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TODAY in
Hong Kong
Thursday 17th, Day
FIVE Fram & Steve in HK |
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Photo Galleries
Daily News
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Seeds scattered in women's event
as HK girls make history ...
歐詠芝陳浩鈴首度入八強!! **
On a dramatic day of second
round action at the Hong Kong Squash Centre, the women's Hong
Kong Open lost three of its top seeds but gained a home
quarter-finalist for the first time ever, not once but twice!
The men's event went much more as expected with seven of the
eight seeded players reaching the quarter-finals which will
feature three Englishmen.
Men's Round Two:
[6] Peter Barker (Eng) bt Cameron Pilley (Aus)
11/8,
11/7, 11/4 (47m)
[3] James Willstrop (Eng) bt Olli Tuominen (Fin)
11/3,
11/8, 11/6 (30m)
[1] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt Daryl Selby (Eng)
12/10,
11/7, 11/8 (65m)
[4] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt Hisham Ashour (Egy)
11/5,
11/7, 12/10 (31m)
[5] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt Omar Mosaad (Egy)
11/6,
4/11, 11/4, 11/6 (68m)
Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt Tom Richards (Eng)
11/4,
11/9, 11/0 (42m)
Azlan Iskandar (Mas) bt [7] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy)
6/11, 11/6, 14/12, 11/7 (56m)
[2] Karim Darwish (Egy) bt [Q] Tarek Momen (Egy)
11/3, 11/2, 5/11, 11/7
Women's Round Two:
[8] Annie Au (Hkg) bt [9] Joelle King (Nzl)
12/10, 2/11, 11/9,
11/6 (58m)
[13] Low Wee Wern (Mas) bt [2] Jenny Duncalf (Eng)
11/7, 11/7,
11/1 (28m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt [12] Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl)
11/5,
4/11, 8/11, 11/2, 11/8 (44m)
[7] Camille Serme (Fra) bt Emma Beddoes (Eng)
11/9, 11/3, 11/7 (34m)
[10] Raneem El Weleily (Egy) bt [4] Madeline Perry (Irl)
11/7, 11/7, 11/8 (29m)
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [11] Donna Urquhart (Aus)
11/6, 11/7, 14/12 (41m)
[5] Laura Massaro (Eng) bt [16] Delia Arnold (Mas)
11/5, 11/3, 11/5 (23m)
[15] Joey Chan (Hkg) bt [6] Kasey Brown (Aus)
11/8, 11/5, 11/8 (29m) |
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Men's Roundup:
English hat-trick as
seven seeds progress
In what might be the first of several English victories today,
Peter Barker opened proceedings with a solid win over
Cameron Pilley, taking two fairly tight first games before
running away with the third against a dispirited Australian.
James Willstrop then followed suit, taking the first and
third games against Olli Tuominen with something to spare and
holding off the Finn's challenge in the middle game, to set up a
third meeting with Barker in just a few weeks after their US and
Qatar clashes.
Nick Matthew made it three out of three for the English -
although he would, given that he was playing fellow Englishman
Daryl Selby. While it was never easy, with Selby flinging
himself around the court in the third especially, the world
champion came through in straight games.
 An
all-Egyptian match ensued, a repeat of Amr Shabana and
Hisham Ashour's world open shootout in Rotterdam and the style
was the same, so too was the result although this time five-time
HK champion won in three straight, and was poleaxed on the final
point for his trouble as Ashour sent him crashing to the ground
for a no let.
Meanwhile Gregory Gaultier was getting the better of a
long, let-filled encounter with Egyptian Omar Mosaad, the
Frenchman winning 11/6, 4/11, 11/4, 11/6 and very happy to
take a stroke on the last point.
The only upset of the day came when Malaysia's Azlan Iskandar
continued his impressive form from yesterday to oust seventh
seeded Mohamed El Shorbagy 6/11, 11/6, 14/12, 11/7, and he'll
face another Egyptian, second seed Karim Darwish, for a
place in the last four.
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Women's Roundup:
Second and Fourth seeds out
but that's not the main story ...
 The
opening women's match of the day brought exactly what the packed
crowd at the Hong Kong Squash Centre wanted, a win for local
favourite Annie Au.
The diminutive Annie utilised her experience on this court and
her delicate shotmaking skills to good effect, only in the
second game did New Zealand's Joelle King manage to get
on top.
It was the Hong Kong girl who got the better of the three close
games though, despite the match being overphysical at times with
Au receiving a conduct warning for blocking and being on the
floor several times as King tried to get past.
The third was crucial as King missed a volley drop which would
have given her game ball, and she was always playing catchup in
the fourth.
Watch
the last few rallies ...
 If
the crowd were delighted by the first match, they were stunned
by the second as Malaysia's 13th seed Low Wee Wern sent
world number two Jenny Duncalf crashing out 11/7, 11/7,
11/1.
The Englishwoman didn't look comfortable against HK youngster
Lee Ka-Yi yesterday, and after losing two close first games
today she visibly wilted as Low pressed home her advantage.
"Jenny wasn't 100%, I know she's not been well over the last
couple of days," said Wee Wern. "The first two games were close
then I got a good lead in the third, I knew I had to keep on
pressing as Jenny has all the experience and even at 7/0 I
couldn't afford to relax.
"It's good to be able to carry on my good form from in the
worlds last week, it's the last tournament of the year, so come
on !!!"
Losing one top seed is careless, losing two would be, well,
sensational, but Rachael Grinham managed to sneak home
against Jaclyn Hawkes on the upstairs courts.
 "I
got a good start but then from 4-all in the second she just ran
away with it," said the Australian third seed.
"I was trying to make her run but was taking it in short too
much and she was just feeding off it, so I had to change game
plan and keep it at the back more."
That change of tactics did the trick, but a lead of 9/4 in the
fifth was seriously threatened as the Kiwi refused to go
quietly.
"She never gives in, so I knew I had to keep on pressing, but
in your mind you think you've got it won so it's difficult when
she starts coming back, in the end I was just grateful to get to
10-8 rather than 9-all, that would have made it very difficult."
Grinham faces home favourite Au next.
"She's always one of the most difficult to play," admitted
Grinham, "it's tough to get any rallies going as she'll chop it
in as soon as she can - if she wants to chop it into the tin
that's fine of course!
"It should be good playing with a big crowd, that doesn't get to
me at all and for her it might help or it might make her
nervous. We've played a couple of times this year and won one
each so we'll see how it goes."
 Camille
Serme put an end to the run of England's Emma Beddoes, the
seventh seed winning 11/9, 11/3, 11/7 in just over half an hour.
"I was able to play the right game at the crucial times,"
said the French number one. She's a very spirited player, but I
think I was able to make her work hard, to grind her physically,
as in the third, I could see she was struggling to pick up my
attacks.
"Tomorrow, revenge time against Wee Wern: it will be a big
battle!"
Madeline Perry wouldn't choose to spend as much time at the
front of the court as she did tonight, but against Raneem El
Weleily on a court like this she didn't have much choice.
Looking cool, calm and composed, the Egyptian, who won her
second world junior title here in 2007, was in charge for all
but a brief spell in the third as she produced a second major,
if not entirely unexpected, upset of the day in the women's
draw.
"I felt pretty calm on there tonight," confessed El Weleily,
"sometimes I can get too calm but I'm happy that I stayed
composed tonight. I started to rush things a little in the third
and hit a few tins but stuck with it and managed to turn it
around."
She may be going for a seventh straight HK title to go with her
six World Open crowns, the first of which was won here back in
2005, but Nicol David didn't have it all her own way
against Donna Urquhart today.
The tall Australian stuck with David until 6-all in the first,
fell behind early in the second but then extended a close third
game, even getting a game ball at 11/10, but eventually the
relentless pressure that Nicol exerts paid dividends as she went
through 11/6, 11/7, 14/12.
David's quarter-final opponent will be England's Laura
Massaro, who was in no mood to become another seeded
casualty as she eased past Delia Arnold 11/5, 11/3, 11/5,
leaving the court 9 stage free for the final act as Hong Kong's
Joey Chan aimed to join Annie Au in the quarters, and how
she rose to the challenge.
 The
23-year-old who won the Macau Open just days ago looked
supercharged on court, and the pace and accuracy she showed
proved too much for sixth seed Kasey Brown as the Australian
went down 11/8, 11/5, 11/8 in just under half an hour to the
delight of the packed crowd.
"It's definitely my best ever win," said a delighted
Joey, "and it's fantastic to reach the quarter-finals along
with Annie. The pressure was all on Kasey and I could sense she
wasn't moving as well as she can so I kept going for my shots
and it worked."
Head Coach Tony Choi was delighted too:
"To have two players in the quarter-finals for the first time,
this is payback for some of the work we've put in over the last
10 to 15 years.
"It just goes to show that if you want to progress at the world
level you have to have the commitment - Annie and Joey have been
full time for three years now, and this is Joey's first big
breakthrough, we're all delighted for her."
So, the second and fourth seeds are out, but the big story is
that not only does Hong Kong have its first ever women's
quarter-finalist ... it has two of them!
Interview
with Joey |
The last
few rallies
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[6] Peter
Barker (Eng) bt Cameron Pilley (Aus)
11/8,
11/7, 11/4 (47m)
CAMERON OFF…
My word. No offence, Cam, but I can safely say that I never saw
the Australian playing so poorly before. Three unforced errors
in the first, 6 in the second, and four in the 3rd. His timing
was off, his shot selection was not as efficient as normal…. Not
a great day really.
I’m particularly grateful that the match went MUCH shorter –
from memory, last week, in Rotterdam, the second game on its own
was 52m, whereas today the whole match was 47m, which is
probably a record for Pete, bless his racquet.
The Englishman played to perfection today – although I wish he
could ZIP his mouth as his worst enemy on court seem to be his
vocal cords. Still, he was composed, calm, accurate, and in the
third, absorbed Cameron last attempt to hit his way out as the
nickname he’s been given by the players themselves, a “Sponge”.
 After
my first round I had to be more ruthless. And I think that
tactically, I played well today.
In Rotterdam, the court suited me better, and it was easier for
me. But today, the court was more suited to his game, in
particular his forehand, and I had to be prepared to be more
proactive. And I was.
I’m really happy with the way I played. I was trying to
frustrate him, and only him can say if I succeeded, but I’m
happy with what I implanted.
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[3] James
Willstrop (Eng) bt Olli Tuominen (Fin)
11/3,
11/8, 11/6 (30m)
JAMES AT EASE
 First
game was all about James really, 8 winners plus 3 unforced
errors from Olli. The second, the Fin was much more into it,
stepping forward, forced some errors out of James at the end of
very fast paced rallies. And at 8/8, everything was still
possible, and Olli didn’t put a foot wrong there, but James
chose that moment to find the nicest winners and close out the
game, 11/8.
The third, well, about the same pace as the first one, James
completely in control, although he made a few errors too many. I
guess he was testing his shots – as he was way up, 10/4 match
ball. Olli, as ever, kept trying and run his shoes off till the
man called it.
 Well,
yes I like the court, although I’m a bit afraid my knees will
fall off or my back will seize!!!! What I mean that cold court,
dead ball plus hard floor can be damaging for the body. But, it
makes the matches go shorter, and that’s what Jane is here for
[ES Physio]. Plus, it plays nicely, it takes a shot in, very
quick at the front.
The schedule is a bit tight, but it’s the same for everybody,
it’s not ideal, it’s actually the quickest turn out I can
remember, a long flight, heavy jetlag, and only a week ago we
were in Rotterdam. So, yes, not ideal, but we’ve just got to
accept that it’s a level playfield…
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I felt OK, same
than I did before, feeling was not the problem! James was just
too good, and I wasn’t!
I took a terrible start in the first game, made a couple of
unforced errors, and he was too accurate, putting the ball away.
The third was about the same, but the second was better.
If I could have kept going like that and take a game, maybe
things could have been different, but I just didn’t play well
enough – I hope I can play better than that! – but James, too
good too quick.
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[1] Nick
Matthew (Eng) bt Daryl Selby (Eng)
12/10,
11/7, 11/8 (65m)
TESTING, TESTING…
Daryl has been in a bit of a difficult moment recently, he had
trouble with his foot, which means that he was a bit match short
and from there, a few losses that he didn’t expect, and zoom, a
loss of confidence appears.
Today, I’m not saying that Daryl didn’t want to win, but I truly
believe that after losing the first game so narrowly – he was
down game ball 10/7, forced a decider to finally lose 12/10 – he
knew he was not going to get to the next round.
And he decided to test it out. The way players used to test
their fitness against Jahangir years ago: how many points did
you score today? Well, 7. My, you are in great shape kind of
feel.
And it meant that the National Champion relaxed, no pressure,
got the match into a mid pace that he feels pretty comfortable
with, and offered us a great exhibition.
On the other hand, Nick, well, didn’t want to stay on that long,
did he? He’s got a tournament to win, and he’s got to back up
two pretty close tournaments. And in the third, it showed. He
started to want to finish it as quickly as possible, and of
course, that’s when you start making errors. And errors, Nick
made a few, 6 to be exact. And that, he won’t be happy with, if
I know him well.
Still, no damage done for the World Champion/World number 1.
Except a pretty long 3/0 in 65m. But then again, we are talking
about a Daryl match, aren’t we? They are never the shortest
ones…. And it’s nice to see Daryl back into the rallying mode.
Nice to have you back, young man…
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[4] Amr Shabana
(Egy) bt Hisham Ashour (Egy)
11/5,
11/7, 12/10 (31m)
SHOT MAKERS AT WORK
This was not a very long match, as you would imagine, 31m. But
it was all a question of Shabana playing control tower,
despatching at the back, and responding to the front, and Hisham
trying his best to cut off, improvise, amaze and surprise the
Prince of Egypt.
It’s nice to see that the 5 time title holder is in rallying and
length mode. He is accurate, strong, and mentally focused.
Hisham, well, tried and did his best today, and really pushed
the Master in the 3rd. Had he taken it, you never ever know with
that Talented Devil.
Shabs will be DELIGHTED with that 3/0 in half an hour, as
tomorrow, Azlan or El Shorbagy awaits. And it won’t be to play
numbers.
 I’ll
be ok! He went a bit strong in my back on the last point, it’s
just that my body was lose, I was not expecting him to get back
that fast. In 10m, I’ll be fine….
On that court, nobody would survive a shoot out against Hisham.
So I had to make sure that I was exerting pressure. The minute
the ball gets into his racquet, he can win the point very
easily, and I had to take that away from him.
 And
I managed to do that pretty well for the first two games, but at
the start on the third, he gave it a big push, nothing to lose,
and started to creep in again. And it doesn’t matter if you have
a game plan that you think is going to work. I knew that if he’d
taken the 3rd, it would have been the World Open final in five
games!!!!!
I like playing here, and then I don’t like play here. This court
if really special. You’ve got to play well, really well to win
here. I remember losing here against people that managed to be
more accurate that me on there. It really rewards you. On this
court, it’s all about control.
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[5] Gregory
Gaultier (Fra) bt Omar Mosaad (Egy)
11/6,
4/11, 11/4, 11/6 (68m)
I started the
match very well, good length, accurate, but from the second, I
just relaxed too much, opened the court wide for him, cross
courted far too much and played too short. He walked away with
the game easy.
From the third on, I was in control again, but so many stop and
starts, never more than 3/4 shots per rally. I really never got
into a rhythm, and it was not that easy to get the ball to the
back on those courts.
Happy to get to the glass court tomorrow!
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Stewart Boswell
(Aus) bt Tom Richards (Eng)
11/4,
11/9, 11/0 (42m)
LUCKY STEWART, BUT THEN AGAIN…
Well, yes. Stewart Boswell has had a bit of luck on this
tournament. But heck, with the series of bad luck he got with
his body letting him down so many times in his career, a bit of
luck is long time due
Yesterday, he played a flat Thierry just back from Macau and a
final, and today, well, a very mentally and physically flat as
it comes Tom, after his marathon against Mathieu, won 12/10 in
the 5th on that traditional court.
I’m not sure people from outside the circuit can actually
comprehend the enormous difference there is between playing on
the glass court, a very rewarding court, where the shots go in
nicely, and the backwall is actually reachable – and a
traditional court like the one Tom and Mathieu played yesterday.
 What
I mean is. The legs are working so much more, the relentlessness
you need to overcome opponents on there is just stupendous. And
today, Stewart was fresh and accurate enough to overcome those
conditions. Tom, no. A lot of unforced errors, miss hits
followed, that Stewart was happy to take advantage of.
Tom was not enjoying this at all today. It was obvious, and it’s
the first time I see him that unhappy on court owing that much
frustration, but nothing outrageous. Still, he was awarded a
conduct stroke on match ball 10/0. A sanction that Chris
Roberston, England National Coach, didn’t appreciate one bit,
and made his feeling quite clear to the Central Referee,
although in a very polite manner….
. The “Control Tower” as Thierry calls him, played to perfection
yet again today. He was controlling the pace, the shots, the T.
Perfect. And as clinical as it comes, Stewart is in the quarters
of his second World Series in two weeks….
When I looked at
the draw, I didn’t think I was that lucky, but it turned out to
be good after all! I think I was again a bit lucky, like I was
in Qatar. But then, yet again, I still had to play my best
squash to win today…
Whatever happens, I’m off court 9 now, at last…
 
Anything loose you give him, he is so accurate, and I just gave
him too much availability. I think I didn’t play too bad in the
second, and probably played my best squash in the 3rd, but it
sort of run away from me somehow…
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Azlan Iskandar
(Mas) bt [7] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy)
6/11, 11/6, 14/12, 11/7 (56m)
 In
the first game, I tinned out! I hit more in that first game than
in my whole match yesterday. So I said to myself, you are better
than that come on, you don’t have to play that fine….
I saw Shorbagy play last week in Macau, he was moving much
better than that, and sometimes, it’s the luck of the draw, I
bumped out of Macau 3/2 against Hisham. Those back to back
tournaments, they are pretty brutal. And not to over complicate
everything, I knew he was not moving well, and that I had to
pick my moments.
Like that ridiculous shot at the end, that crosscourt nick, I
can’t believe that I played that, what a ridiculous angle!
And that third game was crucial, really… Overall, I was moving
well, on that court, gosh it’s hard to play, but all credit to
Shorbagy, he is so young, and so mentally strong. My hat to
him….
Happy to get that one, second quarter finals in HK…
 "I
am so dissapointed ... that's just so unlucky!! I was playing so
well in the first game...controlling everything .. even in the
second when I was 7/5 down it was still all about me...then that
slip that made my 2 middle finger bleed...I got them taped but
at the beginning was so hard to hold the racket .. and then from
the 3rd it started leaning and it was easier holding the racket
.. and I started focusing again till 7/2 up I could see the tape
starting to fall...so I asked raneem to get me the physio quick
so after the game I tape it again!! I didn't know what to do..
if I was going to remove the tape it would have bled on the
floor and if I keep the tape and the rallies get long the tape
could fall anytime and I lose the game...so I had to take the
risk and just go for shots...and unfortunately it wasn't good
enough to finish off the game!! Its so dissapointing losing a
match that way when you know your in a good form...I was feeling
really fresh and confident for this tournament...but what
happened today won't stop me in the contrary it will make me
more hungry for kuwait!!
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Overall, not a
good match. I don’t know why but in the first two games, I was
very flat. And it was not only about tinning the ball, but also
about not being able to run.
I eventually sharpen in the 3rd, but the element of consistency
just wasn’t there. I’m not sure if it’s because we played late,
but I just didn’t feel I was there today. And I maybe could have
gotten away with it against a young kid of 16, but against
Karim, that was just not going to do…..
I’m disappointed, I thought I could do better than think, but
I’m looking forward to do better in next tournament.
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[2] Karim
Darwish (Egy) bt [Q] Tarek Momen (Egy)
11/3, 11/2, 5/11, 11/7
TAREK, ALL OVER THE PLACE…
Two figures. Seven unforced errors in the first game for Tarek,
and 8 in the second.
 Just
flat. The young Egyptian just couldn’t put a foot right in those
two games. And to be honest, it was even painful to watch. Karim
just had to stay focus, and despatch the shots…
Maybe it got a bit too comfy actually for Karim, and maybe did
he relax a bit? Or is it just Tarek that found a bit of the
magic he’s been deploying on the squash circuit recently? At
last we had a few rallies, even some pretty nice ones, and the
momentum for Tarek lasted up 7/7 in the 4th, where Karim just
showed us why he was world number 1 for more than a year…
Tarek will be disappointed, but maybe like Mohamed in the
previous match, maybe those kids need a plan B when the A ain’t
working. Only a suggestion mind….
 Against
Tarek you need to have a game plan, because he doesn’t have any!
He is so fast on court, and so accurate to the front…
I had to make sure not only that I would push him to the back,
but with a lot of pressure, otherwise, anything loose or in the
middle, he would have killed me and basically can beat anyone.
In the third, I was not deep enough, so in the 4th, I went back
and stuck to the game plan again….
We train a lot together, and he is a great team mate. He has a
great future, he is one of the best up and coming players….
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**
歐詠芝(annie au)陳浩鈴(joey chan)首度(first time)入(in)八強(quarters)!! |
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