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TODAY in
Hong Kong 2012
Thursday 29th, Day
FIVE
Fram & Steve in HK |
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Men's Round Two:
[6] Peter Barker (Eng) 3-0
Cameron Pilley (Aus)
13/11, 11/8, 11/8 (65m)
[4] Karim Darwish (Egy) 3-1
Daryl Selby (Eng)
6/11, 11/4, 12/10, 11/6 (65m)
[1] James Willstrop (Eng) 3-0 Ong Beng Hee (Mas)
11/8, 11/9, 11/7 (68m)
[5] Ramy Ashour (Egy) 3-1 Saurav Ghosal (Ind)
11/7, 11/5, 10/12, 12/10 (61m)
Borja Golan (Esp) 3-1 [8] Mohamed
El Shorbagy (Egy)
11/6, 11/9, 8/11, 11/9 (68m)
[7] Amr Shabana 3-2 Tom Richards
10/12, 10/12, 11/7, 11/7, 11/7 (70m)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) 3-0 Nicolas Mueller (Sui)
11/4, 11/5, 11/5 (43m)
[2] Nick Matthew
(Eng) 3-0 Steve Coppinger
(Rsa)
11/6, 11/6, 11/8 (35m)
Women's Round Two:
[3] Jenny Duncalf
(Eng)3-1 Dipika Pallikal (Ind)
11/9, 7/11, 14/12, 11/7 (60m)
Rachael Grinham
(Aus)3-1 [Q] Joshana Chinappa (Ind)
11/4, 10/12, 12/10, 17/15 (65m)
[8] Natalie Grinham
(Ned) 3-1 [Q] Nicolette Fernandes (Guy)
11/7, 7/11, 11/6, 11/7 (49m)
Camille Serme
(Fra) 3-1 [7] Low Wee Wern (Mas)
5/11, 12/10, 11/3, 9/7 rtd (47m)
[1] Nicol David
(Mas) 3-0 Joey Chan (Hkg)
11/5, 11/5, 11/1 (27m)
Omneya Abdel Kawy
(Egy) 3-2 Joelle King (Nzl)
11/8, 3/11, 11/13, 11/8, 11/7 (62m)
Kasey Brown
(Aus) 3-1 [5] Madeline Perry (Irl)
11/6, 11/8, 13/15, 11/6 (60m)
[6] Alison Waters
(Eng) 3-1 Line Hansen (Den)
12/10,
11/3, 6/11, 11/7 (38m) |
Golan grabs last eight spot
Everyone's on the floor today
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Day Five ROUNDUP:
more women's upsets as
Golan grabs last eight spot ...
 With
another ten matches to play on Hong Kong Squash Centre's
showcourt - plus six upstairs - a long opening encounter was the
last thing we needed, but a 29-minute opening game between
Peter Barker and Cameron Pilley seemed set to dash hopes of
adhering to the optimistic schedule.
 Barker
came from 10/6 down to take that first game 13/11, stayed ahead
during the second and pulled back an early deficit to take the
third 11/8, becoming the first player to reach the
quarter-finals after 65 minutes of play.
Barker's next opponent will be Egypt's Karim Darwish, the
fourth seed who came from a game down to beat Daryl Selby in ...
65 minutes again!
 The
first women's quarter-final place was taken by Jenny Duncalf.
The English third seed won a tough four-game encounter with
in-form Indian Dipika Pallikal, Duncalf's reaction when taking
the third 14/12 to regain the lead proving just how crucial that
game was.
Meanwhile on the upstairs court Natalie Grinham - who was
expecting to play after her sister, not before, came through a
competitive four games against qualifier Nicolette Fernandes,
taking seven points in a row to avoid the need for a decider.
 Natalie
popped downstairs to watch Rachael, ho had an even closer
four games with Joshana Chinappa, who upset fourth seed Annie Au
yesterday. After the first two games were shared Rachael edged
the third 12/10, then fought back from behind in the fourth to
get match ball at 10/9. Joshana kept on saving match balls but
couldn't get ahead, Rachael eventually closing it out 17/15.
The time? 65 minutes of course (or two hours late, to put it
another way).
Then it was back to the men, and two contrasting matches that
had their crowds equally absorbed: Ong Beng Hee lost in straight
games to top seed James Willstrop, but the 'veteran'
Malaysian stole the hearts of the Centre Court crowd with a
skilful and spirited performance that earned him a standing
ovation at the end.
 Meanwhile
Borja Golan prevailed over eighth seed Mohamed El
Shorbagy in an encounter that was as intense as they come, both
players getting animated and anxious. The spaniard took the
first two games, then came from a few points behind to snatch
the fourth and boy was he delighted.
"When you play someone like that you have to play more than
100%, you have to fight for each point as if it was the last
one," said a delighted Golan.
 Two
Egyptian winners followed, but Ramy Ashour and Amr
Shabana were both sorely tested. Ashour, the 2010 HK
champion, came from 6/1 down in the first to take the lead
against Saurav Ghosal, eventually winning as the Indian saved a
match ball to take the third 12/10 only to let the fourth slip
by the same score.
Shabana, champion here from 2005 to 2009, found himself two
games down to Tom Richards, 12/10, 12/10. The four-time world
champion recovered to take each of the next three games 11/7,
much to the annoyance of the Englishman, who had his chances
when leading mid-way through the fifth.
 By
now we were more than three hours behind the admittedly
optimistic schedule, and local favourite Joey Chan took to court
against Nicol David. Unbeaten in Hong Kong since 2005,
the Malaysian world number one was as efficient as ever as she
put out the last home player in straight games.
Omneya Abdel Kawy followed up yesterday's dismissal of
second seed Laura Massaro with another upset win, this time over
fifth seeded Kiwi Joelle King.
 The
first two games were shared, but after edging a tense third
13/11 King forged ahead 8/4 in the fourth and looked the likely
winner. Seven point in a row from Kawy levelled it though, and
the Egyptian quickly established a winning lead in the decider.
Meanwhile Alison Waters was setting up a quarter-final
date with Kawy as she beat Line Hansen in four games.
That left the final two men's matches, still over three hours
past their scheduled time.
 Third
seeded Frenchman Gregory Gaultier wasted little time in
despatching young Swiss Nicolas Mueller in straight games - at
42 minutes the quickest men's match of the day by some margin
and a useful energy saver for tomorrow's meeting with Ashour in
a repeat of their 2010 final.
Nick Matthew was even faster, wrapping up his match with
Steve Coppinger in just 35 minutes as he went through to another
match against Amr Shabana.
It all starts at 14.00 on Friday, all on Centre Court.
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[6]
Peter Barker 3-0 Cameron Pilley
13/11, 11/8, 11/8 (65m)
PETER, YET AGAIN
Although the H2H states 3/3 between the two players, Peter beat
Cameron the last two times they played. Last year here actually
was the last time they played, 3/0 for Peter, rather quickly in
Peter’s standards.
 I
of course remember more of their previous encounter, played on a
packed and warm court at the Worlds last year in Rotterdam,
where the battle was ragging for two games, I think to remember
the second game last 52m I think.
After which Cameron looked at that watch – he was now lead 2/0
down, and it was past midnight – and clearly thought… naaa. Too
late for a come back….
Today was again a great battle, with the Australian stringing
points quickly to take the lead, and the Englishman, patiently,
gradually, getting his claws back in the game. First game was
typical, Cameron having a 10/6 advantage to concede the game
13/11….
In the second, he came back with a vengeance, leading 4/0
quickly. And there again, Peter caught up with him 4/4, to take
the game with confidence 11/8. And the third was pretty much on
the same format, Cam up 6/4, a tight finish, 6/6, 7/7, Peter
taking a 2 points lead, 9/7 and closing it nicely – with a few
explanations with the refs – 11/8
One point that need stressing. Peter didn’t win most of his
points at the back on the court as his perfect length/width game
would logically lead him, but actually at the front, as his
short game – in particular to his forehand, is becoming a
stunning weapon. Another interesting data, I counted only 1
error throughout the match for the Englishman.
 "It’s
one of those matches where the result is more important than the
performance, it’s back to reality I’m afraid.
But Cameron is a well established top 16 players, and I’ll take
a 3/0 against him any day.
We are both wicker on our backhand, so we try and switch, and
that makes it a tactically attritional game.
I don’t think my balance between defence and short game was good
enough today, but sometimes, it ain’t pretty…"
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[4]
Karim Darwish 3-1 Daryl Selby
6/11, 11/4, 12/10, 11/6 (65m)
TOUGH MATCH FOR KARIM
Karim today was a bit slow, border sluggish when he started the
match. His backhand length completely out, he really struggled
on that side, and played into Daryl’s game, a mid pace that the
Englishman excels at. And quite logically really, it’s Daryl
that draws first blood, 11/6.
 Not
sure exactly what happened in the 2nd, Daryl sort of didn’t show
up, helped I guess by the fact that Karim upped the pace
considerably, shortened the rallies and took the initiative.
The third was to become the turning point of the match. Like he
did in the 1st, Daryl took a great start, 5/1, 7/3. Did he relax
a bit? Did Karim closed up the game?
After some long rallies, we were back at 7/7. Within six points,
Daryl got 3 no lets that, in my opinion, seemed pretty harsh, as
it seemed from where I was sitting that Daryl had no access to
those 3 drives.
To be quite fair, Karim as well got a few strange decisions
during the match, but as he admitted himself, it was not at
crucial times…Those were. 8/7, 8/8 and 10/10. Hard to keep your
mind focused after that. And it didn’t fail, Daryl loses the
game, and to add insult to injury, on a stroke.
In the 4th, Karim was full of confidence, and let his game shine
all around the court, forcing Daryl to four uncharacteristic
errors.
The Egyptian takes the last game rather comfortably, 11/6.
 "In
the first game, I was very passive, I didn’t do enough with the
ball, I was playing his game.
So in the 2nd, I made some changes, was more positive, varied my
shots instead of sending everything to the back.
The third was crucial, I had some weird decisions but not at
crucial times, and so did he, and at crucial times. I know how
it can play on your mind. I gave it a big push, and managed to
win the important points in that game."
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[3] Jenny Duncalf
3-1 Dipika Pallikal
11/9, 7/11, 14/12, 11/7 (60m)
TOO MANY ERRORS FOR YOUNG DIPIKA
 I
really enjoyed this match, I have to say. I thought the two
ladies were playing out of their skins, a very fast pace game,
with a lot of change of angles, lots of running, retrieving,
visiting both of them the court several times per rally.
And to be honest, Dipika played to a level I didn’t think she
could as well! She found some beautiful volley drop shots in
particular that are little gems, and more interesting, she is
now running! Last times I saw her play, running was not exactly
her favourite part of the game of squash, bless her sweet little
cotton socks.
Of course, like she said, she went for far too much, tried to
get some easy points, and made 6 errors just in the fourth game,
5 in the 2nd. Mind, Jenny made a few of her own! But Jenny got
the experience that Dipika doesn’t have, and didn’t make the
errors when it really mattered. And that made the difference in
the end.
Jenny will be relieved of the outcome, not to have to play a
5th, and Dipika, well, it’s all in the box under the filing
“experience”.
She played quite
freely today, as you would expect when you’ve got nothing to
lose. Last time we played in NY, I beat her 3/0, but she didn’t
play well, so today, I was expecting a different match.
 It
was a bit scrappy at times, we both made a lot of unforced
errors, getting too low, but it could have been messier, it was
important I took the second game. But I thought she played well.
After that 6/5 tin in the 4th, I guess I just stopped thinking.
I know I relay on my drops, and today, they wouldn’t work. I’m
still thinking a bit like a junior I think, I have been playing
juniors 10 years, so although I have been a senior for a year,
I’m struggling with the transition….
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Borja Golan (Esp) 3-1 [8] Mohamed
El Shorbagy (Egy)
11/6, 11/9, 8/11, 11/9 (68m)
BORJA, AT LAST
 Spanish
Borja Golan played the perfect match today. He twisted and
turned Mohamed El Shorbagy for the first two games, preventing
the Egyptian from adjusting his dangerous short game. Mohamed
didn’t seem at all in the match for about a game and a half, and
by the time he switched his neurones on, well, Borja was up 2/0.
The pace was ridiculous, but in my opinion, the key to the match
is actually Borja counter attack game. Ah, yes, forgot to tell
you that we were playing on the traditional court, and that what
would have probably died in the nick on the glass was standing
up a fraction of a second up, enough for Borja to use it to his
advantage.
At times, the match has a feel of kindergarten, but one with a
lot of testosterone flowing as well, if you see what I mean. The
ref did very well to keep his calm with the constant questioning
he was under, my hat to him.
A few months back, Borja played out of his skin against Ramy in
the British Open. He only lost by a few points. But I feel that
today, Borja gets the victory he deserves, if that makes sense?
 “Against
such a player, I cannot be at 98%, or 95%, and in fact, 100% is
not enough! And if I scream on court, if I express loudly what I
feel, it’s because I’m emotional, and I cannot fight it. Maybe
it’s good, maybe it’s bad, but I cannot help it.
I played every point like if it was the last point of the match.
Because with such a talented player, each point can be the one
that will make the difference at the end.
 During
the British Open, it was weird. I went on court, played a few
short balls, Ramy didn’t pick them up, so I kept on going, and I
was lucky that he wasn’t really playing. And then, he started
playing! But I was not really playing my game. Whereas today, I
was, I think, and I felt strong.
I was really focusing on playing tight, it really works on this
court, and I was aggressive on the ball, but I didn’t attack too
soon either.
Mohamed didn’t play well in the first two games, he played much
better in the last two, and the 4th game was really close.
I’m so happy, it’s my first time in a quarter of a WorldSeries
event!”
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Camille Serme
(Fra) 3-1 [7] Low Wee Wern (Mas)
5/11, 12/10, 11/3, 9/7 rtd (47m)
Camille gets past Wee Wern
Philippe Signoret
reports, Fram translates
We had a game plan in place against WW. Cam knew what she has to
do, but in the first game, she made too many errors and forgot
3, 4 times the plan. Only positive, is that Cam got WW to do an
awful lot of work, especially as the Malaysian doesn’t really
enjoy going to the front too often….
In the second, Camille cut down on the errors, but was still
struggling to play the right shot at the right time. WW get two
game balls, and that’s for me the turning point. On a few big
rallies, WW starts to show that she is a bit tired, and Cam
comes back to 10/10. She let go of the arm and gets the game.
The plan is working!
Cam is playing better and better in the 3rd, she attacks once,
but not twice to prevent WW to counter attack. She leads 3/0 but
when WW goes and tries to get a drop shot, starting a bit late,
splits and hurt herself rather badly.
Camille sees the injury, sees how WW is fighting with the pain,
respect to the Malaysian who plays through the pain. The French
girl takes the game 11/3.
In the 4th, Camille sticks to the original game plan, and the
rallies last. She needs to attack, but can’t afford the errors.
A gutsy WW fights and still believes she can win. At 7/7,
Camille is playing well and not that well. Suddenly she finds 2
nice attacks close to the tin, and leads 9/7. The pain is too
great for WW, who’s got to throw in the towel.
 “I
am very happy to be in the quarters of this major. I had a
revenge to take on Wee Wern, well, several actually, as she beat
me the last three times we played.
Today, the good thing is I had a game plan, we had prepared it
throughouly with Philippe, video, and even a few precise
elements this morning in practice. I was ready to roar!
My only regret is of course that Wee Wern got injured in the
3rd. She is such a warrior, as she tried until the last shot,
she went and retrieved all my shots, until the pain was just
unbearable, at 9/7 in the 4th. I am truly sorry and I hope
she’ll be back in shape for the Worlds in Caymans.
As for me, I’m now playing Rachel on the glass court.”
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[7]
Amr Shabana 3-2 Tom Richards
10/12, 10/12, 11/7, 11/7, 11/7 (70m)
TOM GUTTED, SHABANA RELIEVED…
I only saw the 7, 7, 7, not the 10, 10 at the start. But what I
was was one of the fairest, most entertaining game of squash I
saw for a long time. As one of the refs stated at the end to
Shabana “I wouldn’t mind paying to watch such a match”.
Legend Shabana. The nickname I got for him could not have been
more appropriate than it was tonight.
"I was unlucky the
first two games, and lucky the next three…
You know, you play on a traditional court, and you get
traditional squash, pure squash. We both gave everything we had,
and I enjoyed it.
After losing the first 2, I stuck in there, and I thought, take
it point by point, and I thought I had a chance to take it a bit
longer, and I tried to squeeze a few points out of him, and I
think he got a bit tired in the 4th…
In the fifth, he came out firing, it was very close and
anybody’s game…."
 "I
think this is the best I ever played, or at least, the best I
played in a very very long time.
I was lucky to get 2/0 up, I was playing good lines, good shots,
but I think he was a bit off, and then, well, he started playing
Shabana’s game. It’s a nightmare for us, you know, us young
players, we are trying to go up the ranking and there you have
Shabana, fitter than he ever was! It’s a SCANDAL!!!!
In the 3rd and fourth, he made me do an awful lot of work, he
had perfect lines, perfect lobs, and I don’t think I ever done
as much work on a squash court.
In the 5th, I wanted to take all the opportunities I could,
which meant that I could play a few errors, but hopefully, play
a few winners as well. Up to 6/6, I thought I was playing not
too bad, and I don’t think I didn’t much wrong after that, but
there is that little thing called “experience”… but he is just….
a Legend."
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At 11-10 in the second Tom hits this shot into the nick to go
2-0 up
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Kasey Brown
(Aus) 3-1 [5] Madeline Perry (Irl)
11/6, 11/8, 13/15, 11/6 (60m)
SHARP AND HARD HITTING
Madeline Perry is for me the Cameron Pilley of the WSA tour! She
hits extremely hard, and yet, extremely accurately, mixing it
with lovely volley drop shots and a perfect fitness.
All that to say that Kasey did pretty good today to beat the
Irish number one, who really didn’t put a foot wrong all match.
It all came down to very little, a few errors here and there,
and a few long rallies that ended Kasey’s way.
Again, that traditional court got us some pretty good matches
today, which I really enjoyed watching…
 "I
trained with Shorbagy this morning, it worked for me, it didn’t
for him!
I knew that she would be playing a hard and fast game, so I
tried and varied my shots as much as I could, and took it short
as often as I could.
Our matches have normally been quite even, but the last time we
played, it was in the Australian Open, and I got absolutely
chopped!
So I used that game to build a game plan.
Which proves that sometimes, it’s good to get chopped!"
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Omneya Abdel Kawy
(Egy) 3-2 Joelle King (Nzl)
11/8, 3/11, 11/13, 11/8, 11/7 (62m)
 I
had absolutely no pressure, that’s always good, while Joelle who
is better ranked than I, was a bit nervous I think.
Last time we played she beat me, and in that match, I started
badly, and I finished badly! I’m happy to say that today, I
managed to finish better!
At some point in the 4th, it didn’t look good for me, but it’s
not over until you lose the last point, so I hang in there, and
it worked.
I’m really happy with my performance, although it was a bit up
and down, but I got a bit more up than down!
Looking forward to my match with Alison tomorrow, again, nothing
to lose…
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[2]
Nick Matthew
3-0 Steve Coppinger
11/6, 11/6, 11/8 (35m)
He plays for
Duffield in my National League team, so I trained with him a few
times, I’ve watched him play often and I know very well how
dangerous he can be. He’s been knocking at the door of the top
10 for a long time now, he had his best win yesterday, and I
know how hard it is to back it up, especially when it’s late at
night.
I got to change my body clock this week, because I knew I was in
the bottom half so I got to do the same things as normal, but 2
hours later! It’s a bit of a pain, it is frustrating, but there
is nothing you can do, so you just get on with it.
Of course, it’s human nature, when you play that late, you want
to go to bed as soon as possible, but if you go for too much,
too soon, you are bound to make errors, and soon you find
yourself with a five setter on your hands. So, you’ve just got
to be patient and make sure that you do the work…
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