09-Oct Final:
[1] Danish Atlas Khan 3-1 [2] Ammar Altamimi
          11/13, 11/8, 11/7, 11/7 (71m)

Danish Atlas claim First Insurance title
Dr Ramzi Tabbalat reports
 
A large crowd assembled this evening to watch the two top seeds of the First Insurance Open battling it for the Championship title.

Ammar Altamimi, the number two seed had not been seriously tested during the tournament. His first round, QF and semifinal matches were routine wins. On the other hand, the number one seed, Danish Atlas Khan, went up against Alzabidi in the semifinals yesterday winning an agonizing 3:2 battle.

The first game started with both players cautious not to lose any point early in the match. Long rallies were played. The game was tied at 7-7 and then again at 9-9 and 11-11. Altamimi led 12-11 and won the game 13-11 on a controversial call. Khan’s strong objection to the call found deaf ears from the referee. He was lucky not to get a warning.

In the second games both players appeared either exhausted or trying to conserve their energies. They played short rallies trying to win points quickly. Points piled up and the game was over in 13 minutes at the score of 11-8 in favor of Khan.

The third games was pretty much like the first one predominated by long exhausting rallies and well-executed drop shots. The game was tied at 6-6, but then Khan managed to win crucial points winning the game 11-7

Altamimi, knowing that he had to win the fourth game to realize his dream of winning the championship. He played hard and fought for every point. This gave a seemingly comfortable lead at 7-4, but then exhaustion was apparent. Altamimi was not able to handle Khan’s drop shots. The score was tied at 7-7. Khan won two consecutive points and led 9-7. The longest rally in the match was now taking place. Altamimi went after a side post from Khan and attempted a drop shot but hit the tin. It was a match point. Khan served and quickly downed Altamimi 11-7 to win the game and the Championship. The final score was 3:2 (11-13 11-8 11-7 11-7) in 71 minutes

The trophy presentation ceremony was attended by Dr. Ali Wazani, CEO of First Insurance Company, the tournament sponsor, and Dr. Ramzi Tabbalat, President of Jordan Squash Federation.

Also present were the ambassadors of Pakistan and Holland. Trophies were also presented to Rodney Symington (Director of Refereeing in WSF) and Munir Shah (Director of Refereeing in ASF) who were present during the tournament assessing Jordanian referees.
 

12-14, 11-3, 11-7,
5-11, 11-7 (65m)

Ahmad Alzabidi

[1] Danish Atlas Khan

11-13, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7

[2] Ammar Altamimi

11-4, 11-4, 11-3 (31m)

[2] Ammar Altamimi

Qualifying Finals

Bart Ravelli 3-2 Shehab Essam Hosny       10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 11-13, 12-10 (68m)
Basem Tarabishy 3-0 Xavier Blasco Marchal                      11-4, 11-3, 11-3 (24m)
Hamzah Alzubaidi 3-1 Mohammad Jehangir Kahn   5-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (33m)
Ahmed Hussein 3-0 Ali Assaf                                         11-4, 11-2, 11-4 (20m)

Qualifying First Round


Hamzah Alzubaidi 3-2 Saif Braikat               11-6, 8-11, 8-11, 14-12, 11-7 (45m)
 

Seeds advance to the final
Dr Ramzi Tabbalat reports

Danish Atlas Khan, the number one seed from Pakistan and ranked 75 in the PSA World Ranking, had a brutal match this evening against the unseeded Ahmad Alzabidi from Jordan, ranked 227.

Alzabidi, knowing who he was up against, went into the court a much calmer player than yesterday. He executed very well using all sides of the court putting Khan on the defense. He led much of the game gaining confidence that a win against Khan was now possible. Khan tied the game at 7-7 and won two consecutive points to lead 9-7.

The game was tied again at 10-10 and 12-12. Alzabidi then won the last 2 points winning the game 14-12.

The experienced Khan went into the second game with a different playing strategy, playing more in the front of the court with well executed drop shots and sidewall posts. Alzabidi quickly fell behind and surrendered the last point and the game to Khan at 11-3.

The third game also went to Khan who led all through giving Alzabidi no chance at all to catch up and recover. Khan won the game 11-7.

In the fourth game, Khan made a series of errors hitting the tin as he rashly tried to accrue points wanting to end the game and match.

Alzabidi sensed the uneasiness Khan was going through and played carefully and consistently winning precious points. The game turned a bit physical and both players had a fair number of unwarranted arguments and objections to the calls made by the central referee. Alzabidi won the game by the score of 11-5.

The match was now tied 2/2. The local crowds were loudly cheering their hero. The decisive game started with both players determined not to let the chance of playing in the final slip away. The game was tied at 5-5 but Khan cruised to a 9-6 lead eventually winning the game by the score of 11-7 and the match 3:2 (12-14 11-3 11-7 5-11 11-7) in 65 minutes.

The second match of the semifinals was between the second seed from Kuwait Ammar Altamimi, ranked 106 in the PSA World Ranking and Matias Tuomi from Finland ranked 144. Altamimi was expected to win but not that quickly and easily. He was too fast and unpredictable for Tuomi. Altamimi won in 3 straight games at 11-4 11-4 11-3 in 31 minutes.

Two seeds ousted in quarters
Dr Ramzi Tabbalat reports

In the first match of the QF of the “First Insurance Squash Open 2013”, the number one seed from Pakistan, Danish Atlas Khan played Ahmad Hussein from Egypt.

Khan won an easy first game playing deep in the back corners. The second game saw a determined Hussein playing well and attacking loose balls. He was able to tie the score at 5-5 and then again at 8-8, but could not stop Khan from winning the game 11-8. In the third game Hussein was ahead 4-3 playing short and aiming for the nick. He led 7-6 but lost the game unable to deal with Khan’s volley drop shots. Khan won the match 3:0 (11-4 11-8 11-9) in 37 minutes

In the second match, Ammar Altamimi, the second seed from Kuwait faced Basem Tarabishy from Egypt. The first game was easily won by Ammar at the score of 11-3. Tarabishy had to retire after the end of the first game because of a sore back.

The third match was between the two local stars Ahmad Al-Saraj, the third seed and Ahmad Alzabidi. Saraj won the first game 11-6 and led in the second game 10-7. Alzabidi got upset with a call from the central referee and was given a conduct stroke for language abuse thus losing the game to Saraj 11-7.

Alzabidi returned to the court, knowing that his back is now all the way to the wall played his best squash winning three consecutive games and the match 3:2 (6-11 7-11 11-6 11-7 11-8) in 60 minutes.

So, having recovered from two games down yester, Al-Saraj sees a two-game lead disappear today!

In the fourth and last match of the evening, Matias Tuomi from Finland defeated the number four seed from Scotland Kevin Moran 3:0 (11-8 11-3 11-6) in 39 minutes .


In tomorrow’s semifinals Danish Atlas Khan will face Ahmad Alzabidi at 7pm while Ammar Altamimi will face Matias Tuomi at 8pm.
  

Two Jordanians through to quarters in Amman
Dr Ramzi Tabbalat reports

Eight matches were played today on the center court in the first round of the $5000 PSA Challenger “First Insurance Squash Open 2013”.

The festivities started at 4 pm with the match between the number 1 seed Danish Atlas Khan from Pakistan and Phillip Bull from England. In all three games of the match the score was tied 8-8 but Danish was able to win the crucial points winning the match by the score of 3:0 (11-8 11-8 11-8) in 31 minutes.

The second match pitted the second seed Ammar Altamimi from Kuwait against Bart Ravelli from The Netherlands. Ammar had an early lead in the first game with his low and powerful cross court shots sending Bart to the back of the court. Bart recovered and tied the games several times but eventually lost it at 12-10. In the second game Bart lost focus and was badly beaten by the agile Ammar losing the game at 11-3. In the third game Bart tried to recover but could not put up with the Kuwaiti. Ammar won the match 3:0 (12-10 11-3 11-6) in 34 minutes.

In the third match of the day, Ahmad Hussein from Egypt faced Tristan Eysele from England. The Englishman took the first game 11-9, but conceded the next 3 games to the Egyptian who exploited his opponent’s fatigue playing short drop and occasionally deceptive shots in the front of the court. Hussein won 3:1 (9-11 11-7 11-4 11-6) in 46 minutes

The other Egyptian in the first round, Basem Tarabishy had an easier match against Zeyad Tareq Alowaesh from Kuwait, winning in straight games (11-3 15-13 11-4) in 22 minutes

Ahmad Alzabidi, a local favorite, went against Jonathan Geekie from Scotland in the fifth match. Ahamd played well in the first game winning by 11-8 but then appeared to have gone to sleep in the second losing by 7-11. The cheering crowd lifted his spirit in the third and fourth games. He eventually won the match 3:1 (11-8 7-11 11-7 11-7) in 37 minutes

Hamzah Alzubaidi, the 16 year old Jordanian, and the younger brother of Ahmad, was no match for Matias Tuomi from Finland. He played very well in the first game but surrendered to the much experienced Tuomi losing in straight games (11-9 11-5 11-4) in 27 minutes

Ahmad Al-Saraj from Jordan, the third seed went against Amaad Fareed from Pakistan. This was by far the toughest and longest match of the evening. All expectations went in favor of Al-Saraj who ranks at 113 in the world. Amaad proved that he was not going to be an easy target and fought for every point.

To the surprise and dismay of the local crowds, Al-Saraj lost the first two games. The ferocity of play in these two games was taxing on Amaad who started to show signs of fatigue and poor concentration. Al-Saraj went on to win the 3 last games and the match by the score of 3:2 (10-12 6-11 11-9 11-5 11-5) in 67 minutes

The final match of the day was between the fourth seed Kevin Moran from Scotland and Anthony Brindle from Gibraltar. Moran was able to win by the score of 3:1 (7-11 11-6 11-4 11-4) in 34 minutes.