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Upsets and survivals
as defending champions extend their runs in round one ...
With 32 matches to play over four courts, round one in Hong Kong
is one of the busiest days of squash around, and a day without
upsets is almost unheard of.
True to form some seeds fell, although none inside the top ten,
but several made hair-raising escapes.
Azlan Iskandar overcame 15th seed Cameron Pilley in
straight games, but fellow Malaysian Ong Beng Hee
couldn't capitalise on a fifth-game match ball against James
Willstrop, while Daryl Selby beat 16th seed Olli
Tuominen, again in straight games, to set up an all-English
clash with Peter Barker.
Two upsets in the women's draw too, as Engy Kheirallah
ousted Hong Kong's twelfth seed Annie Au, and qualifier Donna
Urquhart beat Jaclyn Hawkes, seeded 11, in a trans-Tasman
clash.
The day ended with both French contenders, Isabelle Stoehr
and Camille Serme, surviving five-game encounters to
reach their allotted places in the last sixteen.
Defending champions Amr Shabana and Nicol David
both won comfortably enough, taking their HK unbeaten matches to
22 and 21 respectively ...
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En Bref #2:
Boys from down under ... the lucky one ... peace in the city ...
Quick video interviews from
Karim
&
Greg
Photo Galleries |
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Men's Round One:
[1] Karim
Darwish (Egy) bt [Q] Julien Balbo (Fra)
11/7, 11/1, 11/5 (29m)
[11] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt Omar Mosaad (Egy)
11/8, 11/7, 11/8 (47m)
[5] David Palmer (Aus) bt [Q] Ali Anwar Reda (Egy)
11/2, 11/7, 11/4 (34m)
Azlan Iskandar (Mas) bt [15] Cameron Pilley (Aus)
11/9, 11/7, 11/4 (45m)
[3] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [Q] Miguel Angel Rodriguez
(Col)
11/6, 11/7, 11/7 (28m)
[14] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Farhan Mehboob (Pak)
11/8, 11/7, 5/11, 11/8 (47m)
[7] Peter Barker (Eng) bt [Q] Renan Lavigne (Fra)
11/3, 11/1, 11/7 (36m)
Daryl Selby (Eng) bt [16] Olli Tuominen (Fin)
12/10, 11/9, 13/11 (63m)
[13] Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt [Q] Steve Coppinger
(Rsa)
11/7, 11/4, 11/4 (32m)
[8] James Willstrop (Eng) bt Ong Beng Hee (Mas)
12/10, 11/4, 9/11, 7/11, 14/12 (90m)
[10] Alister Walker (Eng) bt Hisham Ashour
(Egy)
11/6, 11/7, 11/2 (32m)
[4] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [Q] Saurav Ghosal (Ind)
11/6, 11/4, 11/9 (27m)
[12] Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) bt [Q] Chris Ryder (Eng)
11/4, 11/9, 11/13, 11/5 (48m)
[6] Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt Dick Lau (Hkg)
11/6, 11/6, 11/8 (34m)
[9] Adrian Grant (Eng) bt Joey Barrington (Eng)
11/5, 14/12, 11/6 (47m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt [Q] Jonathan Kemp (Eng)
11/8, 10/12, 11/7, 11/3 (51m)
Women's Round One:
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt Line Hansen
(Den)
11/9, 11/8, 11/7 (28m)
[13] Rebecca Chiu (Hkg) bt [Q] Song Sun-Mi (Kor)
11/9, 11/4, 11/4 (21m)
[5] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt [Q] Low Wee Wern (Mas)
11/7, 11/7, 11/8 (25m)
Engy Kheirallah (Egy) bt [12] Annie Au (Hkg)
4/11, 11/5, 11/4, 11/6 (37m)
[4] Alison Waters (Eng) bt [Q] Orla Noom (Ned)
11/4, 11/5, 11/3 (21m)
[16] Raneem El Weleily (Egy) bt [Q] Dipika Pallikal
(Ind)
11/8, 9/11, 11/7, 11/7 28m)
[8] Laura Massaro (Eng) bt [Q] Emma Beddoes (Eng)
11/6, 11/7, 11/9 (28m)
[15] Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Eng) bt Latasha Khan (Usa)
11/6, 11/5, 13/15, 11/0 (58m)
[Q] Donna Urquhart (Aus) bt [11] Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl)
11/8, 11/5, 11/9 (34m)
[7] Madeline Perry (Irl) bt Lauren Briggs (Eng)
11/8, 11/6, 11/5 (30m)
[9] Kasey Brown (Aus) bt Sarah Kippax (Eng)
11/6, 11/8, 5/11, 11/9 (49m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt Delia Arnold (Mas)
11/3, 11/7, 11/4 (20m)
[10] Isabelle Stoehr (Fra) bt Aisling Blake (Irl)
2/11, 12/14, 11/4, 11/5, 11/8 (52m)
[6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) bt [Q] Sharon Wee (Mas)
11/6, 11/2, 11/6 (18m)
[14] Camille Serme (Fra) bt Joey Chan
(Hkg)
11/7, 10/12, 6/11, 11/2, 11/5 (50m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (Ned) bt [Q] Elise Ng (Hkg)
11/8, 11/8, 11/5 (22m) |
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[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt Line Hansen (Den)
11/9, 11/8, 11/7 (28m)
Nicol keeps HK run going
Steve's view...
Nicol David took her unbeaten record in Hong Kong to 21 matches
when she got her title defence off to a safe enough start
against Line Hansen.
The Dane made David work for it though, putting in some crisp
winners to go 9-8 up in the first, but couldn't quite finish the
game off, and staying in touch through the next two games, but
it was the defending champion who came through each time.
 "She
played well, it's the first time we've played and she had
nothing to lose, she was going for her shots and everything was
going in at the start.
"I had to work hard to get the feel for the court and to find my
shots, so I'm really pleased to get through that one in three
games.
"It's great to be back in Hong Kong, the squash centre looks
fabulous after its refurbishment and it's a great venue for
this, and the East Asian games."
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[13] Rebecca Chiu (Hkg)
bt
[Q] Song Sun-Mi (Kor) 11/9, 11/4, 11/4 (21m)
"I always seem to
get off to a slow start, and she played well in the middle of
the first, but after that she seemed to slow down a little.
After I got the first my confidence improved and I was able to
put the ball where I wanted.
"I've played her a few times so we know each other's games well,
but I think Christine did me a favour yesterday by keeping her
on court so long!
"It's my annual meeting with Nicol next, we always seem to play
once or twice a year and usually here - don't ask me what my game
plan is, I don't have one, I'll just go on to try my best and
see what happens!"
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[Q] Donna
Urquhart (Aus) bt
[11] Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) 11/8,
11/5, 11/9 (34m)
 "I
felt like I played well today, really focussed and trying to
control the rallies, volleying as much as I could and I didn't
make many mistakes.
"It was a bit shaky at the end, at 10-6 I just wanted to get it
over with as quickly as I could, before I messed it up!
"We've been practicing a lot together recently and we've had
some big battles in practice matches so I'm very glad to win it
in three."
"She played much better than me today to be honest, I got
chopped!"
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Engy Kheirallah
(Egy) bt [12] Annie Au (Hkg)
4/11, 11/5, 11/4, 11/6 (37m)
Engy ends Annie's hopes
Steve's view...
Even though on paper the Hong Kong number one was seeded to win
this, on current and past form this was always going to be a
close match. And so it proved as Annie blitzed her way through
the first, but Engy worked her way back into it and enjoyed a
good measure of control in the next three games as Annie's error
count rose.
 "I
played her about a year ago, in Alexandria just after she'd had
some good results in Australia, and I lost in five so I knew it
would be tough.
"Sometimes playing at home works against you though, and she had
more pressure on her today with the crowd, and everyone
expecting her to win.
"She started very well, my length wasn't good but she was just
putting everything away. After that game Karim told me she
wasn't the type of player who can keep that up the whole match,
to keep it going, increase the pace, and she would start making
mistakes - and that's what happened!
"I play Jenny next. Every time I play her I start off thinking I
can do well and think too much about winning, then it gets to me
on the big points and I lose. So I'll just go on and try to play
well, and if I do I know I can make a good result, so we'll just
see how it goes tomorrow ..."
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[10] Isabelle Stoehr (Fra)
bt Aisling Blake (Irl)
2/11, 12/14, 11/4, 11/5, 11/8 (52m)
ISA ONLY JUST ...
This was a strong performance from the Irish lady, who gave the
non confident French number one a good run for her money. And to
be honest, I wouldn’t have bet a penny on Isa’s chances at the
end of the second.
Aisling was just too strong, too accurate, too tight. She was
dictating the pace, controlling the rallies. Isa just didn’t
find any correct answer tactically wise, and looked lost at sea.
But gradually, the French started to find her length, she became
more patient, went for less silly shots, cut the unforced
errors, and started to put the doubt in her opponent’s head,
forcing her to make unforced errors and wrong footing her. Soon
enough, 15m in fact, we were back at 2/2…
The 5th game was the most interesting. The rallies were long,
disputed, they battled hard, and Asling became more and more
dangerous as the game advanced. 4/4. 5/5. Isa found both winner
and tins, 9/8. A very disputed match ball, with many lets – they
seemed to be in each other’s way a lot in particular on the
backhand all match long – and it’s the French girl who
successfully finishes her comeback, 11/8…
"She was very
accurate in the first two games, she played very well, she
played really tight squash, she was patient, and I lacked
confidence in my shots. After that, I put a bit more pace in the
ball, and she had let time to adjust her game.
"It was not great squash on my part, but I needed a victory,
it’s good for the moral, I didn’t win for a long time…"
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[14] Camille Serme (Fra) bt Joey Chan (Hkg)
11/7, 10/12, 6/11, 11/2, 11/5 (50m)
... and Camille too
Steve's view...
While Isabelle's escape act was taking place on court seven, two
doors up the other French contender, Camille Serme, was also
fighting for her life.
She took the first comfortably enough, but, egged on by the Hong
Kong crowd, Joey Chan struck back to take a 2-1 lead. Camille
stopped wasn't seriously threatened as she took the next two
games, but her relief, and that of her coach Philippe Signoret,
was palpable at the end ...
 "Before
the match, I was very wary of her, as she beat me in Taiwan last
year, and that was in the back of my mind.
"In the first game, I just couldn’t find a length, but neither
did she, so, it was not too bad, and I win 11/7 thanks for a
couple of good winners. But then I still couldn’t find that
length in the second. Still we did battle a lot, but this time,
she is the one that finds the winners.
"In the third Philippe tells me to volley more to speed up the
pace, but then it all goes wrong in my head, I just go off
mentally, I'm all over the place, and find myself 2/1 down.
"Thank God Philippe got me back, telling me the same speech that
my mental coach tells me. It got me right back on track, and I
told myself to calm down, that I had two games to win, didn’t
matter that she won two already, that I just had to fight on
every point, and strangely enough, she lost her way completely,
I took the fourth 11/2.
In the fifth, I just stayed focused on what I had to do, not on
what was at stake. It was not my finest hour, but I’m still
happy I got out of that one. And it shows me that although I
still have work to do, mentally, I’m stronger than I was last
year…"
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[5] David Palmer
(Aus) bt
[Q] Ali Anwar Reda (Egy)
11/2, 11/7, 11/4 (34m)
"I got off to a
good start, I could see straight away he was a bit flat from his
qualifying matches, so I play quite hard, first game was easy,
11/2. But then, in the second, he started to play very well
indeed, we really had a match, and a tough battle on there. It
was pretty close up to 6/6, 7/7, but after that, I pulled away…
"And in the third I could see he was again tired and flat, I
took a good lead, and was always 3, 4 points ahead all the way…"
"I was just really really tired today, after my two matches,
against Galifi and Tom, but I’m not taking anything away from
David, he played very well, he was much tighter that I was.
"In the second, I played some good squash, I even led 6/2, but
after that, my legs were just gone…"
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Azlan Iskandar
(Mas) bt [15] Cameron Pilley (Aus)
11/9, 11/7, 11/4 (45m)
OFF DAY FOR PILLEY…
The Tall Australian – as fat as Bozza and Scott, don’t they feed
them at the AIS???? – didn’t show up today. That boy, who has
produced wonders for his country last week in Odense, just seem
absent tactically today. Too many matches, too many emotions,
and probably, too much expectations from himself….
Oh he tried, and actually took an excellent start in the first,
helped by a terrible opening from Azlan, who made 5 tins by the
time we got to 4/5. But the Malaysian stopped his unforced
errors as Pilley started his, bless him.
And from that moment on, I could see how frustrated with himself
Cameron was. He just couldn’t finish a rally. His shots wouldn’t
find the nick, but bounce high or tin, he would end up playing
the wrong shot at the wrong time, most of the time right into
his opponent racquet to make it all complete….
Azlan, if he was a bit unsettled in the first, soon took
control, kept the pace down, counterattack pretty well, and just
kept on grinding the rallies away, and honestly, from the start
of the second, there was only one winner in my mind…
 "I’m
always talking to myself during the matches, it’s all about
applying or choosing the wrong or right choice of shots, for the
past rally, or the next one….
"Pilley produced some good results lately, like most players of
my generation, Pilley, Daryl, Peter, we are all pushing each
other up really, but different tournament, different week…
"I think Pilley had much more hard matches than me in Odense,
especially the one against England, emotionally, physically, he
worked much harder than I did, and I think that could explain
today’s difference…
"I’m quite happy with the way I played, although there are
things I could have done better, I hope I’ll have a good match
against David, I’m really looking forward to it. But my goal for
the season is to stay injury free really…"
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[7] Peter Barker (Eng) bt [Q] Renan Lavigne (Fra)
11/3, 11/1, 11/7 (36m)
"It took me two
games to get going basically and to start moving ok.
"The reason was probably a combination of Peter's constant
pressure, the fact he did not give me anything, me being a bit
flat today and also once you get through the qualifying, there
is this sort of pressure off your shoulders and you are sort of
satisfied with yourself and relaxed which is wrong because that
is when you really have to give the 'extra push', it should be
like starting another tournament."
"I saw Renan play
Shaabz in Cairo two weeks ago, and he was playing pretty well,
so I didn’t take anything for granted, and I prepared well.
"I knew he had a tough match yesterday, which worked in my
favour. So I tried to play good length and to take it short with
an element of surprise, and it worked. It was a good match from
my point of view.
"Like Daryl, I’m looking forward to our match, and like him, I’m
going to enjoy it…"
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Daryl Selby
(Eng) bt [16] Olli Tuominen (Fin)
12/10, 11/9, 13/11 (63m)
DARYL GETS IT IN 3…
That match between Olli and Daryl was in my day plan one of the
highlights of my day, as I was expected a close match, and,
although in 3 games, it was…
 First
game was point for point really, with nothing between them, and
although we had a few too many lets, it was more due to the
bouncy conditions than to any malice of any kind. Daryl and Olli
are extremely clean and fair players, they just happen to be in
each other’s way a lot…
Mentally, the win of the first game was enormous for Daryl, and
a big let down for Olli, who had trouble starting in the second,
making a few errors and mishits. But soon he put his head down,
and like in the first game, it was point for point. 2/2, 3/3,
4/4, 6/6, 7/7, 8/8, 9/9. A lovely backhand low drive stuck to
the wall gave the Englishman a game ball, and an
uncharacteristic tin from Olli gave him the game.
 And
we all thought that the Dutch would give up really, but it was
actually Daryl that got the most tired, after the immense work
they both produced during those endless intense high paced
rallies during the first two games. Olli, although white as a
sheet and obviously struggling physically, saw the opening, gave
it a big push, and set up a comfortable lead, 10/6.
But what Daryl gave away, by making unforced errors and letting
points go in that 3rd game, he took back, closed up his game,
mentally switched on again, pressed the fire button, and clawed
back to 11/11. There again, like in the second game, two
uncharacteristic unforced errors from Olli, a return of serve
and a backhand drop shot that ends up in the tin, and match to
Daryl. |
"There was nothing in it, really, just look at the score, it
says it all… I’m so glad – and surprised – he gave me the two
last points away, that’s not like him at all…
"In the first game, it was point for point for point, till 8/8,
and then, there were two rallies where I managed to stay in
front of him, forcing him to do that more much work, and it’s
only to the fact I was that much fresher at 10/10 that I get the
first.
"There was patches of good squash, and patches of scrappy
squash, and I felt great in patches, and sluggish in patches… I
was weary of getting stuck behind him, he is so good at
controlling the rally by finding a good length, and punishing
you with the volley. And he stopped doing that at 10/6! He had
me, and he just stopped doing it, not sure why really…
"And I felt sorry somehow, I know how hard it is when you are
2/0 down, and you are coming back in the 3rd, and the other one
starts coming back…. I know how awful he must have felt at that
moment…
"They were too many lets, but nothing nasty, just the ball that
was bouncy…. Olli is a very fair player, no problem there…
"Did Peter win? Well, tomorrow will be interesting, he is the
Master on these courts, and I have absolutely nothing to lose.
I’m going to enjoy every minute of it. But I’m so happy with
this win, it was a big match for me…"
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[3] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [Q] Miguel Angel Rodriguez
(Col)
11/6,
11/7, 11/7 (28m)
22 up for Shabana
Steve's view...
While Nicol David extended her run of Hong Kong victories to 21,
Amr Shabana went one better (the World Open in 2005 was a
64-draw) as beat Miguel Angel Rodriguez in an entertaining match
that kept the centre court crowd wondering what was going to
happen next.
Miguel was full of running, as he always is, but Shabana just
had too much speed, control, and ultimately shots too for the
Colombian.
"I tried to play
at the same pace as he does, but he's putting the ball into the
four corners and going for winners all the time - you just don't
have time to think with these guys, you can only react to what
they do.
"I tried to play my best, but after yesterday's match I was
feeling my legs towards the end. It's an honour to play these
guys though, and I really enjoyed it.
"I wish him the best for the rest of the tournament, and I hope
I at least made him sweat a bit!"
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[14] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Farhan Mehboob (Pak)
11/8, 11/7, 5/11, 11/8 (47m)
UP AND DOWN…
 Farhan
seems to be able to prevent people from getting into any kind of
rhythm, by chopping the ball from all positions, and when he
gets it right, it’s absolutely magic. Unfortunately for him, he
also gets it awfully wrong, and wastes rallies as if he didn’t
need them… And today was a typical match from Fahran, with
momentS of pure genius, and momentS of complete “lights are on
but there’s nobody home”.
In front of him, a Mohamed Who normally plays half like an
Englishman, and half like an Egyptian, but who today was so
stressed he played like a junior Egyptian. Result? Flashy
rallies, nicks and tins all over the place from both players,
fireworks at time, and really poor squash at others.
Mohamed got lucky today, but if he wants to have any kind of
influence on tomorrow’s match – he plays Mighty Shabana – he’ll
have to drop the Junior squash and work hard at the back… |
"This was the
second time I played him, last time we played was in Pakistan,
and he beat me 3/0, just before the World Juniors, he taught me
a lesson, a very hard one…
"I was very nervous at the start of the game, as I know he can
find nicks from absolutely anywhere, but I also know he is up
and down, he can be quite moody, and the intensity of the match
will only depends entirely on him, if he decides to play well,
or not…
"I’m so glad I got away in four… In the third, he started to
play at his best, and even in the fourth, I was down 5/1, and
I’m so happy I was able to come back…
"Tomorrow, I’m playing Shabana for the fifth time. My best ever
result was in Hurghada, I took one game. I’ll hope I’ll play
well tomorrow against him, but I know I’m playing him in his
favourite place…"
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[13] Stewart Boswell (Aus)
bt
[Q] Steve Coppinger (Rsa) 11/7,
11/4, 11/4 (32m)
"He is one of
those players that have been under rated over the years, and I
feel that he has a strong tight basic game, and that his
strengths are probably similar to mine! So I tried to be more
accurate, and play at a faster pace…
"But I could feel my lungs burning in the first two games, as
this was my first match off the plane, so it’s always a shock to
the system. Happy to get through…
"This tournament has always been kind to me, I always feel
comfortable here… It’s actually the first one I got through to
the semis when I was younger. It’s the closest I feel to going
home…"
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[10] Alister Walker
(Eng) bt Hisham Ashour (Egy)
11/6, 11/7, 11/2 (32m)
HISHAM ALL OVER THE PLACE
 I
don’t know if Hisham, the gifted one of the Ashour Family – yes,
incredible, isn’t it, but pure talent wise, Hisham is probably
superior to his Legend of a brother – is very fit, but one thing
is sure, he was not going to long rallies today, trying to
shorten the point at all cost, and very often, it did cost him
arm and leg…
Too many unforced errors, too many easy options, against a "less
gifted with a racquet but hard worker" Ali, who took confidence with his last
excellent results, in particular beating Shabana home, and who
was ready to rally till the cows come home. Honestly, the winner
was never in doubt. Shame that Hisham didn’t have the means to
fight today, this could have been a very stunning game… |
"I can’t stress
enough how delighted I am with a 3/0 victory in the first round
of a super series. I don’t think it never happened to me before
that, and those long first round matches take that little bit
out of you…
"I’m playing his brother tomorrow probably, a completely
different disposition, but it’s good to get him fresh….
"I love Hisham, he is a great guy, a tremendous amount of
talent, and when he gets his stuff together for long enough
period, everybody on the tour knows that he can challenge
anybody. And I’m worried for us if he does it one day…"
"Kuwait, Kuwait,
Kuwait ..."
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[8] James Willstrop (Eng)
bt Ong Beng Hee (Mas)
12/10, 11/4, 9/11, 7/11, 14/12 (90m)
James survives
Steve's view
It all looked good for James Willstrop as he took a two-game
lead over Ong Beng Hee, but the Malaysian fought back to level,
then fell just short, despite holding match ball at 10-9 in the
decider, in an incredible tense climax ...
Malcolm reports
After Ong led 5/2 there was never much in the first game
until he drew away to lead 10/7. Willstrop, who had played
patchily, then put together five excellent rallies to take the
first 12/10.
Quickly into gear in the second and lobbing judiciously,
Willstrop ran away to 7/3 and won the second with ease 10/4, at
which point he seemed to be heading for a 3-0 win.
But Ong had other ideas and although he was 5/7 behind in the
third, he hung on, played with increasing conviction and won the
game 11/9.
Confidence better than at any time in the match, Ong was
now playing well, attacking on the volley and lobbing as well as
Willstrop had earlier.
From 4-all in the fourth he gradually pulled away to level the
match with Willstrop looking far from comfortable.
The Malaysian started the better in the fifth, went 4/1 and 7/3
up, now looking the more likely winner.
But Willstrop has won a lot of five set matches in recent times
and doggedly he pulled back to gain parity at 8-all. Beng Hee
had the first match ball at 10/9 and as the tension increased,
some strange decisions by the three referees raised it even
more.
Willstrop served at 11/10, 12/11 and finally 13/12 for the
match, once again being denied on match ball, an obvious stroke
given as a let, reminiscent of the 2008 British Open final, and
ironically by the same referee!
Ong will feel he has been mugged, but will reflect on his best
performance for a while, Willstrop will be relieved at his
Houdini-like escape.
 "Last
times I’ve been playing against Beng Hee, I was playing very
well, and beat him rather comfortably in PSA, a bit closer in
the Leagues, 3/2, but you know he is too good of a player, too
much of a threat to keep on beating him easily.
"So, no I wasn’t surprised by the quality of his game, what
surprised me was how loose my game was! At the moment, I’m
playing well, but there is no rhyme nor reason in squash, you
can be playing well one day, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be
playing well the next…
"But it’s good to get through those matches, although it’s a bit
heavy on the legs, but there is nothing I can do about
that. Well actually yes, there is, I can play better…"
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[11] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt Omar Mosaad (Egy)
11/8, 11/7, 11/8 (47m)
Anjema looking good ...
Malcolm reports
A combination of his own play and errors by Mosaad took Anjema
into a 5/1 lead and at no stage in the first game did the
Egyptian lead. He fought back well from 8-4 down though, and
having recovered to 9-8 he was denied a let, a decision which
can only be described as incredible. Anjema took the game 11/9.
 Fortified
by winning the game, or maybe the words of advice offered by
David Palmer, Anjema raced clear 6-1 in the second, again
assisted by errors from his opponent, and although Mosaad again
fought back, the early advantage saw the Dutchman home to take a
2-0 lead.
Winning from 2-0 down is statistically proven to be a difficult
proposition, but to Mosaad's credit he continued to battle. To
his discredit he pushed Anjema several times, quite
unnecessarily and without provocation, since Anjema is a
clean-moving player who clears well.
To Anjem's credit he did not react or retaliate when he could
have been forgiven for doing so, and thus he was able to take
the third game, and the match, 11/8.
He looks in good enough form to give anyone a run for their
money ...
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