TODAY in Kuwait: Wed 23rd, Day ONE:
Fram & Steve in Kuwait
Abdullah advances
on a different Day One
Day One of the Kuwait PSA Cup, the first PSA event to use an
innovative 48-man draw format, saw 16 matches played over
two venues with the winners booking their places in round
two against the top 16 seeds who all first round received
byes. There were a number of tough matches, but the
highlight of the day was Kuwait's own Abdullah Almezayen's
upset win over Colombian Miguel Angel Rodriguez.
The Kuwait PSA Cup got under way with round one
matches at the Qadsia club, while the sixteen seeds waited
to see whom their round two opponents would be.
The
first player through - to meet Cameron Pilley - was
England's Chris Ryder who recovered from 6/1 down in
the first against World Series debutant Andrew Wagih to win
11/7, 11/4, 11/6.
That took 47 minutes, the other winners in the first batch
of matches - Borja Golan and Nicolas Mueller -
both took over 70, Golan coming from a game down to beat Tom
Richards 7/11, 11/8, 11/6, 11/9 while Mueller won a seesaw
five-setter against young Frenchman Greg Marche 11/8, 5/11,
11/8, 6/11, 11/6. Golan meets Mohamed El Shorbagy while
Mueller's reward is a date with top seed Nick Matthew.
There was some consolation for the French as Mathieu
Castagnet beat Mark Krajcsak in 45 minutes 11/5, 11/7,
11/7 and Jonathan Kemp provided the day's first
English winner, coming from behind to beat Martin Knight
9/11, 11/2, 11/8, 11/4 - also in 45 minutes.
The Centre Court schedule took another hammering as India's
Saurav Ghosal produced a second consecutive 70-minute
plus upset on that court as he won the battle of the speed
merchants against Egyptian Tarek Momen, winning 11/9, 6/11,
11/9, 11/7, 11/5. Ghosal faces a very different opponent
next, in Dutchman LJ Anjema.
Meanwhile
on the outside courts Steve Coppinger was grateful to
get off in straight games against Ali Anwar Reda 11/3, 11/5,
11/9, with next opponent Stewart Boswell an interested
observer, and Jan Koukal came from a game down to
deny Scotland's Alan Clyne in exactly an hour, 9/11,
11/5, 11/7, 11/8.
Boswell
and Cameron Pilley were also interested to see Ryan
Cuskelly come through in straight games against Ong Beng
Hee, setting up a second round meeting with fellow
left-hander Adrian Grant.
Two contrasting matches to finish the day at Qadsia as
Omar Abdel Aziz survived in a tense, tight finish to
beat compatriot Karim Abdel Gawad 3/1 while Hong
Kong's Max Lee eased to a 3/0 win over an out of
sorts Farhan Mehboob.
Abdullah delights at Green
Island
The
second part of the day on the outdoor all-Glass court at
Green Island couldn't have got off to a better start for the
organisers, as before a watching Sheikha Fadyah Al-Sabah
Kuwait's own Abdullah Almezayan pulled off a
significant upset against Miguel Angel Rodriguez. The
Colombian was all hustle and bustle as ever, but the young
Kuwaiti matched him in that department and bettered him in
others to win 11/5, 14/12, 11/7.
Finland's Olli Tuominen was next through with a 11/7,
11/13, 11/6, 12/10 (65m) win over Robbie Temple. The Finn
squandered three game balls in the second, but made amends
by saving two as he went on to close out the match in the
fourth.
A hard-fought win for Chris Simpson followed, the
Englishman coming from 2/1 down to beat Campbell Grayson in
the longest match of the day in 80 minutes. Simpson now
meets third seed James Willstrop, the new Hong Long
champion, guaranteeing an English presence in the
quarter-finals.
Completing the second round lineup, Simon Rosner was
another who lost the first game before rallying to win, in
the German's case against world junior champion Marwan El
Shorbagy, and Mohammed Abbas' quicktime 3/1 win over
Adrian Waller kept the midnight hour at bay, just.
As
Tom stated, it was never going to be an easy one. Former
world number 10 Borja, at the moment 29 WR, and young wolf
Tom, 21 WR, having had a not so good Hong Kong, and on a
court that doesn’t really suit his attacking game.
Borja was more as his ease on that traditional court. He
loves to make the rallies last, and was finding good width I
thought in particular. A very solid performance from the
Spanish, still chasing his former top 10 ranking, and each
tournament getting closer to his goal…
We both knew
it was going to be tough, and if we were a bit tentative at
first, it’s because we were gauging each other out, sparring
a little. But there was not getting out of that, we knew it
was not going to be over in 10m.
I was not that confidence in my short game today, which is
disappointing as it’s my strength, so I had to fall back on
plan B, and made the rallies longer. But all credit to
Borja, it made it very hard for me today…
No, I was not nervous at all today, and I don’t think he was
either. We are at the end of the season, and I think all the
players are mentally a bit tired, more than physically,
which means that we are more prone to unforced errors. And I
really had to dig in deep mentally today…
Tom is one of the improving players this year, and better
ranked than me, so I’m very happy with my win and to get
through to the next round…
… Nicki and Greg were playing against each other. They
actually like each other, play for the same team in France
for the Leagues, Valence, and know each other’s game inside
out.
On
that court, traditional and bouncy, Nicki was going to have
to do what he hates, going for a plan B –I’m an attacker, I
don’t like rallying up and down – and make the rallies last
and last.
Small Greg, well, played an excellent game, patient yet
aggressive in the front corner, reading his pal’s game to
perfection, he was able to put the Swiss under enormous
pressure. The rallies very entertaining, and Small Greg will
kick himself from here back to Valence maybe lacking a bit
of confidence in himself at the end…
Always
going to be a tough one! First game, quick win for me,
second, quick for him, the third was crucial, and I just
managed to sneak that one out. And I thought I had him, but
in the 4th, I just got very tired, and he played very well.
In the 5th, got my second win, was playing very well,
leading 4/0, but he clawed back, 4/4, 5/5. But in the
juniors we played many many times, and I won most of them.
And today, I think that mentally, he didn’t believe he could
win…
Rather happy with my match with Nicki, it’s always
complicated to play against a good mate. Since the juniors,
we know each other by heart, so it’s hard to keep that
aggressiveness going. Especially as he had the better of me
so many times, and as he mentioned in the 5th, I probably
didn’t believe in my chances at the end.
Oh well, trying to keep things on the positive side, because
I think we both played well, and that’s probably one of my
best matches, but the accumulation of the travelling is
starting to show, and was a factor in the last game.
Still, I think I was up a notch since September, and I hope
I’m going to go on on the same momentum. First part of the
season is now over, and I’m looking forward to start
training again to be ready in January.
But it’s not by chance that I got a few good matches, so,
just wanted to thanks my coaches, André, Cédric Hateau, and
Thomas, my physical coach, who makes me work pretty hard.
And also, my sparring partners, but most of all Greg
Gaultier, because he is often there to help and support me,
and I recognise how lucky I am to be able to train with him.
And to finish, my parents and my girlfriend, who are there
for me every day…
It ended on a stroke ...
Q2: Chris
Ryder (Eng) bt Andrew Wagih (Egy)
11/7, 11/4, 11/6 (47m)
I was playing
well in the States, won the Wisconsin title, went back for
Egypt, and yesterday, got notification that I was qualified
for this tournament – I was 6th reserve.
I of course accepted, but I had to run like a lunatic to get everything
organised.
I only arrived this morning at 4.30am!
Still, it was a great chance for me to get to play in this
major tournament, all credit to Chris, he is a solid player
and today played better than I did.
Mathieu
Castagnet(Fra) bt Mark
Krajcsak (Hun)
11/5, 11/7, 11/7 (45m)
I know that
Mark has been through some difficult times, he’s been pretty
ill during the summer, and has been struggling a bit
physically as he couldn’t do a full physical prep.
But still, despite not being at his best, he found some
pretty good tactical solutions, he is such an intelligent
player. He varied the game very well, and I really had to
push myself to get control of the T.
I knew for my part that the travelling Hong Kong back home
to France, and back here with only 2 days off was going to
mean I was going to suffer physically. And I did!
But happy to get through, hoping that the body is going to
hold it again tomorrow against Alister Walker.
Jon
Kemp (Eng) bt
Martin Knight (Nzl)
9/11, 11/2, 11/8, 11/4 (45m)
It didn’t feel
onesided at all!
We played tough rallies, he just gets so much back, and you
have to work so hard to win one point. And you think you are
in control but you are not…
In the first, he was just too quick and strong for me. So I
had to lengthen the rallies out, which I really don’t like
doing! But I think I played good squash today…
THE FASTEST PLAYERS ALIVE?? Those
two are as fast as it comes – Flash comes close to describe
their movement really. But today, Saurav was able to counter
attack and vary the pace a bit better than his opponent, a
Tarek that basically hit the wall full front at the start of
the 4th.
Saurav kept the pressure on, turning and twisting the
Egyptian, who even at 9/5 down in the 5th, was still trying
and never gave up. Saurav never was able to relax a minute.
The Indian can be very proud of his performance today, and
Tarek, well, is probably paying the bill for a superb season
that saw him emerge at the top of the game.
I
don’t think I played too badly today, the first 3 games were
pretty close, and I thought I could win this. But in a
couple of rallies in the 4th, I realised that my tank was
completely empty, and kept on running of fumes the rest of
the match.
So disappointing, but Saurav played an amazing match, and
hung in better than I did today…
First and foremost, I want to say that I’m really happy as
this is my only big win since my foot injury months ago. I
knew the form was coming back, I had a pretty close call
against Daryl in Hong Kong, and did not too bad against LJ
in Rotterdam.
But beating Tarek, who is playing so well at the moment, is
really a great achievement for me. You don’t beat Nick 3/0
if you are not playing very well….
Yes, we are both very fast on the court, but I feel we have
different tactics. He’s got that ridiculous touch from all
over the court, and will keep taking everything to the
front.
Me,
well, thanks to Malcolm influence, I seem to manage to find
a good balance between the back and front today, marrying
the Indian and the English game. Yes, I am an instinctive
attacker, but thanks to Malcolm’s work, I’m more and more
patient, keeping the rallies going, and I keep repeating to
myself not to go short too soon.
It was a great help that Malcolm came to Bombay before Hong
Kong. Whatever squash player I am today, I owe it to him.
Plus, I trained with Ritwik as well, doing solo practice
with him, and that helped me tremendously as well.
You
asked me in Qatar to what factor I was attributing my lack
of recent results, and I told you I didn’t know. But since,
I realised that I was not happy – for no reasons, because I
have absolutely no reason not to be happy – and I don’t
know, staying home in Bombay, working hard, going to big
tournaments like Hong Kong and here, well, I just started
enjoying myself again, and hopefully I can keep doing that
from now on.
Just one last word. For my dad, I had so many bad results
recently, and he’s always been so supportive, always there
for me, always doing so much for me. So just a word to thank
him today. And I think that right now, he must be jumping up
and down in this office…
Ryan
Cuskelly (Aus) bt Ong Beng Hee (Mas)
11/6, 11/7, 11/9 (43m)
BENG HEE NOT THAT WELL…
Not taking anything away from Ryan but I could see how flat
the Malaysian was today. I’ve been told he’s been suffering
from a fever for the past days, and was not doing much with
the ball really today. And against a ready to fight till the
end Cuskelly, up for it and extremely confident, well, the
writing was on the wall…
I’m
pretty happy. I started really well and played really good
and accurate squash for 1 game and a half. But after that, I
started thinking about the end of the match and wanted to
win so badly… But I won 3/0, I’ll take that.
I had a pretty good month, so I’m feeling confident, and
really wanted to win and that’s what made the difference
today. At 9/7 in the 3rd, I kept pushing, tried and cut the
errors down and scrapped it 11/9…
Jan
Koukal (Cze) bt Alan Clyne (Sco)
9/11, 11/5, 11/7, 11/8 (60m)
Happy!
I didn’t have many expectations when I arrived here, I just
arrived from NY on Monday, so you can’t say I had the best
of preparations. And I guess it just took the pressure off
me really.
I had already played Alan, I knew what I wanted to do, and
Greg was helping me out, which was a great help. I made sure
I really slowed him down and took my chances…
Steve
Coppinger (Rsa) bt Ali Anwar Reda (Egy)
11/3, 11/5, 11/9 (48m)
I kept it
simple throughout the whole match, and tried to play the
right shot at the right time. When he had a few run of
points, I tried and stayed with him, and then, was able to
pull away.
“Myself and
Karim D have nicknamed Karim “Clever”. He just learns so
fast. If you beat him in a corner for example, once, twice,
the third time, he’s found the solution and won’t let you
beat him again.
And have you seen his results lately??? The boy is on fire.
I think the crucial moment was at the end of the 4th, when
we got to 6/6, 8/8. I thought he would start and get the
pressure on him. And he did, and it’s turned in my favour….
So happy to be in the second round.
Max
Lee(Hkg) bt Farhan Mehboob (Pak)
11/3, 11/4, 11/7 (23m)
TEARS IN THE EYES
I haven’t been as touched as I was today by the despair of a
player for a very long time.
A lost at sea Farhan was just a complete shamble at the end
of his match against Max Lee today. Oh, don’t misunderstand
him, or me.
Max played really well, except for a few errors in the
third, when he started thinking. And truly and completely
deserves that victory.
But Farhan. Victim like so many other Pakistanis players of
the politics that ravage his federation for months now. Left
without a coach, nobody to train or work with, Farhan was
just in complete despair.
“I’m
thinking, last year, my game was going so well, I was
playing well, and never lost in the first round. Now, I’m or
injured, and can’t perform, and if I’m fit, I’m losing the
first round.
“I feel we’ve been abandoned. We’ve been pleading for
support, help, tournaments, coach, but we feel that squash
is finished in Pakistan.
"It’s only my dad that’s supporting me, and I can see him
rushing everywhere, trying to train me while he is not
trying to work or getting me support.”
“I want my game back”, he concluded.
Abdullah
Almezayen (Kuw) bt Miguel
Rodriguez (Col)
11/5, 14/12, 11/7 (36m)
A MAGISTERIAL PERFORMANCE Well,
it had been coming for a few months. That young Kuwaiti
player, that has been accumulating the victories (Qatar
Circuit n°1, Jena in KW, KW squash federation tournament,
Sense Open in Lebanon), is highly considered on the circuit.
He is a hard working player, and it shows today.
Today, Miguel did his best, run an awful amount of miles,
but just couldn’t find a length or width enough to cause
trouble to the Home Player. He could have squeezed the
second one, having had a few match game balls, and I guess
the match could have turned.
But I was really impressed by the KW performance to be
honest. He was sharp, accurate, he built his rallies really
well, and got the rewards…
I
finally won!!!!
I really would like to thank Her Excellency Sheikha Fadyah
Al-Sabah and the organisers for this amazing tournament. I’m
so proud I won for them tonight;
I’ve been training very hard, thanks to the support of the
KW Federation, Her Excellency Sheikha Fadyah Al-Sabah and my
sponsor, Mahmood Al Ghanin.
I knew that I had to work on my fitness to be able to
compete with the top players. And tonight, I have my reward,
I just beat the world number 34!
Olli
Tuominen (Fin) bt Robbie Temple
(Eng)
11/7, 11/13, 11/6, 12/10 (65m)
ROBBIE, IN AND OUT… That
boy is so gifted, and can place such clever and feather drop
shots, but then he seems to switch off, and make a few silly
errors. And I’m not sure that his continual arguing with the
ref actually helped him to stay focused on the job to do.
But hey, what do I know…
Now, if we speak of mistakes, Olli made so many in the third
game bless him. Up comfortable 1/0 and 8/3, he started to go
for far too short far too early? And from 8/6, till the end
of the game, made five uncharacteristic unforced errors,
that basically, cost him that game…
In the third, the Fin managed to stay ahead for the whole
game, 4/0, 6/3, 8/4 and first game ball 10/5, to finally
close it 11/6 on a nth tin from Robbie, but the Englishman
came back to lead 6/2 in the fourth, then 8/5 and 10/8 but
couldn't close it out as Olli took the last four points and
the place in round two.
Sometimes, you
feel that you are not 20 anymore, you take a bit more time
to recover, but a good warm up, and it’s fine again….
I did lose my rhythm after the first game, and it turned out
to be a real struggle. I did take a good start. The second
was pretty awful, and in the 3rd, the ball got cold, I made
a few errors, went too short, and started to panic really….
But I’m happy I managed to close it down eventually, . Now I
will have to raise my game if I want to match up Thierry
tomorrow. I got a few wins over the years against him, and
tomorrow will be as ever a tough match…
I played well in the first
game, I was up 6/3, but after that, I lost a bit of
positivity.
When he gets into a rhythm, he is pretty dangerous, so I had
to try and break it, mixed my shots to the four corners of
the court, and controlled the rallies better. But then, I
sort of switched off. Maybe not switched off, but let him in
control, and me not doing enough with the ball.
We played a few good rallies during the match, but I need to
find more consistency. Since my foot injury, I couldn’t
really have a consistent training, the pain seems to come
and go…I need to have a good rest over Christmas….
First
time we play in PSA, but we share a flat in England, and we
play every week. And every week, it’s very tough. Recently,
I spent more time with him than with my girlfriend, which
I’m not exactly happy with!!!!!
And it made it pretty difficult today….
Still, although we know each other inside out, it’s so
different when you play a big tournament, and on the glass
court!
Today, I knew that we were both going to be pretty tired,
and that if I made it hard, and was mentally prepared for
it, I could have a chance. We just been playing both of us
in Pittsburgh, and flew from there to Philly, then
Manchester, 10h in Manchester, then Abu Dhabi. We are a bit
tired arriving yesterday…
He
is so good in the middle if you slow down the ball, so I
tried and took it away from him, kept the pace up…
And this is the first time that I reach the last 32 for a
while. Campbell and myself have started to drain with David
Pearson, and I can see the result, in the consistency. I
don’t get many chances to thank him, so….
I’m so happy to be playing with James, that’s what I want to
do, compete with those guys. I’ll have no pressure, and I’m
just going to enjoy it.
Simon
Rosner (Ger) bt Marwan El Shorbagy
(Egy)
4/11, 11/7, 11/8, 11/9 (59m)
MARWAN, NOT FAR…
Like
Simon stated “can you believe Marwan is only 18?”??? He
showed great maturity and authority today I thought. Yes,
Simon was able to contain him pretty well at time, and
pushed him behind him often.
But if he had the bad idea to relax just a bit, and give a
sniff to the Egyptian, he was up for counterattacks and a
lot of trouble….
I really enjoyed this game. It was an accurate squash, a
mixture of up and down the wall and great attacking. It was
a pleasure to watch those two battle on there. A bit too
many chats from Simon with the refs, I don’t think once
again it’s helping him much.
This was a good match, with some ridiculously fast paced
rallies at times. Excellent level indeed.
I had really a slow start, I made so many unforced errors,
so many, and Marwan didn’t do any, he played so well! I can
be a bit too tense before a match, but today, maybe I
chilled too much and was a bit too loose to start with…
I got a bit better in the second and for the following
games. But I had in my mind it was going to be a tough
match, and it was! And I’m quite happy with that win.
You cannot let an Egyptian in front of you, and you’ve got
to make it as hard as you can. Marwan is such a good player,
can you believe he is only 18 years old!
He is world Junior champion, and he’s got a great future in
front of him, we both do I hope, and I hope we’ll be playing
much more matches…
Mohammed
Abbas (Egy) bt Adrian Waller (Eng)
11/2, 11/6, 8/11, 11/4 (39m)
ABBAS IN GREAT SHAPE
You take a shot maker – look it up in the dictionary, under
Shot Maker, you’ll find Egyptian – a very cold court – it’s
winter here – and a hungry for victory Abbas – trying to
come back from injury to his best level.
Result is a bit of a weird game, with Abbas dominating most
of the match, short rallies, great front game, then
switching off completely in the third, behind 9/2, to come
back to 8/9 and finally losing that one 11/9!
In the 4th, Adrian a bit more confident made the rallies
last a bit longer, but it’s Abbas who will play his
compatriot Karim Darwish tomorrow…
I’m
pretty happy. I started really well and played really good
and accurate squash for 1 game and a half. But after that, I
started thinking about the end of the match and wanted to
win so badly… But I won 3/0, I’ll take that.
