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TODAY
at the ROWE British Grand Prix:
Thu 22nd, Day FOUR
Steve Cubbins at the NSC |
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En Bref #4 Tarek
The venue grows
Compere Sue Wright
Players walk on ... |
Quarters take One:
Matthew & Shabana through
After three days with eight
matches the tournament reached the quarter-finals, with two
matches tonight in the expanded venue.
Three Englishmen were in action, with top seed Nick Matthew
taking on Peter Barker, while yesterday's giant-killer
Adrian Grant met four-time world champion Amr Shabana.
Shabana boasted an impressive record against the Englishman
- well, against pretty much everyone actually - leading 7/1
and on a winning run of six, and improved on that with a 3/0
win to reach yet another major semi-final.
Matthew's record against Barker was even more impressive,
but the world number one was fully tested before finally
claiming a place in the semis ...
[5] Amr
Shabana (Egy) bt Adrian Grant (Eng)
11/5,
11/6, 12/10 (46m)
[1] Nick Matthew
(Eng) bt [7] Peter Barker (Eng)
11/5, 15/13, 8/11, 11/7 (78m)
Quickies - Day FOUR, as it happened ...
Matthew 3-1 Barker:
Nick took the game to Peter, getting very strong from
the first rally, which is normally Peter's strength. "Only" 14m for that opening
game that goes to the World number 1 11/5... 31m second game, what Peter
had to do to score points. He had two game balls at 10/8, but it's Nick that
closes it with his 4th game ball, 15/13....
A ridiculous pace throughout
the 3rd, amazing rallies, both hitting the ball to try and get through the wall,
and this time, Peter takes the game on his first game ball, 11/8... In
the 4th, Nick looked in control, got first match ball at 10/4, will take it
11/7.
Shabana 3-0 Grant:
With a 7/1 head to head record Shabana starts favourite,
but just how rusty is he ... Well, not that much apparently, first game to him,
great display, a relaxed Shabana, 11/5.... The second was tighter, 4/4, 5/5, but
same end result, 11/6, with a very fair Granty that gives his ball down on game
ball....
In the third, Shabs getting tired at mid game, finding some great
length to keep the pressure up, and Adrian giving it a big push. Neck to neck,
9/9, 10/10, but the Egyptian takes it 12/10 with 2 nicks...
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[5] Amr
Shabana (Egy) bt Adrian Grant (Eng)
11/5,
11/6, 12/10 (46m)
Shabana rusty ... naaaa
It's been a while since Amr Shabana won a big tournament, and
there was some speculation as to how sharp the four-time world
champion would be after moving his family to the US, and after
returning to Egypt for Ramadan.
 We
got our answer as the Egyptian turned in a dominant performance
against yesterday's giant-killer Adrian Grant, keeping the
Englishman on the back foot for the majority of the match.
Quickly into his stride, Shabana led the first 4/1, extended it
to 8/2 and finished it off 11/5. It was Grant who started the
second better, leading 3/0, but once Shabana got back into his
stride he quickly regained control, levelling at 4-all,
extending to 8/5 and 10/6, winning the game on a stroke - well,
the referees gave a let, but before Shabana could invoke the
video appeal procedure Grant was off court, conceding the point
and the game.
 Grant
stayed with his opponent in the early stages of the third, but
from 3-all Shabana pulled clear again to 6/3. But the Englishman
was living with the pace better now, and it looked as though he
sensed there was a chance.
8-all, 9-8 on a stroke where Grant wished he hadn't already
wasted his single appeal, 9-all, match ball 10-9 for Shabana
with a deep crosscourt, 10-all as Shabana framed a
dropshot attempt, 11-10 as a service return left Grant easy prey
for a followup dropshot, and match 12-10 with another dropshot
out of the blue at the front of the court.
Rusty? Maybe. Still as dangerous as ever? Definitely.
 "The
whole match was very tough, he came out with a game plan and
stuck to it so if you can't manage to break out of it you're in
trouble.
"I knew what I had to do but it wasn't easy, I'm happy I managed
to get through it with a 3/0 win.
"Yes, I know I haven't won a tournament in the UK, well not
since a British Junior Open plate about 30 years ago, but as of
now I still have a chance, it might be different in a couple of
days' time of course!
"Whoever I play, Peter or Nick, it will be tough, they're both
great players and have home advantage ..."
Amr Shabana
 "I
was just too tense and far too tentative. I felt under pressure
on every ball he hit I didn't play too badly in the first two
games, but I was just passing the ball around and he was sucking
me into his pace.
"I had to force myself in the third to try to attack more but I
still always felt at full stretch. Even when you have him under
pressure you can't relax - even on match ball I was expecting a
lob and then he plays a dropshot!
"Not a bad week overall though, but I wanted a little more ..."
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[1] Nick
Matthew (Eng) bt [7] Peter Barker
(Eng)
11/5, 15/13, 8/11, 11/7 (78m)
Matthew irresistible
The second match of the night was an all-English affair, and how
hard did Peter Barker push his team-mate Nick Matthew ... very,
is the answer.
 Yes,
the world number one was in good form in the first game, and a
5/0 advantage was always likely to prove decisive, which it did,
but Barker, after falling 7/2 and 10/3 behind, showed signs of
getting to grips with the game towards the end.
He did more than get to grips with the next two games. The
second was monumental, a 34-minute affair with plenty of
ridiculous rallies, and it was Barker who made what looked like
a decisive break with four points in a row from 6/8 down.
He couldn't convert either game ball, Matthew simply wouldn't
let him, and although it took the world number one four attempts
of his own to finish the game, he duly did, 15/13.
Undeterred Barker kept up the pace at the beginning of the
third, again pulled away from mid-game and this time finished it
off 11/8.
 The
effort must have told though, and it did. Matthew, relentless as
ever, was on top early in the fourth and while looking far from
spent, Barker didn't have the aura of a man about to stage a
comeback.
Matthew thought he'd won it at 10/5 - "I saw it bounce twice" -
while Barker thought he's hit a scruffy winner. "Chances are
he's going to win," he admitted to the referee, "but I got
that," he added to the crowd's amusement.
The referees agreed but the stay of execution was short,
Matthew, having offered his hand on that point, did so
again two rallies later and this time Barker accepted the
inevitable.
 "That
was very tough. He's one of my best friends off court, so it's
sometimes hard to put that aside when you go on court, and we've
had some tough battles.
"We'd both got here with three-nil wins, so were fairly fresh
and I was expecting a really tough match. I played really well
for the first game and a half, and then my error count went up
and up and he took advantage.
"The end of the second was crucial, I managed to save those game
balls and going two-nil up gave me a boost, even though he
played well to take the third."
 "He
was too good in the first game, but I needed to take the second,
like he said that was crucial. I played pretty well in the third
but he got a good start in the fourth.
"I'm not going to be too hard on myself, I played pretty well
and came fairly close to beating the world number one. It's a
long season and there are plenty more opportunities to come ..."
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