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PSA
Qualification: the Draw is made ...
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Gamal Rasmi (Technical Secretary QSF), Robert Edwards
(PSA Technical Director), Talal al Mawlawi & Mohid Al Khulaifi (QSF
Board Members), Aladdin Alouba (National Coach, Tournament referee) |
 Day
ONE - Men's Qualification begins ...
The second richest event of the year got under way in Doha today, with
the first round of qualification in the $125k men's Qatar Classic. The
top six seeds received byes into Monday's finals, as world junior
champion Ramy Ashour created the upset of the day, beating PSA
President and former world number four Mark Chaloner.
Monday sees the men's finals and first round of qualification in the
$105k women's event.
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First Round, Sun 20th Nov:
Framboise reports from Doha ...
Dan Jenson (Aus) bye
Liam Kenny
(Irl) bt Yasir Butt (Pak)
11/8, 9/11, 8/11, 11/5, 11/9 (66m)
Renan Lavigne (Fra) bye
Ben Garner
(Eng) bt Omar Mosaad (Egy)
7/11, 4/11, 11/4, 11/9, 11/5 (50m)
Cameron Pilley (Aus) bye
Rodney Durbach (Rsa) bt Farhan
Mehboob (Pak) 6/11, 11/8, 5/11, 11/4, 11/8 (53m)
Joey Barrington (Eng) bt Abdull
Rahman (Pak) 11/6, 11/2, 11/5
(11m)
Davide Bianchetti (Ita) bt
Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) 11/4, 11/6, 11/4 (34m)
Ramy Ashour
(Egy) bt Mark Chaloner (Eng)
6/11, 11/7, 11/8, 11/7 (51m)
Stewart Boswell (Aus) bye
Hisham Ashour
(Egy) bt Alex Stait (Eng)
11/3, 8/11, 11/6, 11/9 (40m)
Alex Gough (Wal) bye
Laurent Elriani (Fra) bt Alister
Walker (Eng)
11/3, 3/11, 11/4, 11/8 (62m)
Simon Parke (Eng) bt Phillip Barker
(Eng)
4/11, 11/7, 12/10, 11/9 (70m)
Stacey Ross (Eng) bt Jonathan Kemp
(Eng)
7/11, 11/8, 11/9, 6/11, 11/6 (52m)
Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bye
photos © F Gommendy
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the draw in progress .... |
... as the players await their fates |
RAMY MASTERS MARK ...
Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt Mark
Chaloner (Eng)
6/11, 11/7, 11/8, 11/7 (51m) |
 A
bit of a weird match that one was, between PSA President Mark
Chaloner and newcomer Ramy Ashour. You would expect the
“older player’ to be on the slow side of the pace, and the young one to
attack from all corners…
Well, in this case, the Londoner was much more aggressive, and was
imposing a high pace that threw the Egyptian in the first game.
Cleverly, the young man changed his tactics, and went for patience
instead of shots. And it worked.
Still, Ramy will have to improve his game if he wants to advance any
further in this tournament, and on a personal note, although it’s a pure
delight to have Ramy getting further and further in the draws, it’s sad
to see Mark out of the tournament so quickly…
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 "Today,
let me say that I was off and awful! From the second game, I was
tired, and I even felt dizzy, no energy in the legs at all. So I
thought of what you told me in St George’s for the Saudi: “A great
champion is the one who can win matches on a off day.” So I hung
in there, kept my pace and played my game…
"Mark is so good, he is so fast and strong, and plays so quickly.
As I felt that my legs were not strong enough today, I decided to
slow the pace down, as if I had gone on at the same rhythm as the
first, I would have lost the match. So I slowed down, was more
patient, and went through…"
Ramy Ashour |
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 "Like
last week, it took me a while to find the right balance between
attack and balance.
"Yasir is also very difficult to play, as he likes breaking up the
point, by attacking from the back, playing fast shots. So if your
movement is a bit off, if you’re slightly loose, he will cause you
a lot of trouble.
"Today was not my best squash, but I’m happy to get through, as
I’ve been having an “off period”…
Liam Kenny |
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KENNY BETTERS BUTT
Liam Kenny (Irl) bt Yasir
Butt (Pak)
11/8, 9/11, 8/11, 11/5, 11/9 (66m) |
 A
very close encounter between Yasir Butt and Liam Kenny
that started with far too many errors from both guys.
But starting from the third, they eventually found a nice pace, some
pretty good drop shots, in particular on the backhand, and it ended
extremely close in the fifth, 8/8, 9/9, a no let for minimal
interference gave the Irish his first match ball, and a stroke that
stunned the Pakistani gave him the match… |
Ben
Garner (Eng) bt Omar Mosaad (Egy)
7/11, 4/11, 11/4, 11/9, 11/5 (50m) |
 "The
fourth was crucial. Down 7/9 in the game, it didn’t look good, but we
had a very long rally, and suddenly, I seemed to have turned it round…
"Omar is a big guy, sometimes not that easy to get past, and he hits the
ball very well.
"In the fifth, I had a very good start to 5/0, then I was able to get
the ball to the back corners, away from his racquet, he got a bit tired,
and that made the difference…"
Ben Garner |
Hisham
Ashour (Egy) bt Alex Stait (Eng)
11/3, 8/11, 11/6, 11/9 (40m) |
 "I
didn’t play at my best today, I was ok in the first game, and I would
have been alright if I had been able to keep the same pace, but I hurt
my ankle in the 2nd game, my Achilles, and from that point on, I had
problems pushing on it… Also, I was not that patient, and went for maybe
too many shots…
"But I was able to pull through and still not putting to much pressure
on the foot, and I’m on my way to get treatment…"
Hisham Ashour |
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FLAT WALKER…
I’ve seen young Mr Alister Walker play a few times, and his
energy, determination and flair has made him one of the players I always
enjoy watching.
But today, Alister was just flat as it comes, he was basically without
energy, and visibly exhausted. And he was playing against Frenchman
Laurent Elriani who had nothing to lose, played a strong precise
game, with flair and intelligence, seizing the opportunity that Alister
was presenting him on a silver tray…
Walker nearly turned it round, at 5/5 in the third, while being 2/0
down. Laurent had apparently hurt himself, and had to take three minutes
for a self inflicted blood injury, and that little break seemed to have
flared up the young Englishman. He suddenly seemed to have found energy
and power out of nowhere, and came that close to turning that game
round. But after saving a match ball, he had to accept defeat as the ref
refused him a last let…
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 "I
found a good length in the first, but in the second, I started
doubting my tactics a little, and he came out volleying very well
and placing some good shots.
"In the third, Linda advised me to stay focused on the length, as
the courts are quite slow. And in the fourth, I was a bit tense,
as I’ve lost so many matches when I was up and on the verge of
winning.
"And then, I had that blood injury on the knee at 5/5, and I
thought, that’s it, here we are again! And the last points were
really disputed and close…"
Laurent Elriani |
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Simon
Parke (Eng) bt Phillip Barker (Eng)
4/11, 11/7, 12/10, 11/9 (70m) |
BARKER COULDN’T CONCRETISE…
This is definitely a week that Phil Barker
will wish to erase from his memory as soon as he can…Three defeats in a
row, in the Premier League against Tim Vail in five, in the Saudi
Qualifiers against Daryl Selby in three, and today, a four setter, but
which sure felt like a five setter, 70 long and excruciating minutes…
Phil took the first one 11/4, but it was a long affair, 15 minutes… But
all the games were pretty long: 14, 20 and 15 minutes again… Hardly a
walk in the park…
And Simon Parke is such an experienced player, he moves them around,
pushes them, and if they dare attack, the relentless coming back of each
and every shot pushes his opponent to eventually make the error…
So fricking frustrating…
Yes, this match was another great performance for a Sir Simon who I’m
sure doesn’t regret not having retired yet… |
"I was creating enough opportunities to win the match, but Simon
is such a great retriever, he is so good at keeping the same pace
for the whole day…
"I’m hugely disappointed. It was there for the taking, and I
didn’t seize the opportunity…"
Phillip Barker |
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 "Neither
of us is putting the ball away quickly, and we are both trying to
put pressure on our opponent by moving him around, so our style of
play is always going to make a fairly long game…
"I had less trouble today with Phil than I had with Ramy [in the
Saudi qualifiers], who was putting the ball away from me very
well… I think that the young Egyptian is top 5 material, at
least…
"All through the match, I tried to outmanoeuvre him, tried to
focus on length and width, and getting a volley drop shot at the
end of the rally…
"For tomorrow, I’ve never played Laurent, so I’m looking forward
to it…"
Simon Parke |
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Shabana & Gaultier ...
a possible round two clash |
Fernandes, Lengthorn & Duncalf wait for the women's to start |
Ben Garner & Robert Edwards make sure the draw is sound |
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Rodney Durbach (Rsa) bt Farhan Mehboob (Pak)
6/11, 11/8, 5/11, 11/4, 11/8 (53m) |
 "I
feel I’m a stepping stone now, and that everybody wants to have a go at
me!!!!
"Another young player, fast as well, as was Saurav [Ghosal] a few days
ago at St George’s for the Saudi qualifiers!
"He is a very good player, I’m so glad I got through, he was a tough one
to get, and tomorrow, playing Cameron is not going to be an easy one
either!"
Rodney Durbach |
TOUGH TASK FOR ABDULL
| Joey Barrington (Eng) bt
Abdull Rahman (Pak) 11/6,
11/2, 11/5 (11m) |
It was always going to be an impossible
task for the young Abdull Rahman Al Malki, a local player, who
has been playing squash for only 3 years, to beat Joey Barrington.
But still, he didn’t lose face, he played as well as he could, and still
got a few nice points against the tough Englishman. He placed in
particular a few lovely drop shots, and his coach, Ahmed Sakka, can be
proud of his player…
 "I
tried to keep him in the back, but he was the one pushing me
there, and I was not able to move forward… I tried to keep the
ball away from him, as my coach told me between games, and not to
play too many short shots, but still…
"What does he do best? Everything!!!!!!!"
Abdull Rahman Al Malki
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 "He
is young, 14? Something like that? And I could see in his way of playing
that he is young, he made some inexperienced errors, too many of them…
"I tried to play my basic game, put him under pressure, I went short
only when I had to, but he made my life a bit more easier by making too
many errors…
"At last a short game! Thank God, I’ve had it with long matches…"
Davide
Bianchetti |
THE LAST ONE FOR THE ROAD…
Stacey Ross (Eng) bt
Jonathan Kemp (Eng)
7/11, 11/8, 11/9, 6/11, 11/6 (52m) |
By the time Jonathan Kemp and
Stacey Ross entered the court, nearly all the crowds had left, but
still, those two worked very hard for the chance to qualify for the main
draw of the Qatar Classic …
It was a very strange game really, with Jonathan slipping in and out of
the match at will, he would be up one minute, quite drastically, and you
would think that’s it, he’s got that one, and the next minute, he would
tin as if he was getting money for each one…
The rallies weren’t that long, but still, a very close match, with
Stacey systematically finding winners in the last points of each game,
adding the pressure on a Jonathan who just won two tournaments in a row,
in Pakistan and Ottawa, and for whom this was a match too many…
 "I’m
glad I didn’t come all this way to lose in the first round of the
qualifiers! I was so disappointed to lose in St George’s.
"I didn’t get in the game then until the fifth, and I really wanted
to win this one…"
Stacey Ross |
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"I didn’t feel sharp today, I had no push, no energy, and made too
many errors….
"And Stacey played very well, he didn’t give me any chances, he
got nicks when it mattered…
Jonathan Kemp |
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