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Fri 16th, Day
FIVE, Quarters ...
Fram
reports, Steve Clicks away, and Malcolm rules... |
Willstrop & Massaro in English upsets
...
 Eight
players today booked themselves semi-final places on the glass
court at the Plaza Hollywood, with James
Willstrop joining the top three men's seeds after a
thrilling victory over Ramy Ashour, and Laura Massaro
also upsetting the seedings as she beat higher-ranked compatriot
Alison Waters.
Contrasting fortunes for the top seeds as Nicol David
eased past an out-of-sorts Jenny Duncalf, while Karim Darwish
survived a stern test put to him by Azlan Iskandar.
David meets Massaro for a place in the final while Rachael
Grinham and Omneya Abdel Kawy renew their rivalry in
the other women's semi-final after contrasting quarter-final
victories.
In the men's semis Darwish meets defending champion Amr
Shabana, who ended the run of Daryl Selby, while Willstrop
comes up against his old foe Gregory Gaultier, who won
his all-French matchup with Thierry Lincou.
[1] Nicol David bt [5] Jenny
Duncalf
11/2,
11/6, 11/8 (34m)
[8] Laura Massaro bt [4] Alison Waters
11/7, 11/8, 4/11, 8/11, 11/3 (52m)
[3] Rachael Grinham bt [7] Madeline Perry
11/9, 8/11,
11/9, 11/9 (46m)
[6] Omneya Abdel Kawy bt [14] Camille Serme
11/3,
11/6, 14/12 (27m)
[1] Karim Darwish bt Azlan Iskandar
11/7,
11/13, 11/8, 6/11, 11/7 (71m)
[3] Amr Shabana bt Daryl Selby
8/11,
11/8, 11/6, 11/8 (56m)
[8] James Willstrop bt [4] Ramy Ashour
6/11,
11/8, 11/8, 12/10 (47m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier bt [6] Thierry Lincou
11/5,
4/11, 11/6, 11/4 (60m)
Photo Galleries Video
Interviews En Bref |
Men's Head to Head
Women's Head to Head |
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 "That
was a pathetic performance really. I don’t know, it was like I
was feeling sorry for myself, flying all around the world and
again getting Nicol in the quarters, and playing two nights in a
row at 7pm, suddenly having to play at 2, I was still in my bed,
I was not feeling awake… I was a bit winging like a baby
inside…!!!
"But of course I would get Nicol, that’s the way it is, and time
of matches do change, that’s our job, I don’t know what went on
in my brain, unacceptable really…
"So, I didn’t feel any kind of real pressure on me, I just
wanted to play well. It was such a bad performance, from bad
application on my part. I got two wining shots at the start, and
probably thought, that was it, I don’t know… And the frustration
grew… I was never in it, really…
"Nicol played very well, as she always does really, she was
playing 200m/h. I tried and slowed the pace down a bit, that
seemed to work, but I remember being 8/6 up in the 3rd, we had a
long rally, and I just let her go through me… Pathetic….."
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[1]
Nicol David
(Mas) bt [5] Jenny Duncalf (Eng)
11/2, 11/6, 11/8 (34m)
No stopping Nicol
Defending champion Nicol David shows no sign of relinquishing
her long-term hold on the Hong Kong Open trophy, moving safely
enough into the semi-finals with a strong performance against
Jenny Duncalf ...
Malcolm reports
Jenny Duncalf began her quarter-final with Nicol David very
edgily, and soon the world's best woman player had established a
6/1 lead as she combined her easy movement with meticulous
approach play.
 The
game was soon done with, Duncalf unable, not having settled, to
ask any questions of David, who quickly advanced to 5/1 in the
second before her opponent found any semblance of rhythm. From
5/1 Duncalf did better, threatening the supremacy of David,
losing the second 11/6.
Duncalf continued to improve and by playing with more patience
and discipline she managed to reach 8/6 in the third before she
folded disappointingly to lose the game and the match 11/8.
Whatever doubts David had about 11 scoring, she has quickly
dispelled, handling it with just the sort of control and
judicious shotmaking it demands. Add to that her fleetness of
foot and small wonder she reigns supreme.
Conversely Duncalf has not, it seems, realised what 11 scoring
demands, since her play, for all her ability, lacked the
necessary patience and shot selection.
 "She’s
been playing well lately, no doubt she wanted to raise her game
up today, but it didn’t seem to work that well for her until the
third game, where she was able to play her game. The rallies
then became very disputed, very close, and could have gone
either way…
"I’ve been working very hard lately, you have to get stronger
all the time, the girls are up for it, one loose shot you lose
the rally, two loose shots, and you lose the game. You’ve got to
constantly keep up working on what works for you, and to make it
as tight as you can…
"I’m so happy to win 3/0, I wish it would be that way every
time."
Fram's Impressions
When I saw in the second game Jenny delaying the first serve
because a court attendant was standing instead of sitting down
way at the back of the court, I knew the girl’s brain was
nowhere on that court today.
Jenny didn’t find a good length on her backhand for nearly the
whole match, expect in the third, where her game started to come
together at last, but I truly believe, having seen her great
performance against Nicol in the Worlds a few days ago, that the
English girl was expecting far too much of herself. And that’s
when normally, you get it all wrong, don’t you… |
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"She played well in the first two games, my length was just too
short and on this court especially you just can't afford to do
that. I managed to get a better length and come back, but you're
always leaving it too late from two-nil down.
"It changed around in the fifth, she started going the shots I'd
been making in the third and fourth, and once you're four or
five points down it becomes hard. I felt like I was always
clawing it back during the whole match, and just left it too
late really …"
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[8]
Laura
Massaro bt [4] Alison Waters
11/7, 11/8, 4/11, 8/11, 11/3 (52m)
Laura wins all-England battle
Steve's view
The head to head record showed fourth seed Alison Waters leading
her English rival 8-6 going into this match, but having lost
eight of their last nine meetings, Laura Massaro knew she wasn't
starting favourite.
 She
started well though, keeping a tight rein on the rallies, not
giving Alison any of those loose shots she so loves to put away
on the volley. In fact Laura was controlling matters so well
that she moved to leads of 8/1 in the first, and 8/3 in the
second games. True, Alison pegged a few points back in both, but
never enough to seriously threaten, and Laura saw off the
comeback both times to take a two-game lead.
Come the third, the rallies were a little bit looser, allowing
Alison to take charge of them from the centre of the court,
taking the third fairly comfortably, and holding a slender lead
throughout the fourth as she levelled.
You still couldn't pick a likely winner though, Alison hadn't
become dominant and Laura was definitely not out of it. And come
the decider it was Laura back in charge. She opened the game
with a short kill, Alison levelled it with a mishit dropshot,
but Laura maintained the attacking impetus, going to 3-1 with a
volley kill that Alison herself would have been proud of.
Having regained the upper hand she wasn't going to let go. From
3-all Laura took control of the rallies and took eight points in
a row to move into the semi-finals with a very impressive
display, favourite or not ...
 "I
felt good from the start, found my rhythm and everything was
coming quite easily. I've been trying to relax and enjoy it more
while I'm playing, and I felt very relaxed at the start of the
match.
"She picked up her level in the third and fourth, then it came
down to who wanted it the most, it became a question of just
going for it.
Danny fired me up after the fourth, he told me I'd been two-nil
up, did I think I could win and did I really want it. I said
'yes', expecting some more advice, but he just said 'go for it
then," and left me to it!
"I got a backhand kill early in the fifth and that fired me up
more, I started going for my volleys and kills. Once I got a few
points up I wanted to make sure she didn't come back line in the
first two, I was really keen to finish it of.
"I've been on the wrong end of some tough 3/1 and 3/2 matches
against Ali, so it's good to get one back. It's great to be in
the semis, and I'm really looking forward to playing on the
glass court in the Plaza …"
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[3] Rachael
Grinham bt [7] Madeline Perry
11/9, 8/11,
11/9, 11/9 (46m)
Closer than Close
Steve's view
Madeline Perry will have been disappointed to have lost the
British Open final to Rachael Grinham, but she will have been
both disappointed and frustrated to lose this rematch 3/1, a
scoreline which could easily have been reversed had just a
couple of crucial rallies gone the other way.
True, the Australian made a good start, taking a 5/2 lead in the
first, but Madeline hung in, levelled at 6-all, 7-all, 8-all,
9-all, was annoyed not to get a stroke on the next rally,
promptly tinned and Rachael's boast gave her a one game lead.
It wasn't a typical Grinham match, and certainly not a typical
Rachael match, as both were more often than not hitting the ball
low and hard, keeping it deep, with little of the 'messing
about' that usually typifies Rachael's game. She would later
attribute that to the ball being a bit of a flyer, coupled with
the warmer than normal conditions on the Center Court.
Starting to look more confident, Madeline took a good lead in
the second, and although Rachael closed the gap, 7/2 was always
likely to be enough and so it proved.
There was nothing to choose between them in the third, Rachael
more often than not getting one or two points ahead, but
couldn't quite break clear. She earned game ball at 10/8 with a
drive glued to the back wall, Madeline pulled one back and then
Rachael latched onto a short ball, hitting a skid boast that
dribbled along the back wall leaving Madeline looking to the
heavens.
The pattern continued in the fourth, both play and scoring-wise
- both hitting the ball hard, Madeline generally a point or two
ahead this time, until the Irishwoman took the lead 9-8. Rachael
put in a tight dropshot forcing a loose return which she put
away to level, then served into the nick to move to match ball.
Another drop, another putaway and it was all over, much to
Rachael's relief, and much to Madeline's annoyance …
 "The
ball was just so fast and bouncy, there was nothing to do other
than smack it hard and low. Yesterday I got a black ball that
was heavy and dead, a real shocker, and today this on a court I
expected to be dead … there's no consistency to the balls at the
moment, they're like a box of chocolates!
"It's not my game playing like that, but if I'd tried to play my
normal game, trying to draw her to the front, I wouldn't have
stood a chance. I don't think I hit that many tins or winners,
but in the last game four or five of her shots just clipped the
tin, I was glad to just hand in there and glad it didn't go to a
fifth.
"I often try to play skid boasts if it's really near the front,
even if it's not an outright winner it takes them by surprise
and you can often get a funny bounce. Then at the end, I kept
serving at her body and she was moving more and more across to
volley them, so I thought it was about time to serve wide and
thankfully it just died at the back!"
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"The ball was really flying out
there, so it was a different type of game than you usually have
against Rachael.
"It's so frustrating though, to lose two games just on the odd
point when there was nothing in it really …"
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"I think I was a
bit overwhelmed by the occasion. It’s strange, before coming
here, I really wanted to give my best, I didn’t have the feeling
to be stressed at all, but the minute I got into the venue, I
saw all the spectators, so many of them, and I just panicked…
"I just can not tell you what happened on the court. The only
thing I know is that my head was not there. And also physically,
I was suffering, the legs just didn’t respond. I know I started
to get a few shots in the third, no idea how…
"I feel I put myself under a lot of pressure, because I was
lucky this time to get to that stage, as you know. I felt that
people wanted to see what I was made off, if I deserved that
luck I got, and no, I actually didn’t deserve it, did I…. I feel
I let so many people down, and myself too…"
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[6]
Omneya
Abdel Kawy bt [14] Camille Serme
11/3,
11/6, 14/12 (27m)
TOO MUCH FOR CAM
 Like
James W would say, squash is such a mental game it’s a joke.
Well today, Camille lost that mental battle. Lights were on, but
nobody’s home for the French girl, and against such a shot maker
as Omneya, she didn’t had a chance.
Opening the court at will – “I didn’t put her under any kind of
pressure, so she could do whatever she wanted,” noted Camille
about her game – the French girl made life very difficult for
herself. Her game plan was inside out, she couldn’t find a
length or a lob for the first two and a half games.
And when she finally started to apply a bit of pressure on her
opponent, the Egyptian was flying, confidence at her top, and
two games ahead. And even Omneya made a few unforced errors to
allow Camille to come back from 6/3, 8/5 to 8/8, 9/9, and even
set up a game ball for herself, she just played the wrong shot
at the wrong time so many times….
Omneya got two match balls, one that Cam saved in extremis, but
the French girl just couldn’t save the second one. Omneya was
just imperial tonight…
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[1]
Karim
Darwish bt Azlan Iskandar
11/7,
11/13, 11/8, 6/11, 11/7 (71m)
AZLAN SO BLEEPING CLOSE…
 “Tu
as eu chaud”, I said to Karim after the match, as he speaks
excellent French. Meaning, that was close, mate… The world
number one was very lucky today. Lucky that that young up and
coming player, who's been working for a long time with Peter
Genever in London Dolphin Square, just got a bit over excited in
the fifth…
When Azlan beat Thierry in the British Open, people thought, oh
well, Thierry had a bad day. When yesterday he beat David,
people probably though, oh well, it was on a traditional court.
But what could they say today then? Azlan played like a top
three player, that’s what.
For a game and three-quarters, Azlan was completely overwhelmed,
it has to be stressed. Maybe the occasion got a bit to him,
maybe the fact he was playing for the first time on the glass
court, and it took him time to get used to it. Who knows. But
honestly, Karim was all over him, and dominating the game from
on high.
 But
then, when the Malaysian found himself 10/5 game ball down in
the second, something clicked. And he changed his squash
completely. He became patient, clever, he found astonishing
counter attacks and volley drops, his length was excellent, he
played an intelligent, tight and accurate squash. Pure beauty
really.
Karim could not get out of the back of court where Azlan kept
pushing him into. He was constantly on the back foot, going for
too much from the bad position, and started to get worried,
while Azlan grew more and more confident, till he was able to
force a decider, 2/2.
 Experience
versus emotion. That’s what allowed Karim to win today, as he
was able to blank all his fears to attack, to step up the court,
while Azlan lost his way, getting a bit overexcited, and making
far too many errors. Only at 4/9 did the Malaysian remember what
took him to that fifth game, and found his good squash again,
saving two match balls in the process. But Karim was able to
close it off with his loving trademark drop shot, leaving his
opponent with the sour taste of a great missed opportunity in
the mouth.
But I have absolutely no doubt this is only the beginning for
the Malaysian. He finished the game physically spot on, had
still more to give. Experience, he is acquiring, talent he has,
will to work, improve and learn, he has, I have a great belief
in his future… |
"He played super squash today. My mistake was obviously in the
second, I was up 10/5, and I let it go, I somehow lost my
concentration, and the win of that second game gave him a lot of
confidence, whereas if I’d take that game, it would have been
difficult for him to come back…
"Up to that point, I was controlling the rallies, but after
that, I seemed to stop playing squash, something happened, he
played really super squash, and I only hit the ball hard and
return it… I guess that when you control the match 100%, it may
seem easy to you at the time, and you start relaxing, and that
causes your loss.
"In the fifth, I decided to start playing squash again, like I
did in the first and second, to attack, and use my technique and
talent to stop him, and it worked…"
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 "Bad
start, bad start. Mentally, I knew what to expect, that the ball
would be heavier, that the court would be deadlier, but I just
couldn’t do anything to start with. I creeped my way in at 10/5
in the second, as I could feel he relaxed a bit….
"It’s hard sometimes, you feel that you fight not only the
player, but also the refs, but that’s part of the game…
"The next two games were quite close, we kept challenging each
other, but in the fifth, I got way too excited, whereas
physically, I felt fine. I kept on telling myself to chill out,
but….But then again, I played good squash at the end of the
match, but too little too late.
 "Thanks
to David Palmer for being in my corner today, although I beat
him yesterday. He’s got so much good advice to give about what
needs to be done…
"I’m there, I’m challenging the top boys, but Karim isn’t the
world number 1 for nothing, he plays crazy shots, but for him,
it’s just another shot, nothing special!!!! But one thing I’m
very proud of, I didn’t fall for any of his trickle boast,
forehand and backhand. I’m very happy with that….
"Now, back to work with Peter Genever, he would have videoed the
match, and we’ll be able to work on it. There is some fine
tuning to do, but once again, all credit to Karim, to his talent
and experience that made the difference tonight…"
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"Daryl is so hard
to read, he delays his shots so well, which means that you are not standing on the ball the
way you would like to, and you see the ball a bit too late. I’ve
been watching him play for years, I was very wary of him, and
really had to push…
"I had a simple game plan, getting through!
"He is such a dangerous player, I like his technique, he hits
the ball very flat, and every time I would open the court, I
just didn’t know what he was going to do.
"Only when I was able to read his shots a bit better, I was able
to inject a bit more…
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[3]
Amr Shabana
bt Daryl Selby
8/11,
11/8, 11/6, 11/8 (56m)
Shabana tested by Selby
Malcolm reports
Here was a match to enjoy between the best player of recent
times, Amr Shabana, and the possibly underrated Daryl Selby. Not
underrated by Shabana though, nor by me, since, had it been
possible to select him for England in the World Team
Championships just gone, I would have had him there.
 Selby
has plenty of background and began with belief, as Shabana was a
little tentative, for him that is. Selby led 5/2, aided by more
errors than usual from Shabana and he was only led for the first
time at 8/7. There was a big rally at 8-all after which Selby
reasserted to win the game 11/8.
Considering the match was being played in excellent spirit and
that both players were moving freely, it was disappointing that
the three referees came up with an astounding decision, of which
we have seen plenty here, at 2-all in the second. These
decisions are unsettling for the players, even when they are
playing as Shabana and Selby were.
Selby led 6/3, but calling on all his experience and massive
skills, Shabana made less errors, attacked more, and levelled
11/8.
With impetus and now flowing freely, Shabana began to call the
tune, but never by much as Selby continued to resist with no
little skill himself. Shabana went 2/1 up and for the first time
in the match had some dominance, which took him through to 5/2
in the fourth.
Even though the Egyptian looked in control, it was Selby who
came back strongly to level at 8-all, only for the next two
rallies to turn nastily against him - a no let and a stroke saw
Shabana home, and he will be happy to have won 3/1 since Selby
was by no means spent.
It had been thoroughly enjoyable and watchable, played as the
game should be, with skill and movement of a high order and in a
spirit worth imitating for the children - and even the adults
who were in the packed crowd … Friday must be early closing in
Hong Kong !
 "That
was close… It’s not often that, at the moment, I get to play the
quarters of a platinum event, so I grasped the opportunity….
"I hope I made it hard for him, I tried and keep the pace up,
and when the opportunity arose, I took it. But Shabana is
Shabana for a reason, you would be close score wise, and he
would produce three, four absolutely unplayable rallies, because
of an absolute perfect length. And there nothing I could do
about that, and that’s why he is one of the best players ever.
"I was happy to be able to force a few unforced errors from him,
just by pushing the ball on the front wall.
"I don’t want to speak too much of the refs, but just one thing,
I really felt they are like afraid of the top players, and if
the decision in their brain is 50/50, they will favour the top
player against a lower ranking player. I’m not saying that would
have changed the outcome of the match, but when you get two
heavy decision against you at 8/8 in the 4th, it hurts….
"Today, I lost to a great player, who I admire immensely, the
way he behaves, who he is, what is has achieved. I’m trying to
get to that level, every time, to try and raise to that top 10….
"I also wishes to say how wonderfully run this tournament has
been, and that everybody at HK squash has been amazing with us…"
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[8]
James
Willstrop bt [4] Ramy Ashour
6/11,
11/8, 11/8, 12/10 (47m)
Willstrop survives Ashour blitz
Malcom's reports
Ramy Ashour began the match in the way that only he can, firing
in from all over the place, despite James Willstrop's best
efforts, which were by no means bad. Willstrop can play shots
himself, but didn't get many chances as Ashour finished rallies
almost at will, hardly missing.
To Willstrop's credit, in the face of such an assault he stood
his ground and things improved as Ashour made four soft errors
to help Willstrop on his way to a 6/4, and later a 9/7 lead in
the second. He took the game on his first opportunity, 11/8.
No doubt heartened by being level after the discomfort of the
first game, he was back in the match in a serious way, as Ashour
found less opportunities for his outrageous skills. The full
house gasped at some of the breathtaking rallies where the
reactions were beyond belief.
Willstrop's crosscourt play was of a high order in the third
game and Ashour's flashes of brilliance were becoming rarer. The
Englishman led 10/7 and took a 2/1 lead on his second game ball,
11/8.
It was not likely that either would give way easily now, and
Ashour took a 4/2 lead in the fourth before Willstrop fought
back to 6-all. He then reached match ball at 10/8 only for
Ashour to hit back and take the game to a tiebreak. Having lost
a few crucial tiebreaks of late, notably in the British Open
final, Willstrop decided perhaps that enough was enough and took
the match 12/10 to earn a semi-final place.
He showed much resolve after the first game and Ashour may well
wonder what went wrong after such a blistering start. Whatever,
one thing is certain - the enthusiastic Hong Kong crowd loved it
…
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 "I’m
putting some minutes/hours in, aren’t I??? One day, I’ll be able
to win a match in under 40mn… Naaaa, that’s not what squash is
all about….
"The first game was a bit of an eye opener, I was struggling a
bit to see the ball, it took me a bit of time to get used to the
court, and I think it was the same for him too. Also, everybody
knows that Ramy’s pace is very high, and after two days of a
different slower pace, it was difficult to adapt…
"I played very accurate squash, I played my own stuff, I felt
much more positive on that court. I stopped him doing what he
does, but not in a boring way, by playing a good attacking game.
 "It’s
good to be able to play such a game after two hard matches, I’m
not sure that 18months ago I would have been able to do it….
It’s a combination of a lot of work, and the help of a lot of
people, like my physio, Alison, who spends so much time on my
routine, Damon and Mark, of course Malc who is here, he is
always an inspiration for me….
"I’ve got to stop, because I feel I’m about to thank everybody,
you love everybody when you win such a match, but it’s only the
quarters, I’m only in the semis, and I came here to win. I guess
I’ll have to wait until after I win the final to thank
everybody. But you can’t get a win over Ramy and not recognise
it’s a good day…"
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[2] Gregory
Gaultier bt [6] Thierry Lincou
11/5,
4/11, 11/6, 11/4 (60m)
MASSIVE BATTLE
My two compatriots really sent some heavy stuff to each other
today. It was without a doubt one of their best matches. It
reminded me the precision, accuracy and intensity of their all
French final in the English Open in 2006, a match that Thierry
won at the time, but only just…
 Today,
the world number two was just too precise in the first game,
preventing Thierry to find decent length, although that opening
game was from far the longest of the match, 20m. Yes, I know,
the score doesn’t reflect the battle that went on there…
But in the second, strangely enough, Greg seemed to lose a bit
of intensity, and the former world number one started to soar,
found some stunning winners, moved extremely, and retrieved
whatever Greg was throwing at him.
The third was all about Greg, Thierry feeling the burn of the
heavy work they both had produced, although he started to find
his game a bit better as he found his second wind mid game. Too
little too late. Greg was now up 2/1.
And that gave him a lot of confidence. He started to go for
lovely shots, that went in beautifully. Still, Thierry went on
fighting, got a bit unlucky on several rallies in a row, and
lost contact score wise. He saved two match balls with some
gutsy shots, but Greg was not to be denied, and the world number
two will now play James in the semis…
 "In
the fourth I was up 4/1, and he made two unforced errors, and
that allowed me to get a comfortable advance score wise. If he
doesn’t make those errors, and gets them in, that changes
everything, as he can come back, get very close, and everything
is possible.
"In the second game, I had a big drop of energy, whereas in the
first game, I really played very well, to the point I actually
thought it was a bit easy, and made the error to relax, with him
parading away in that game. So in the third, I stepped up and
volleyed more, that allowed me to take the control again.
"It was really a super match I think probably one of our best,
it was clean and fair, no contact. We were both there to defend
our turf, but we were moving freely and we were both very solid…
"I’m happy with my performance in the event, I’m getting better
as the matches unfold, I see the ball better, I have a better
feel of the racquet. Tomorrow, a new court, and I’ll try and get
my marks on it during practice…"
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 "We
produced a good match, played at a reasonable pace, and we were
both volleying a lot, so whoever was controlling the T was
really at an advantage there…
"He controlled the rallies a bit longer than I did, he nearly
didn’t make any errors, and apart from the second game, he
didn’t give me much…
"But overall, it’s all very positive, my squash is coming back,
I was feeling particularly well both physically and squash wise,
found all my marks again.
"Victory escapes me, but it’s all very encouraging for the
future…"
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