|
|
|
MALCOLM WILLSTROP: Egypt, Worst
& Best |
|
Let's start with the Worst:
Two Egyptian experiences of the worst kind.
 Even
with the great Amr Shabana, Stewart Boswell and Anthony
Ricketts in the field, Lee Beachill went to Cairo in 1996
for the World Junior Championships with high hopes.
All went well enough, even with a hostile crowd. I recall the
Minister of Sport when the crowd were getting out of hand
quelling
them with a magisterial
gesture.
In the quarter-final it was Lee's misfortune to come up against
Karim el Mistikawi, a substantially built Egyptian, who -
to quote the Squash Player describing the match - ' believed that
blocking is legal'.
Lee led 2-0 and was then unceremoniously
knocked from pillar to post with little or no protection from
the referee. He lost 3-2 and I remember he was distraught.
The only happy outcome for him was that England won the team
title and he beat the player who won the Indivdual championship,
Ahmed Faizy 3-1.
 Some
ten years later in 2006 James Willstrop went to Cairo,
seeded 4 for the World Senior Championships.
It must have been between ten and eleven at night when James
called me to tell me he was feeling ill. It soon became clear he
had severe food poisoning and things grew worse. A doctor was
summoned, who gave him some medication, which had little or no
effect and by one in the morning James was insisting that he
needed to go to hospital and there was no doubt about that,
since he was being violently sick everywhere.
But a hospital at one in the morning in Cairo was some
challenge. Eventually down a darkened street and an even darker
alleyway we arrived and when he was settled, but in severe pain,
I left at about five in the morning, wondering how I was to find
my way back to the hotel.
With no-one to be seen, miraculously two students, who were
heading off on holiday, appeared from nowhere and they very
kindly drove me back.
It was a day later before James was pain free and there followed
a severe weight loss which took some time to redress. He didn't
play a match and can you believe it ?He was due to play Ramy in
the first round. David Palmer was crowned champion beating
Gregory Gaultier in the final.
 |
Men's World Junior Team Champs 1996, Cairo
Final:
[2] ENGLAND 2-1[1] EGYPT John Russell bt Karim El Mistikawi
9-0, 5-9, 9-7, 9-6 (71m)
Lee Beachill bt Ahmed Faizy
9-5, 9-4, 5-9, 9-1 (80m)
Adrian Grant lost to Amr Shabana
5-9, 6-9
"En Bref"
from 2006
|
|
Shabs Hall of Fame
 |
And now the Best...
In Praise of Shabana
January 2014
Amr Shabana' s winning the
prestigious Tournament of Champions will go unheralded in the
sporting media, but it would rank alongside any sporting
achievement.
He has looked physically sharper and fitter in recent times than
ever he has done, but he has also had the odd injury, which at 34,
can be hard to deal with.
Add the problems in Egypt, which have led to him spending time in
America and Canada and he could be forgiven for calling it a day,
having won everything there is to win.
I watched him dismantle Laurens Anjema and marvelled at it, still
doubting whether he could produce that again against the World's top
five. How wrong I was to doubt.
He beat the most durable of the World's players, Nick Matthew in a
five set epic, one of the most consistent James Willstrop 3-1 and
incredibly brushed aside the in form Gregory Gaultier 3-0.
When I first saw him at the World Junior Championships in Cairo many
moons ago he was clearly gifted, but of that crop, which included:
Lee Beachill, Anthony Ricketts and Stuart Boswell, he seemed the
least likely to endure.
Along came... Najla ... and I am sure she has been his motivation,
proof that behind every successful man is a woman.
Ramy Ashour is a genius of a different kind, but Amr Shabana is a
genius with the most complete game ever seen. He happens, too, to be
a delightful man: understated, modest and honest.
I'm glad to say that I consistently advise my aspiring young players
to watch him. At 34 it is also encouraging that, body and mind
willing, it can be done. He is an inspiration to us all.
And in praise of Ramy...
December 2014
 It is hard to do justice to Ramy Ashour's magnificent
achievement winning the World Championship in Qatar.
To my mind there is no doubt that he is the most original and
gifted player of all time, but to produce such performances
after all his injury problems and the long absence was truly
remarkable.
He could well have exited against Borja Golan and at 2-1 down in
the final to Mohammed El Shorbagy, his racket arm troubling him,
few would have bet on him at that point. Not only did his arm
seem to get better, he levelled the score and led clear in the
fifth, only to find himself in a tiebreak, saved a match ball
and then fittingly became World Champion.
 It is good for the sport to have him back, not just as a genius
of a player, but also because of his attractive personality. The
game needs him. Let us hope his body holds up. At times it
looked in doubt in Qatar, but maybe, and understandably, that
was the head after such a troublesome last few months.
Welcome back, Ramy.
 |
|
 |
|
