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TODAY in Kuwait
Fram & Steve report from the Kuwait Open ...
Sat
26th
- Day
SIX,
Semi-Finals |
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Semi-Finals:
[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [3]
Gregory Gaultier (Fra)
13/11,
4/11, 3/11, 11/8, 8/2 rtd (60m)
[2] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [6]
Thierry Lincou (Fra)
11/3, 11/6,
9/11, 11/5 (45m)
First blood to Shabana
as Greg limps out
Just as he did three times yesterday, Amr Shabana took a game on
extra points, recovering from 8/10 down to take the lead against
Gregory Gaultier in the first of the Franco-Egyptian
semi-finals.
The Frenchman quickly bounced back though, racing to a 7/2 lead
in the second, and levelling as Shabana let the last few points
go. Gaultier then raced through the third, but then it was
Shabana's turn to fight back, quickly establishing a lead in the
fourth, and although Gaultier clawed a few points back at the
end it was soon all square.
The Egyptian continued in the ascendancy in the fifth, leading
6/2 when an accidental collision led to Gaultier injuring his
ankle in a fall. The Frenchman took a few minutes to recover,
but on the resumption it was clear he wasn't able to compete,
and after two points he opened the court door and offered his
hand to his opponent ...
Ramy sets up All-Egyptian
repeat final
The second semi-final produced the final all the crowd wanted as
Ramy Ashour blitzed the first two games against Thierry Lincou.
The Frenchman then threatened to repeat his comeback of
yesterday as he pulled a game back and took a 5/3 lead in the
fourth.
Ramy was having none of it though, as he reeled off the next
eight points to book himself into a rematch of last week's
Hurghada final - and last year's Kuwait final - with his
compatriot.
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En Bref Issue #4
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[1]
Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [3] Gregory
Gaultier (Fra)
13/11,
4/11, 3/11, 11/8, 8/2 rtd (60m)
WEIRDEST OF MATCHES
 This
was one of those matches that you expect so much of, and then….
And it all started so well, as the two players played “Classic
Squash Material” for the first game. 1/1. 2/2. 3/3. 4/4. 6/6.
7/7. 8/8. Then Greg seems to take the advantage, in some
astonishing rallies, when both attack and retrieve and
counter-attack beautifully. But no, Shabana comes back 10/10.
11/11, after a game ball for Shabs this time. And at last, the
Prince of Egypt takes a stunning superb breathtaking game,
13-11.
 But
then, Shabana goes all over the place, tins, out of court shots,
mishits. The finely tuned engine seems to go out of synch, and
Greg, calmly, ineluctably, reels off the points. The crowd is
stunned. What is going on?? GrandMa Shabana keeps on playing
four awful shots for one stunning nick. And that lasts for two
games. And to be honest, at that point, Greg seemed the
extremely likely winner…
Still, as ever, the Egyptian likes to surprise. And whereas a
few years back, he would have thrown away the match, he comes
back with the vengeance in the fourth, zooming to 9/4 in a few
seconds, to slow down slightly on the adrenalin, let his
opponent come back in the game. And the Frenchman does it
beautifully, finding some tight-glued to the wall drives, and
exquisite nicks in the right front corner. But he was coming
back from a bit too far back, and the Egyptian finally levels it
at 2/2.
And it the fifth, it looks like we are on for the same battle as
in the first, 1/1, 2/2. But Shabana goes ahead, and seems
unstoppable. 3/2. 4/2. 5/2. Greg just clips a volley on the left
side that wrong foots Shabana. Huge collision between the two.
If the Egyptian seems to suffer from a sharp pain around the
lower part of the stomach, Greg is unable to stand up. Dead leg.
Despite spray, ice, quick massages and stretching, actually with
Shabana’s help, Greg won’t be able to play more than two rallies
after the play has resumed. A heart broken Frenchman had to let
go of a possible place in the final, cursing a fate that seems
to keep him having injury upon injury.
 And
yes, you’ve read well, with Shabana’s help. I'm sure that when
Nadal gets injured, Federer comes round the net, and massages
the Spanish. Only in squash do you have such real and true
friendship between players.
Squash is just filled with very special people, I witness it
every day on the Tour, and what we witnessed tonight, the worry,
the care, the friendship, the true fair-play from a player
towards his opponent, if all that, is not exactly what the
Olympics is all about, I don’t know which sport would qualify
then… |
 "I
felt that the court was very true, when you were playing the
right shot at the right time, it was a very true shot. But in
the second and the third, I was too anxious to play well, and
against Greg, when you play even a good shot, but at the wrong
time, he’ll be on top of you, and I felt caged in.
"Then in the fourth, I decided to come back to basics, and
that’s what I did. In the fifth, I stuck to my game plan, and he
was just coming back into the match, we started to rally, and
then, that happened…
"I feel terrible, Greg is one of my best mates of the tour, we
are always together. I know it could have been the other way
around, and I feel really bad. But it’s not just for this
tournament, it’s our livelihood, I just hope that he’ll be ok…"
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[2]
Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [6] Thierry
Lincou (Fra)
11/3, 11/6,
9/11, 11/5 (45m)
THIERRY SURPRISES
After
two hard five setters, one in the second round, and especially
last night against James where he came back from 2/0 to clinch
the match, the Frenchman was far from being the favourite for
this encounter.
And Ramy didn’t seem to disagree with that prediction, never
allowing Thierry to settle in the first two games (yes, I’m sure
that it comes as a shock to you, the Frenchman not at his top
for the first two games, hold the press!), The Frenchman
couldn’t find a length, his lobs not in place, whereas Ramy,
caracoling at the front, moving fluidly at the back, was taking
the ball as early as humanly possible, and putting extreme
pressure on his opponent.
But as ever, the third saw the Awakening of the Comeback Man.
From 3/3, Thierry was now in control, tight drives, good balance
between stunning volley drop shots and volley kills to keep
twisting and turning the Egyptian. And it worked, it worked
absolutely fine for a game and a half. But at 5/5 in the fourth,
Thierry just ran out of gas, accumulation between the tournament
effort, and the Ramy’s effort, as “you’ve got to take the ball
so early it’s extremely tiring, physically and mentally,” said
the Frenchman at the end.
Ramy was able to display the Legend Ramy shots that ravished the
crowd for the rest of the fourth, attacking, his wrist shooting
at will. And it’s quite right that he’ll step tomorrow in the
final against Shabana. World number 1, against world number 2,
in the richest event of the year. Makes sense to me….
 "I’ve
watched Thierry play for a long time now, he is such a great
ambassador for the game. Yesterday, when I was down 2/1 down,
Thierry was my inspiration, when he came back from 2/0 against
James. But tonight, I was worried he was going to do that to me,
and he kept me on my toes the whole of the third game.
"But then, I just was able to keep him in the corners, and play
the right shot at the right time…
"I’m enjoying the fact that Shabana is world number one, of
course I want to beat him, but he is from my country, and he is
like a big brother to me. And every time we play together, we
are having huge matches. It should be a great show tomorrow…"
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 "As
the match progressed, I was getting better and better, I was
able to find my rhythm, but it’s so difficult to play somebody
who takes the ball so early.
"I gave my maximum, and I produced a good match. But to do so, I
had to play the right tactic, at a very fast pace.
"I had to attack and twist and turn him, but to do that you have
got to stay alert at all times, and you use a lot of energy, not
only physical, but mental.
"At 5/5 in the fourth, he gave it a good push, accelerated the
pace, and I just let a few points go, and it went very fast
after that….
"But I’m happy with my match, I was able to find a tactic that
frustrated him at times…"
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