• TODAY in HK • SEMIS • QUARTERS • Round TWO • Round One(B) • Round One (T) • Qualifying •

PORTRAITS
   

EN BREF #4

No Stopping Shabana
Malcolm Willstrop reports

Whatever demons were affecting Lee Beachill were certainly out in force in the first of the men's quarter-finals.

The supremely gifted Egyptian, fortified by his rest after St Louis and Hungary and recovered from his wrist problems. looked happy to be back in action - his opponent anything but.

Anyway it was Shabana who began quickly, looking for chances and exploiting them as only he can with beautifully executed forehand drops. Although Beachill appeared to be striking the ball well and moving well enough, you sensed that it was not enough.

Shabana took the first to 7 and the second more quickly as Beachill offered less and less resistance.

With Beachill as he is and Shabana as he is diametrically, there seemed no way back - nor was there. Although Beachill recovered from 1/9 to 4/9 like a boxer fighting on proud instinct rather than the hope of surviving, Shabana brought matters to an inevitable end with another winner.

Beachill will need to examine his future; Shabana's future is tomorrow's semi-final with Lincou or Nicol. He will be no easy meat for anyone and clearly has a taste for repeating his success in 2003.

"It’s definitely a step up from the last two days, as I was playing on the warm courts which do not suit my game at all, but thank God I was playing well, but it’s so nice to be playing on the glass court, when you push the ball to the back of the court, it goes to the back of the court. When you want to make it short you can finish it off, and as long as you play sensibly, you can play your game… "I’m not thinking at all about the title, as two weeks ago I couldn’t even hold a racquet, and I didn’t think I was going to be able to participate in the event. So I take one game at a time, and try and enjoy my game… "I have my support group here, and it’s nice to have my coach here with me, we started working together about four months ago, and it makes a big difference. Also, I’m so happy to have my wife Nadjla with me, that way I don’t miss her, she is here, supporting me, no distraction, no interference, I’m happy and can concentrate on my game…" Amr Shabana

PALMER WINS AUSSIE DERBY…

It was the match that I would have come a long way to see, and I must say I was not disappointed by the performances of Intense Anthony Ricketts and the Marine David Palmer. Close, close and close again, would be a good way of describing the encounter, and those two friends offered us a high quality, disputed and fierce although clean and fair match.

Yes, our Anthony was a bit loud, as he often is, but nothing bad or out of control, and David was on his best behaviour, as he has been for quite a while now, so people who were expecting fireworks must have been disappointed…

First game went to David, who had a comfortable advance 10/6 and finally took it 11/9, on a stroke that led our Intense Anthony to state “I want a change of referee, what is the ruling???” Got no luck there apparently…

Channelling his displeasure into his game, Anthony worked hard and fast in the second, and the score doesn’t reflect how disputed that game was, yes, 11/2, but in 15 long minutes…

The third was mentally dominated by David, as his team mate was starting to get more and more involved with the ref, and got a conduct warning at 8/8. David then took the game 11/9 to lead 2/1.

But as I said to Joe Shaw, David’s old coach who was watching the match, as jumpy as humanely possible, “this is going to five”. I’ve seen Anthony play too many times to know that there was NO WAY he was not going to come back in the match. Ten minutes later, Intense was walking off court forcing the game into a decider…

“Best of one”, whispered Joe to his camp…

And honestly, it could have been anybody’s. David had a good start and led 6/2, Anthony clawed back 6/6, David went ahead again 9/6, two great attacks later was back at 8/9…. to put a simple front of the court forehand boast in the tin.

Anthony knew he’d lost the match, turned round, and the two Aussie fell into each other’s arms… How can you not fall for those guys, I ask you…

One rally later, they were shaking hands, and a mentally strong Palmer will affront tomorrow a James Willstrop for a rematch of last week’s final in Qatar.

THIERRY: STILL NO ANSWER…
Framboise reports

What an encounter, yet again, that was, between Frenchman Thierry Lincou and Peter Nicol in front of a packed crowd today, for a spot in the semi final of the World Open.

A very focused, flirting on tense, Boss was overwhelmed by a superb start from Thierry, relaxed, planted on the T, his lethal attacking shots well in place, and who, after having led 6/2, snapped the first game 11/8 in 12 minutes.

But soon the Englishman tuned his movement, and regained control, forcing Thierry to the back for the next two games, an error free squash for both adversaries, with seesaw rallies systematically won by Peter (most of the time on devastating backhand drop shots), as Thierry wasn’t able to step up the pace and put enough pressure on his opponent.

Thierry finally started to find solutions in the fourth, matching point for point up to 6/6. Breathtaking rallies enchanted the crowds, and the Frenchman was starting to take the mental and physical ascendancy. But a super cross court, two uncharacteristic tins and a stroke later, Peter had match ball 10/6.

A nail biting climbing back from the World Champion led Peter’s camp to the verge of heart attack, as the rallies became more and more tense, with finally the Boss going for a return of serve that went in the tin. 9/10 match ball, announced the marker. Was Lincou about to pull off another of his tricky comebacks?

But as he did for most of the match, Peter went for a superb backhand drop shot that left my compatriot devastated, standing on the T, and with a roar of complete ecstasy, the Boss prevailed, yet again, against a opponent who is still to find answers against his magic and imperial retrieving…

"I’m happy with the way I played… I couldn’t keep the pace that was necessary to beat Peter today, and in the crucial points, I could feel my legs getting tighter and heavy, because of the hard match I played yesterday against my friend Greg. "I was immensely glad to finish the whole year as world number one, but I deserve to lose my title, as I cannot lose in the quarters, that’s not good enough… But this defeat, the loss of my title and of my first place ranking will give me the hunger to come up and rebound." Thierry Lincou      FULL INTERVIEW

Willstrop does it again
Malcolm Willstrop reports

After his exploits in Qatar and yesterday's recovery from 2-0 down in a high-class match with Nick Matthew, Willstrop had to be wondering when tiredness would catch up.

Power had a much earlier exit in Qatar and a simple 3/1 win over Stewart Boswell than his opponent over Matthew. So the portents looked good for him.

But Willstrop showed no signs of fatigue in the first game, and playing with admirable control and patience took the first game convincingly. An early 2-0 lead in the second was soon eroded and as the Canadian's own control improved he drew away to win the second game decisively.

At 5/1 in the third things seemed to be going Power's way, but it was now that Willstrop played his best squash, going from 1/5 to 8/5 with meticulously worked out rallies. He took the game and quickly pressed on in the fourth, showing no signs of weakening. He at no point looked like tiring and ran out a deserving 3/1 winner.

His semi-final will be a rematch of the Qatar final and there should be no particular physical advantage to either player.

Same Again for Natalie
Alex Wan reports

Natalie Grinham has Tegwen Malik to thank for her short 22 minute victory over the former world junior champion.

Yesterday’s tough 5-setter must have done much damage to the Egyptian, who practically went for a winner on every slight opportunity. In the first, they were not coming in and Grinham  took six points in a row to close it out.

Kawy came back strongly in the second, matching Grinham’s six point streak to level up. The third was probably the only game with some decent rallies and a lot more exchange of serves. However, the fourth was just a breeze - Omneya won only the single opening rally and after that, it was Grinham’s game in four minutes and the match as well, to set up a possible sibling showdown tomorrow at the harbour.

"Omneya had a very hard game yesterday, and I’m sure she felt it today. In the second, she came out blasting, but I thought that it was all she had left. "It’s funny, as today’s result is about the same as for my match yesterday, I got the first one, lost the second, and then won the next two… "The court here is much colder than Qatar, and it's not as dead in the front, but still it suits my game very well… "But I’m glad I won, thanks Tegwen…" Natalie Grinham

Good show by Perry,
but it's an all Grinham semi ...
Alex Wan reports

The score itself doesn’t justify this good match at all. The Irish lass played very effective squash to give the elder Grinham a good run for her money.

There were plenty of good rallies and in fact, Perry took a 3-0 lead in the first two games. However, each time, Grinham came back strongly.

In the third, at 3-8 down, Perry probably though she has nothing to lose and went for it. She did well, gaining four consecutive points from 4-8 to draw level, but Grinham had the final say.

It was rather unfortunate Perry couldn’t sneak the game in, she definitely deserved it.

"I feel good! It’s always satisfying to play well you know. Madeline is such a dangerous player. On her day, she can beat anyone on the tour, though she has a problem with focusing. That’s why I tried to prolong the rallies, play a slower pace and give myself more time. She likes to take the ball early and she has such good hands, so anything in front is very dangerous against her. "At 8-3 up in the third, I think I played too defensively and she came out attacking, but I’ve always had tough matches against her. "Against Natalie, I am looking forward to it. We always have a fair match and at the end of it, whoever wins, there will be a Grinham in the World Open final, again!" Rachael Grinham

One Step Away for Nicol
Alex Wan reports

Malaysian hope Nicol David started in fine style tonight, gaining an early 6-0 lead with some delicate drops. Playing some great length, she forced a few defensive boasts from Elriani, after which she would then hold and drop.

On this show court and in front of a capacity audience, David displayed to everyone that the maturity of her game is well beyond her tender age as she went on to complete a straight games victory over the experienced English player.

For me personally, one of the biggest differences of her game these days is that she rarely makes any silly mistakes anymore.

Nicol, who lost out in the semi-finals in her home town last year, knows that victory over Vanessa Atkinson tomorrow will not only secure her first place in the world final, but also means she would overtake Atkinson as world number one come January.

All to play for, as they say ...

"I never really settled down on this court – it’s the first time I've played in this tournament for a while, it’s been a good few years! "It’s got a much faster front wall, so that suits Nicol’s game a lot more than mine. At the end of each game, I made some tactical errors, I should have gone deeper. "I am disappointed because I know I could have done a lot better against Nicol. However, I am happy with the tournament, especially when I have been injured for the past two months. I managed to beat a few players and I just had a good match against a player who is playing her best squash just now."   Linda Elriani

Vanessa repeats on Vicky
Alex Wan reports

After Vicky Botwright had beaten Nicol in Qatar, I have been very interested to watch her play. I did the past couple of days, but I still didn’t think she could reverse her defeat against Vanessa in the Qatar final.

But tonight, she was very impressive against the reigning world champion. In fact, she was playing such beautiful and confident squash, she had Atkinson in trouble quite a number of times.

She carved out a 3-0 and 5-1 lead in the first, and had me thinking she would grab the game, at least. Atkinson had other ideas though – she slowly and steadily came back to snatch the game, much to the disappointment and frustration of Vicky, although tt didn’t help that at 5-6 Botwright pretty much gave away the next three points.

In the second, Atkinson was just too good. She played flawless squash and there was nothing the pretty English lass could do at all. Botwright did look competitive again in the third, but the world champion was very determined. How I wish Botwright could’ve made a comeback and they had a 5-setter.

But it's Atkinson who goes into the semi-final tomorrow, with a world title and a world number one position to defend ...