals.
The entry were split into three round-robin groups of three, with the winner of each contesting the medals.
In the first group stage the best match featured Guernsey’s Alison Strobridge and Kate Cadigan of Jersey.
Having lost 3-2 to the same player in the team event, Strobridge was doubly determined to go one better this time.
She won the first game 9-6 only to lose the next two 9-0, 9-5.
She then picked herself up to win the fourth and lead 7-3 in the deciding fifth.
With the Jersey woman back on serve, Cadigan made a crucial error and served out.
Strobridge had a second chance and did not waste it, two forehand winners guaranteeing her victory and at least a medal.
The Guernsey woman was not strong enough to make any inroads in her matches against Beddoes and Mcphee, but was very pleased with her overall performance during the week.
In the final Mcphee raced to a 2-0 lead after only 19 minutes (9-4, 9-6) and was 3-0 up in the third game when things started to go wrong.
Her left ankle was visibly giving her problems and as she continued, things worsened.
With the score at 8-3 to Beddoes, she was forced to concede the match and retired hurt.
Peter Bridgeman was happy with his week’s work as tournament organiser.
‘It was a great week and finished really well.
‘The professionals who came over were very good and mixed in very well.’
He hopes there will be a repeat event in 2009.
‘The Caymans were very keen to do something in two years’ time. It’s up to us and the other islands to get together and make sure it happens.’
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