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El Gouna EN BREFS
lots of little stories
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TODAY at the El Gouna International
2014 ... |
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Fri 18th April, Day NINE - the FINAL
[2] Ramy Ashour (Egy)
3-1 [3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (Egy) 11/7, 12/10,
8/11, 11/8 (72m)
 How
do I feel? Never better
Overwhelmed. Definitely out of breath. And very happy with what
I’ve done here tonight.
I think it was a great game.
Like I’ve said before, Mohamed is not only a great mover on the
court, but also possesses super shots that he showed tonight.
So, I’ll have to watch out for him!!!!
I am really glad to win the El Gouna Open for the second time.
It's something I would like to give myself a little credit for
as the amount of pressure on us as Egyptian players when there
is a tournament in Egypt is huge due to the peoples high
expectations which Iam glad that I lived up to. I'm proud I
didn't let them down but on the other hand the amount of support
we get from them here is something invaluable and we as Egyptian
players really appreciate it a lot...
Also well done to Amr Mansi for a beautiful event.
Shorbagy played really well he seemed to be very relaxed and
pressure free going for all his shots from all different areas
of the court ...
I have to thank the team who helped me without them I could have
never done it, first my academy players who came all the way
from Egypt to support me, Thierry Lincou and Paul Sciberras,
it's such an honor to be associated with such a respectful, down
to earth, humble legend like Thierry and I am grateful for his
time effort and passion...
Also Haitham Effat my personal feeder and National Team Coach,
along with Omar Elborolossy our National Team Technical Manager
, as well as Tarek Shamekh my Academy partner for being here for
me for that tournament, also my chiropractor Dr Wael Habib for
the amazing effort he is doing with me, and Richard Allison my
nutritionist ...
... And a big thanx to my supporters on the social media, u guyz are great...
And finally I want to thank my sponsors Egyptair and Prince
Squash for their continued support
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RAMY IS THE CHAMPION, BUT MOHAMED PLAYED EVEN BETTER
SQUASH TONIGHT…
On paper, it was a done deal. People around me kept saying, easy
3/0 for Ramy. Boy, they don’t know Mohamed, do they. Not a clue.
Bless them. I kept telling them that Mohamed would surprise
them. To remember the final in Qatar in the Worlds where Mohamed
had beaten the World Number one at the time, James Willstrop, in
a monumental 3/2, and still had enough energy to lead 8/7 in the
5th against Ramy.
 Never
ever underestimate the power of Mohamed. Especially when he
plays in Egypt.
Ramy on the other hand was fresh as a rose, bless his Prince
racquet, but had all the pressure. And when you know the
Artist’s Demons, they must have been pretty loud tonight.
Those demons were actually quiet in the first two games. Ramy
was playing a simple tactic. Make the pace not too fast, forcing
Mohamed to generate it himself, and not absorb it and feed from
his. Plus kept the rallies going as long and possible.
And the tactic worked. For a while. 7/7 in the first, hard work
paying off, 2 unforced errors for Mohamed, and Ramy takes it in
18m, 11/7.
The second is much closer, although Mohamed take a great start,
4/0. Slowly, Ramy nibbles the advance, and levels it at 6/6.
7/7. 8/8. 9/9. Ramy gets a game ball, it’s all over surely. But
another stunning redrop – Mohamed has done a few tonight I tell
you – and it’s 10/10. One of the best rallies, Mohamed gives it
the biggest push he can, but it’s Ramy that finds the winners,
and it’s 12/10 in 25 long minutes.
 And
like Mohamed states, people are like, well, it’s all over.
BIIIIG MISTAKE. Shorbagy plays I’m not afraid to say the best
squash of his life in that 3rd. And Ramy, who has lost a bit his
game plan – playing far too quick to the front and opening a
highway to his opponent – starts to chat with his demons. And as
they are getting louder, Mohamed is moving faster, and better
and the winners are pilling up. Ramy does his best to contain
him but as a French song says “A 160km/h, tu choisis pas ta
route”, “you don’t chose your path”. As Mohamed is taking the
game to Ramy, who on this game just doesn’t have the right
answers.
Funnily enough. At the end of the game, I can see Tarek Shamekh,
who came in El Gouna just to support Ramy – he is an old friend
of the family, former top player U19, and coaches at Ramy’s
Academy Inspire – move from the back of the court, two seats
away from me, and stays next to Ramy’s chair, on the side. As
him Ramy wanted to see him, to just have the mental support of a
having a friend around.
 Whatever
they said to each other worked. Ramy, much stronger in the focus
department, is able to stop the momentum, Mohamed again up at
the start of that 4th, 3/1. Ramy equalises at 4/4, and that’s
the turning point.
Yes, Mohamed will stay in touch with the score, but the fumes
he’s been running on are now completely dissipated. 6/4. 7/5.
8/6. 9/7. Ramy has got his nose in front. And won’t let it go to
a fourth. Match ball at 10/7. A fast drive backhand that Ramy
can’t even touch. 10/8. This time it’s Ramy that finds a
beautiful drop shot, Mohamed can’t get to it, plays it still,
and just stops the play. He know his shot is not up. And he
shakes his compatriot’s hand.
Tonight, it’s the whole of Egypt that won. Squash is the true
winner. Because like Borg and McEnroe, those two just bring out
the best out of each other. This is not a figure of speech. They
truly do. And like Jahangir/Jansher battles, I think the World
of Squash may see a few battles in the coming future.
I SOOOO LOVE SQUASH. WHAT A MATCH. WHAT A WEEK. WHAT A SPORT. |
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gave it everything, I couldn’t have given any more. No regrets.
I would never use the fact I had a long match yesterday against
Ramy, because he is better than anyone arriving fresh in the
final. But I’m happy because I pushed him to the limit. And I
didn’t want to give up.
What I’m the proudest of is the fact than when people thought I
was tired and out for the count, I kept coming back. After I
lost the second, people thought that’s it. But I won that third,
and in the fourth, I could see he was starting to get worried
about wining the match….
Of course, I’m still disappointed, it’s a second final in a row
I lose against him, the World Series Finals and now this one.
And at this time in my career, I need to find solutions to
arrive fresher in the final. For example, in the match against
Greg yesterday, if I had been more aggressive in the second,
took more chances, I could have been 2 love up, and that maybe
could have meant I would have shorten the match, hence be
fresher in the final. It’s those little things that make a big
difference.
I think that maybe, looking at those last two finals, something
new is happening to squash, maybe we are going to get to play
much more finals. But then again, there are all the other
players. Like Jonah keeps telling me, it’s the strongest
generation he’s ever seen, with Nick, James, Greg, Ramy, so, he
is happy that I keep competing with that generation, because
later on, I’ll be using that experience against the players on
my generation.
Now, there is the British Open coming up, and I want to win a
big title this year. And this BO, I’m not going to let it go
easy….
 Now,
I want, I need to congratulate Ramy, he is such a great
champion, and I’m happy that I’ll keep playing against him,
because I know that he’ll keep bringing the best in me. And I
can promise that I’ll bring the best in him too.
For the thanks, of course my mum, amazing, she is my rock and my
strength, my dad, he is my role model and my guide, my brother,
he is the one that knows me so well, and always knows how to
comfort and support. I wouldn’t be anybody without them.
But a special thank you to Amr Mansi, thanks to him, we have a
superb tournament in Egypt, and what about that closing
ceremony. It really sets up the standard for the rest of the
world. Shoukran Amr. For everything.
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course very happy with the result. Ramy moved well tonight, he
played very well for the first two games. In the third, I felt
his concentration dropped a bit, and it allowed Mohamed to find
some tremendous shots.
So at the end of the third, we decided that he had to keep the
same pace he had in the first two, and that he had to stop a few
shots that were opening the court completely for Mohamed and
allowing him to do whatever he wanted.
All credit to Shorbagy, he really played a superb squash
tonight. As he was bound to be tired, he had no pressure
whatsoever on him, and even better, because he was tired, he
played his best squash, and found some truly astonishing shots
that he probably hadn’t played before! Truly stunning
performance from Shorbagy.
The great thing about Ramy, is that he just adapt on the court
to what’s happening. He gets new elements, processes them, and
adapt to them, changing his tactic and shot accordingly. He
doesn’t need anybody for that. It’s just instinctive.
I think it’s really great that Ramy won here. He needed such a
big tournament after all he went through at the end of last
year.
And I’m not his coach. He is my little brother. We just talk
about squash…. And tonight, I’m happy. Because my little brother
won….
Ramy's 'older brother' & Inspire Academy partner /technical
Manager |
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EN BREF: Issue 2 |
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