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TODAY at the Kuwait PSA Cup
Framboise reports, Steve clicks away
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Tue 12th, Quarter-Finals
Ashour survives as
Willstrop repeats 2011 final win over Darwish ...
Quarter-Finals:
[4] Grégory Gaultier (Fra)
3-0 [8] Peter Barker (Eng)
11/3, 11/2 rtd
(19m)
[1] Ramy Ashour (Egy) 3-2 [7] Amr Shabana (Egy)
9/11, 2/11, 11/8,
11/5, 11/4 (73m)
[6] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy)
3-0 [13] Daryl Selby
(Eng)
11/4, 11/4, 11/9
(35m)
[3] James Willstrop (Eng)
3-1 [5] Karim Darwish (Egy)
11/9, 11/4, 4/11, 11/3 (49m)
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"I could see
from my first boast that he was struggling,
I asked him if he was ok to carry on ..."
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[4] Grégory Gaultier (Fra)
3-0 [8] Peter Barker (Eng)
11/3, 11/2 rtd (19m)
 PETER,
KNEE NOT RIGHT
It’s not fair you would think. After sorting the injury that
crippled him in HK and prevented him from playing the semis, a
hamstring trouble, it’s now the Tband that is pulling on the
patella, inflicting a sharp knife-like pain in your knee.
How do I know so much about it? Cause that’s the one I’ve been
suffering from for now 10 years, so I saw the signs…
“I hope that Peter is going to be able to stop to get sorted, he
had several injuries, first the hamstring, now the Tband, I know
it’s hard to stop, but I’ve done it, and it’s worth it, because
you come back, not only better but hungrier for victory…” said
Greg to Adrian Davies the MC after the match.
We of course noticed immediately that something was not right
from the first movement he didn’t make to the back, and the
grimace he made as he went for Greg’s boast.
What a sad sad moment for Pete, yet again. Get well soon, mate. |
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[1] Ramy Ashour
(Egy) 3-2 [7] Amr Shabana (Egy)
9/11, 2/11, 11/8,
11/5, 11/4 (73m)
RAMY GETS IN THE MOOD…
 ‘This
is probably the toughest match I played in my career, both
mentally and physically”, said a drained looking Ramy Ashour to
the MC after his match against Legend Shabana.
Well, I’m not sure it was the toughest physically – I remember a
few ones against Nick and James that topped it probably – but
mentally, yes, it was a very very very tough one.
Rewind.
 Ramy
gets on court looking really tired, and honestly, doesn’t look
like he wants to play. It happens. Have you always wanted to go
to the office? Isn’t there one day where you thought, naaaa,
staying home today, dozing in front of the TV with either a beer
or a tea…
Well, that’s exactly what Ramy feels today. Just doesn’t feel
like playing. Like Nick yesterday – who admitted he was flat
after too much squash – Ramy was/is squashed out.
And bad luck for him, Shabana is in the form of his life!
Playing as well as he can, and he can. Accurate, moving terribly
fast, constructing rallies beautifully, and basically, running
Ramy round the bend...
Let me run you the first game. 4/0 for Shabs. 6 points in a row
for Ramy. 6/4. Three tins from Ramy, 7/6 Shabs. A nice volley
drop shot from Ramy, 7/7. A tin from Shabs, 7/7, followed by 2
tins for Ramy, plus a stroke, 9/9. A superb volley drop from
Shabs, and a stroke that could have been a let (in my opinion
and Ramy’s), game Shabs 11/9 in 13m.
 Ramy,
really not happy with that last decision, tries to wake himself
up, to motivate himself, but just doesn’t show at all in the
second, not even trying to play to be honest, like he is running
out of options. Shabana just keeps on playing
his game, not letting himself feeling sorry for his opponent, or
distracted in any way. At the top of his game, he is quietly,
but surely, stringing points away.
At the start of the third, Ramy doesn’t start the game right
away, he is fighting against himself to stay on court, I can see
it, it’s written all over his forehead, “I don’t want to be
here, I don’t want to play, I don't have any answers”, and he is thinking about shaking
his opponent’s hand.
The old Ramy – the one before Aspire and his new career – would
have probably walked out. This one stays on, and accepts the
battle. And starts running, and fighting and pushing and putting
Shabana more and more under pressure. 3/3, 5/5, 6/6, 7/7.
 A
few discussable decisions, and Shabana, still angry from the day
before probably, still frustrated by the lack of video
refereeing, is struggling to not argue with the refs. Gets
a conduct stroke for descent at 4/1 for saying “you are the one”. Not sure
what happened there to be honest. Ramy gets to game ball, 10/7,
to take the game 11/8, to be honest, against all odds if you
think the mental state he was in at the start of it and Shabs
quality of squash!
The fourth will be dominated by Ramy, while Shabana is
struggling with his concentration, still really not happy with
the official side of things. And in the 5th, Ramy is jumping up
and down, now fully awake/willing, while Legend
Shabana will make 7 tins, mouth “f off” and won’t play the last
two points, spitting on the floor as he exits to go and pick up
his bag…
The courageous MC keeps Ramy on the court, and manages to make
him speak. Well done Adrian for making Ramy speak in the state
he was in.
So there you have it. One of the weirdest/most emotional matches
I have been for a long time, between two players that not only
respect each other so much it’s not on the scale, but I’m sure
care more for each other a tremendous amount. Emotion, Emotions.
I’m drained…
 "It
was a good game, can you believe he is 32, 33, I don’t think
I’ll be able to play at that level at that age, he is four time
world champion, he is an amazing champion, and today, I’m glad I
was able to keep up with him.
"This is the toughest match I ever played in my life, mentally,
physically. We play a lot of tournaments, a lot of matches, and
I’m happy I managed to finish this match without an injury.
 "No,
I’m not sure why Shabana got a conduct stroke, I was on the
court with him, not sure what happened there, to be honest.
"I know the referees are supporting us on tour, and it’s not
always easy, and that mistakes are bound to happen, but we
really would appreciate they keep it to a minimum…
"I would like to thank my parents that have been supporting me
always, my brother and all the people that are routing for me,
and all the people that are not routing for me either, I want to
thank them!!"
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"That was the hardest
match I ever played in my life ..."
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[6] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy)
3-0 [13] Daryl Selby
(Eng)
11/4, 11/4, 11/9
(35m)
Shorbagy steams
into the semis
Steve reports
 Mohamed
El Shorbagy reached the semi-finals of the Kuwait PSA Cup for
the second time in a row with an impressive performance to beat
Daryl Selby, who beat second seed Nick Matthew in straight games
in the previous round.
The young Egyptian was all effervescent energy from the outset,
and while Selby's calm, controlled game enabled him to stay in
contention for the early part of the first game, incessant
pressure from Shorbagy paid off as he advanced from 2-3 down to
take the game 11/4, Selby finally unable to stop the flow of
attacks coming his way.
 The
second was very much one way traffic, Shorbagy applying too much
pressure and quickly building a 10-1 lead, doubling his
advantage with another 11/4 finish.
At 4-1 and 6-2 in the third it looked all over, but Selby
managed to get back into the rallies, which became longer and,
from Shorbagy's point of view, harder to win.
A run of four successive strokes, three of them to the
Englishman, brought the score to 8-7, and Selby finished off
another long rally with a dying length for an unlikely 8-all
scoreline.
 Undeterred,
Shorbagy took the next two points, smiled away tinning what
would have been an easy winner on his first match ball, then
forced a loose return from Daryl which he gleefully slam-dunked
into the nick to finish the match after just 35 minutes.
 "It's
just like last year her, when I saved a matchball in the first
round and did really well, this time I saved four in my first
match and now I'm in the semi-finals again, I can't believe it!
"Of course I’m very happy with the way I played, I was patient,
waiting for my opportunities, and it’s my best performance of
this event.
"I’m happy I won the third because I could feel I was starting
to fall into this rhythm, and I didn’t want to lose any energy
for tomorrow, my first World Series semi of the year.
"It's so good having my mother with me at all the tournaments, I
obviously wouldn't be here without her, and she's a great help
and inspiration to me, I hope I play well and I can make her
proud."
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[3] James Willstrop (Eng)
3-1 [5] Karim Darwish (Egy)
11/9, 11/4, 4/11, 11/3 (49m)
JAMES BEATS “UN GRAND KARIM”
 I
mean that Karim was playing at his best, like he did against
Shorbagy in the Worlds in Qatar. The Egyptian was hungry, fit,
moving superbly well, and found his chopped shots and a few
across long drop shots that I rarely saw played to be honest.
And it’s really showing how in top form James is in this
tournament.
After making four errors in the first game, but still clinching
it, the Englishman just prevented Karim from adjusting his shots
and found some superb feathery long drop shots of his own,
sprinkled with a few volley drop to make good measure and break
the heart of the Egyptian crowd supporting their man.
 Karim
never gave up, and sustained his great level of play in the
third, taking the game in five minutes against a James who just
couldn’t stop the avalanche of short shots coming from the
Egyptian racquet.
But in the fourth, James was back with the vengeance, maybe
Karim had a bit of energy drop – wouldn’t be surprised with the
superb squash quality what was played – and James just strung
the points to take the match in 49m, 3/1, to now face Mr
Shorbagy for a rematch from the World Semis in Qatar where young
Shorbagy – at the time still 21, took the world number out, 3/1
in a classic encounter.
Can’t wait.
 "The
intensity was up there tonight, one of the top six matches, with
truly severe intensity. I think I did well to take the first,
although I made a big error off the serve at 9/8, silly error
really, but I manage to still get it.
"Karim played at his best today, whatever his problem was, it’s
now sorted because he was moving very well, hitting the ball
very well as well, and you could see he was really up for it.
"What happened in the third, I don’t know, strange really. Maybe
I just couldn’t keep the intensity up enough.
"First, although I didn’t do any tins in that one, I hit the
side wall about six times, and it’s still an error. And he
played very well throughout the match so he deserves a game
really, a 3/0 wouldn’t have reflected the quality of the match.
"Plus, when you have two players playing top squash, it’s rarely
a 3/0, it just doesn’t happen, you cannot keep playing your best
squash all the time.
"The same way it’s unusual to get more than a four point lead,
squash at that level just levels out, and you just cannot keep
on winning…"
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Quarter-Finals Preview Seven of the top eight seeds
made it through to tonight's quarter-finals, where they are
joined by seed Daryl Selby who produced a stunning upset against
world number two Nick Matthew.
The lineup includes 5 players who have been world number one,
and 4 who have been world junior champion.
Gaultier v Barker
 Gregory
Gaultier, aged 30, is one of five players who have been
world number one gracing the quarter-finals, even if only for a
solitary month in 2009. Runner-up in three World Open finals,
the Frenchman has been a fixture in the world's top ten since
April 2006, and has won 23 PSA titles from 132 events and 50
finals. Recent highlights include victory in the Netsuite Open,
the Abierto Mexicano, and last month he retained both the
Swedish Open and French National titles.
In this year's World Series events he reached the final of the
Tournament of Champions (ToC) and the semis of the North
American Open (NAO)
 Peter
Barker, 29, first made the world's top ten in March 2008 and
has been an ever-present there since November of that year. He
has won 13 PSA titles from 125 events and 20 finals, but has not
triumphed at an event since the Santiago Open in 2009. when he
also won his biggest title to date, the KL Open.
In this year's World Series he exited in the first round of the
ToC but made the quarter-finals in Richmond.
The pair have met 18 times since the Euro Juniors in 2000 with
Gautier having won on 16 occasions (13 of 15 in PSA events).
Barker's most recent win was in dramatic fashion in last year's
British Open quarter-finals, a defeat which Gaultier has avenged
twice since.
Ashour v Shabana
 Ramy
Ashour is, by common consent, in "ridiculous form". World
number one and world champion (2008 and 2012) the 25-year-old
Egyptian has reached the final in the last 9 events he's played,
has won the title in the last 6 events, and is on an unbeaten
run of 33 matches stretching back to last year's British Open
final. He reached the world's top ten in November 2006, the year
he won his second world junior title, and has been there ever
since.
Despite a number of injury problems he has won 29 PSA titles
from 82 events played, making the final in 44 of those. He has
won both World Series events so far this year, the ToC and NAO.
 Amr
Shabana's CV is, if anything, even more impressive. Now 33,
he has been World Champion four times (2003, 05, 07, 09 in
Kuwait), has won 31 PSA titles from 164 events and 45 finals.
His stay in the world's top ten dates back to his debut Jan
2004, an unbroken run of 111 months and counting, including a
33-month reign as world number one from 2006 to 2008.
His most recent successes are in this year's Motor City and
Comfort Inn Opens, as well as retaining his World Series Finals
title in January. He exited in the second round of this year's
ToC and reached the quarters of the NAO.
The pair have met 18 times (excluding countless matches in Egypt
no doubt), with the scores level at 9-all, although Ashour has
won four of the last five. They have met four times in Kuwait,
in the finals of 2007, 08, 09 and 10, each winning twice.
Shorbagy v Selby
 Mohamed
El Shorbagy was the second player to become World Junior
Champion twice (after Ramy), and followed that up by reaching
the senior World Championship final last year, at the tender age
of 22. He's a relatively recent entrant to the top ten, but has
been there ever since Dec 2010.
He's played 67 PSA events, reaching 11 finals and winning 5 of
those. His most recent successes are the Motor City, Reunion,
Colombian and Macau Opens in 2011. In this year's World Series
events he made the quarters of the ToC but didn't compete in the
NAO.
 Daryl
Selby, 30, produced the upset of the tournament when he beat
second seed Nick Matthew in straight games last night. A new
dad, he has been a fixture in the world top twenty since Dec
2009, spending 12 of those months at number 9 or 10.
In 102 PSA events played he's reached the final on 17 occasions,
winning 11 times, his most recent success being the Grasshopper
Cup of last April. He was British National Champion in 2011,
famously beating Matthew in the final.
They've met 7 times, with Shorbagy leading 6-1, but only twice
in PSA, Selby winning at Canary Wharf in 07 and Shorbagy
triumphing here in Kuwait in 2011 on his way to the semi-final.
Willstrop v Darwish
 James
Willstrop, now 29, was World Junior Champion in 2002, and
became World Number One in 2012, partly due to success here in
the Kuwait Cup, one of three major events in a row - Hong Kong,
Kuwait, Delhi Masters - which he won at the end of 2011.
He leapt into the top ten at number 5 in Jan 2005 and has been
there ever since, spending 11 months of last year at the top.
In 134 PSA events played he's reached 36 finals, winning 18 of
those including four Canary Wharf Classic titles. His most
recent success was at the NAO in 2012, while in this year's
World Series events he's reached the semi-finals of both.
 Karim
Darwish, 31, preceded Willstrop as World Junior Champion
and, like James, has reached the final of one senior World Open
(in 2008, Willstrop in 2010).
He first made the world's top ten in March 2003, and has been
there continuously since Oct 2007, spending 11 months of 2009 as
world number one.
Darwish has played 151 PSA events, taking 22 titles from 40
finals, his last victory being in the Macau Open in Oct last
year. He reached the quarter-finals of both the ToC and the NAO
earlier this year.
They've met 26 times overall, 23 of those in PSA, with Willstrop
leading 19-7 and 18-5. The Englishman has won their last 14 PSA
meetings, while Darwish's sole success since 2007 came in the
World Teams decider in Paderborn 2011.
Today's match will be a repeat of the 2011 Kuwait Cup final,
which Willstrop won 3-1.
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Full PSA H2H records
Full PSA H2H records
Info gleaned for the most part from
SquashInfo.com
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