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Shabana falls early
Richard Eaton

Rosner puts out
the four-time finalist

Abdullah gives Daryl a fright

Simon Shocks Shabana,
well played Abdullah ...

[13] Cameron Pilley (Aus) bt Chris Ryder (Eng)
            11/8, 11/9, 11/6 (58m)
[7] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Borja Golan (Esp)
            12/10, 11/7, 5/11, 2/11, 12/10 (85m)
[10] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt Saurav Ghosal (Ind)
             11/5, 9/11, 12/10, 11/2 (70m)
[16] Alister Walker (Bot) bt Mathieu Castagnet (Fra)
             6/11, 11/6, 11/7, 8/11, 11/8 (85m)
[15] Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt Steve Coppinger (Rsa)
             11/5, 11/6, 11/6 (40m)
[12] Azlan Iskandar (Mas) bt Jonathan Kemp (Eng)
             11/3, 11/4, 11/9 (18m) 
[5] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy)
             11/7, 11/2, 11/6 (34m)
[6] Peter Barker (Eng) bt Jan Koukal (Cze)
              11/5, 11/6, 11/7 (42m)
[14] Adrian Grant (Eng) bt  Ryan Cuskelly (Aus)
               11/6, 11/13, 5/11, 11/4, 11/3 (76m)
[11] Omar Mosaad (Egy) bt Max Lee (Hkg)
               11/8, 11/13, 11/7, 11/5 (67m) 

Green Island, from 18.00

[1] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt Nicolas Mueller (Sui)
            11/6, 11/3, 11/1 (29m)
[8] Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt Olli Tuominen (Fin)
            11/6, 13/11, 11/6 (47m)
[9] Daryl Selby (Eng) bt Abdullah Almezayen (Kuw)
            9/11, 11/3, 11/9, 5/11, 11/9 (66m)
[3] James Willstrop (Eng) bt Chris Simpson (Eng)
            11/0, 11/8, 11/9 (27m)
Simon Rosner (Ger) bt [4] Amr Shabana (Egy)
            11/8, 11/7, 11/6 (22m)
[2] Karim Darwish (Egy) bt Mohammed Abbas (Egy)
            11/5, 11/4, 11/5 (28m)

With six matches to play, top seed Nick Matthew did the schedule a favour when he despatched Nicolas Mueller in less than half an hour. Matthew was impressive from the start and Mueller accepted his fate from early in the third game as it finished 11/6, 11/3, 11/1.

Thierry Lincou won in straight games too, but Olli Tuominen did his level best to extend the match. The Frenchman took the first easily enough, and built a good lead in the second, but a Finnish fightback took it to extra points.

Once Lincou had averted that danger, saving a game ball in the process, he reasserted in the third, finishing off the last few points quickly to win 11/6, 13/11, 11/6.

Then it was on to the main event of the night, the reason we had six matches as local wildcard Abdullah Almezayen took on Daryl Selby, the 9th seed, and came so, so close to one of the biggest upsets ever.

You normally expect to see wildcards subside quickly after a bright opening spell, but Abdullah is way better than most wildcards and gave Selby a real scare, playing some extraordinary shots and rallies.

He came from 3/7 down to take the first with six points in a row, almost came back in the third, and threatened again in the fifth, saving four match balls from 10/5 to 10/9 before, much to his opponent's relief, playing a final dropshot into the tin for a scoreline of 9/11, 11/3, 11/9, 5/11, 11/9 in 66 minutes.

James Willstrop didn't look in the mood to hang about as he beat Chris Simpson 11/0 in the first game. Simpson improved, and in the third especially pushed the new Hong Kong champion close, but Willstrop closed it out 11/0, 11/8, 11/9.

The upset came in the penultimate match of the day as Simon Rosner dumped Amr Shabana, the fourth seed and two-time Kuwait champion, out of the event.

The German played well, of course he did, but it was one of those lackadaisical performances that Shabana can sometimes give ... "not up for it" was another analysis offered.

So, at 10:20 the final match started, and the wager of whether all 16 seeds would progress or whether we'd finish before midnight was not going to receive and more takers.

Karim Darwish is one of the most adept at getting through early rounds without too much ado, and he finished the night off in his usual ruthlessly efficient fashion, despatching compatriot Mohammed Abbas 11/5, 11/4, 11/5.
 

Round three, the last sixteen, features three matches at the Qadsia Club and five more at Green Island tomorrow night.
  

"ONE RALLY": Is it possible to get enough photos from one rally ???

I so enjoyed playing Daryl Selby, what a great player, I really enjoyed having the opportunity to play one of the top players in the world. And I hope that I made the KW crowd happy tonight.

Of course, once again, I really would like to thank Her Excellency Sheikha Fadyah Al-Sabah and the organisers for this amazing tournament. Also the KW Federation and my sponsor, Mahmood Al Ghanin.

Next year isa, I’ll be coming back and play better squash. I’m going to work hard and train to improve both my fitness and my squash. And I’ll be a better player next year isa.

[9] Daryl Selby (Eng) bt Abdullah Almezayen (Kuw)
            9/11, 11/3, 11/9, 5/11, 11/9 (66m)

ABDULLAH, TRY AND STOP HIM!!!!!

I remember the first time I saw Abdullah. He was a wild card, something like 15 and played the Marine. I remember saying at the time how much I was impressed by that boy.

Well, no other way to say this, this young man blew me away tonight.

His countenance, his calm on court – Greg Gaultier style, with his arms always in perfect relaxation position between his shots, managing the effort to perfection – his backhand volley cross court, Shabana style, soaring like a bird about to take off, his perfect width that dies nicely in the back corners, his counterattacking, a great defence lob Beng Hee’s quality and a determination, well, I would say Nick Mathew’s style.

And oh boy, beware when he is down scorewise! That’s when he is the most relaxed stroke dangerous. He came back from 9/5 in the first game to take it 11/9, and from 10/5 match ball to only lose 11/9!!!

In other words, the boy is good.

He is not perfect. In patches, his shots had no purpose, and at that level of game, against such a player as Daryl, it’s pretty lethal. Also, his fitness could improve a notch, he would get more confident, in particular at the end of the games/match. And he needs to stick to a game plan. At times, he seemed just in automatic mode, and Daryl took full advantage of that too.

But come on! 3/2 against Daryl Selby who didn’t not try for a second, 11/9 in the 5th! Daryl will be happy that a bit of inexperience from his opponent at the end saved the day for him and can feel proud he didn’t panic …

He is such a great player, he has improved so much over the past year. He’s been playing a lot of tournaments around these areas, and has started to make his mark. And if he keeps on playing like that, there is absolutely no reason he couldn’t reach top 20, top 10.

This court is just great, it’s what we professional squash players train for all year, to play in front of great crowds like this one in KW. I had pretty good memories here, and tonight, it went my side, well, just about!!!!

[13] Cameron Pilley (Aus) bt Chris Ryder (Eng)
   11/8, 11/9, 11/6 (58m)

Chris is such a good tactical player. And I’m not exactly a body builder myself, but he is not that strong physically, but still can hurt you by playing such a great clever game and hitting the right shot at the right time, and getting a lot of balls back.

On that traditional court, the ball sits up a lot more, that gives him the time to be smart with the ball, and that suits him more. On the glass court, it’s more about being more reactive, quickness, and that suits me better. And getting a 3/0 win against Chris on that court, I’m happy..



We played in the Worlds a couple of weeks ago, and I thought that I played well for a game, until he started hammering the ball…!!! But today, I was able to do a few things better.

Still, a few errors at crucial times, like in the second I’m 7/4 up, I have a dolly of a volley drop shot, and I tinned. That was a stupid shot….

I think I played better than last time, and I deserved a game…

[7] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Borja Golan (Esp)
            12/10, 11/7, 5/11, 2/11, 12/10 (85m)

BORJA, SO CLOSE…

The Spanish played a perfect game today, and will be quite rightly disappointed with that 12/10 loss in the 5th.

A tired Mohamed – “I never played four tournaments in a month, it’s a new experience for me” – and a patient, clever, tactically so astute Borja, and you have a heck of a match.

Borja basically frustrated Mohamed the whole match, slowing down the pace to practically a halt, with such an accuracy, to be honest, it was a pleasure to see. Delaying the ball, tight drives, mixing pace and angles – Borja’s boasts and conterdrops, so perfect – Mohamed just got impatient and frustrated, which was the whole purpose really.

At the end of the day, it came down to what… A few no lets against Borja here and there that I find personally undeserved, and a gutsy finish from Mohamed that gets 2 kill nicks cross court to close it out from 10/10

I’m at the same time proud and disappointed with my performance today. I hope that tomorrow I’ll play better. It’s always difficult the first match, to get used to the ball.

I played well, but in patches. And in the 1st game, I’m 9/2 up, and next thing I know, I’m finding myself 10/9 down! I can’t do that. I was lucky, I got away with it. But it was so strange, my legs were just like so heavy! I’m not sure why, maybe because I’ve been playing four tournaments in a month, that’s a new experience for me.

I was really struggling physically, as if I had 10kg extra on each ankle. And in the 3rd and 4th, I completely lost concentration.

In the 5th, it was point by point. I found myself down 8/5, clawed back, and played a crazy drop shot, I can’t believe I got away with that one. And then at the end, I play two cross court winners, I was super lucky.

And I’m proud of what I did, because despite the heaviness, despite all what I felt today, it’s a win.

Borja today play unbelievably well. His backhand drives were so tight, I couldn’t volley at all. So instead of keeping it simple and straight, I had to vary the angles, all credit to him, he didn’t let me play the way I wanted. I have such respect for him, for the way he came back after his injury. He is playing so well, he is confident. And I’m so happy I won today, I’m so… relieved…

[10] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt Saurav Ghosal (Ind)
             11/5, 9/11, 12/10, 11/2 (70m)

Saurav won a very tough match yesterday against Tarek. I watched the two fastest guys on the circuit playing each other and it was a brutal battle.

So I knew he was gonna feel it and I tried to remind myself that he had less in the legs than me. Well, I reminded myself but hardly noticed it.

I played well but I think I was lucky today: especially winning that 3rd game.

That was the 'make or break' moment. In the fourth I started really good and ran away. Bit unfortunate what happened to him in the 4th, I think the referees were very harsh giving him a conduct stroke without giving him a warning first. It was totally unnecessary.

The Kuwaitis look after the players so well each year, I think it's one of the best organized events in the world and I'm looking forward to playing on the glass court @ Green Island tomorrow!

 

One match too many coming back from 2/1 down… I needed that 3rd…

I played well for three games, the fourth, I didn’t, to say the least.

But I’m happy with the form, hopefully, I can carried that form forward and build confidence from that…

[5] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy)
    11/7, 11/2, 11/6 (34m)

I was really knackered after I played Nick Matthew in Hong Kong. It was tough because I had long matches. I really was tired. I was disappointed not to be a little fresher for the semi-final there because I had a chance to win the tournament.

But maybe it will help me to do well here, to have had one more day off. We play such a lot of tournaments, and it can be dangerous to push too much. I don’t want to finish the year like I did last time, with a bad injury.

I am really working a lot on prevention now. I am really serious about it. I am better at the stretching and the exercises. I work on my legs and even my upper body.

Years ago I risked injury. Now I do prevention exercises for everything. The last injury I had – to my adductor – was really painful, and it took me four months to get my fitness back.

But now I have this pleasure and fighting spirit back again.

[6] Peter Barker (Eng) bt Jan Koukal (Cze)
 11/5, 11/6, 11/7 (42m)

The score reflects how he improved as the match went along. In the third, he was more stubborn, more determined, and it ended up being a really tough game.

Pretty happy with a 3/0 after I had a little trouble in Hong Kong, and to see that my knee – that was inflamed then – has now settled nicely.

Mentally, you just try and draw a line between tournaments, both mentally and physically, and it’s now about try and push till home…

[15] Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt Steve Coppinger (Rsa)
   11/5, 11/6, 11/6 (40m)

Last time we played was two years ago, and it was already tough. But it was even tougher today!

In the first, I took a good start, and I was up a couple of points ahead in the second, we had a massive rally at 6/5, which I nearly gave up on, and it turned into my advantage. The third was still tough, but I always had the lead, so it’s mentally easier.

It was a good match, nice and clean and fair, I really enjoyed it.

[11] Omar Mosaad (Egy) bt Max Lee (Hkg)
               11/8, 11/13, 11/7, 11/5 (67m) 

OMAR ON TOP, MAX NOT FAR OFF…

I was nicely surprised by this match, as there was not as many stops and starts that I would have dreaded – last week in Hong Kong, Greg/Mosaad match was not that fluid, to say the least.

Today, a nice clean match, with of course a few lets, Mosaad being pretty big to go around of, and taking the ball very early too, hence a few traffic jams along the way.

But a superb performance from the Egyptian, and non less superb one by the Hong Kong player, who was able to absorb the power of his opponent quite well, and made some stunning counter attacks as well.

Very impressed once again by Max, who is on the verge of getting some pretty big wins I would think…

It’s my first time in the last 16 in this tournament. I kept playing Ramy or Shabana each time! And I was supposed to play Ramy again, but he pulled out….

This court is different from the one in Hong Kong. It’s slow to the front and quick at the back, and I couldn’t volley as I wanted because the ball kept on shooting off fast!

Max played some great tight squash today, and we were pretty close the whole way. 8/7 to him in the 1st, to me in the second, which he won 12/10 – I made far too many errors and he played really well.

And the end well, was pretty tough, although I took some confidence when I went 2/1 up, my shots went in nicely, and as the ball went deader, I had more opportunities…



I tried and play into my strength today, straight and quick, but he is so fast, so explosive, hits the ball with great intensity, and made me run an awful lot.

In the 3rd, we had some crucial points, and I just well, didn’t know what to do. So many lets, and I just tried and play and run. Couldn’t concentrate on my shots, on what I was doing.

And at the end, too loose. In the 4th, he kept the momentum from the 4th…

If I can take the ball earlier, I can do better, still, I’m happy to take a game from him, and to feeling good, mentally, physically. Just the shots…

[14] Adrian Grant (Eng) bt Ryan Cuskelly (Aus)
               11/6, 11/13, 5/11, 11/4, 11/3 (76m)

First game I played pretty well, and in the second, I was up 9/4, I kind of switch off, and he played well, and came through.

In the third, he was playing better than me. It’s a hard court, and I was not struggling physically, and told myself that if I could keep in the rallies and stay positive, I could get a few cheap points from him in terms of unforced errors.

Considering the fact I just arrived from the States, I’m pretty happy with my performance, I needed that kind of matches to clean up the cobwebs…

[16] Alister Walker (Bot) bt Mathieu Castagnet (Fra)
             6/11, 11/6, 11/7, 8/11, 11/8 (85m)

That was mentally tough, after two back to back tournaments in the states and flying straight here.

It's hard to sleep so it was a massive push on there, especially when your body thinks it's 4, 5am, so I'm pleased to get the job done.

I'd never played Mathieu before, he's improved a lot over the last year, playing for France has given him some good experience and he's had some good wins, he's a tough, well seasoned pro now.

And yes, it did go through my mind that I needed to win so that I didn't have to referee the next match!

Whoa…

He played… it was the first time I played against him, and also my first time on the glass court. He is the world number one in the world, his presence on the T is just incredible, he makes himself so big – in a good sense. And I was a bit off today, and you cannot afford that really. Not against him, he just cruises…

[1] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt Nicolas Mueller (Sui)
            11/6, 11/3, 11/1 (29m)

It was a good performance, I wanted to start the tournament well. I did play well in HK, but went down to Greg, and that gave me an extra day of rest. I managed also to play a couple of times on this court, whereas Nicki, it was his first time tonight, and he probably struggled to see the ball and struggled on there, I could see he was heavier in the legs and in the mind than he was yesterday.

I made sure I kept him running. Thing is, once you get a few wins against the top guys, well, you can’t surprise them anymore, and you have got to start working double because they are ready for you. And tonight, I had the utmost respect for him, for the way he plays at the moment, and that’s the best compliment I can give him, I was ready for him!

[8] Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt Olli Tuominen (Fin)
            11/6, 13/11, 11/6 (47m)

THIERRY, LEGS FINE…

Well, he had to have fresh legs the French had cause Olli wasn’t there for the great view on Green Island. What an attacker that Finn is. He just never stops. Tight drives, great volley drives straight, pace up, and a special mention for his cutting off of the ball tonight, that took Thierry short so many times tonight.

The Frenchman was “in legs” as we say, and really deserved his “TitiTight’ nickname, as he really put Olli under tremendous pressure on the side walls. Also some nice volleying, and a great confidence in both his movement and short game tonight, gave him the edge. But he is be really happy to get off in 3, as Olli never ever thought about letting one point go, from the first rally to the last. And as Thierry concluded : “I just couldn’t shake him off!!!!”

Thank God I had the legs today, because I had to defend an awful lot, and could stay with him most of the time and keep up with that fast pace he likes.

We both like to volley and control the T, so it was pretty intense. I managed to do a bit less errors, insufflate a bit more impulse and pace. Big match. And very happy to get away with a 3/0, especially as he beat me last time we played in Hurghada, 3/0 as well… I had at heart to do better.

 

[3] James Willstrop (Eng) bt Chris Simpson (Eng)
            11/0, 11/8, 11/9 (27m)

It can be hard to back up tournaments once after the other, but you’ve got to try and not fall in a false sense of security. You know, nobody cares about what you’ve done. Only thing you have to do is give respect to all the players, and take each match as fresh…

Chris got better as the match went on. No disrespect to him, but he probably hasn’t played many World Series events against top players, so it took him a little while to get used to the pace. And he did. He did get used to it, got into it, and made me make errors, and we had two good games of squash.

 

Oh in the first game, I was still asleep! I didn’t sleep at all last night, so I slept most of the day today, and I was still sleeping in the first game! And he is the last person on Earth you want to play half asleep against… And I really pushed, because I really didn’t want that bagel!!!

It is so difficult to get in front of him when your length is not up to scratch. I did manage to get him behind at some point, but today, I didn’t have the legs to make it last.

And now, I can finally go home…

Simon Rosner (Ger) bt [4] Amr Shabana (Egy)
            11/8, 11/7, 11/6 (22m)

SHABANA STRUGGLING…

Not taking anything away from Simon who played beautifully, but Shabs was struggling movement wise. I could see how he had trouble putting weight on this left leg. Plus like he said briefly, “ I need a break”.

Don’t we all!!!!

That didn’t make Simon’s job that easy. Shabana, like Ramy, can win a match and find drop shots and perfect length from the changing rooms. And the German had to produce some excellent squash to beat the Prince of Egypt, however impaired or tired…

I'll take a 3/0 win against Shabana any day. He beat me so many times, and he’s been my idol since the age or 12 or 13.

So a win against him today is pretty special, not to mention my best win over a top player…

[2] Karim Darwish (Egy) bt Mohammed Abbas (Egy)
            11/5, 11/4, 11/5 (28m)

ABBAS ON THE RIGHT PATH…

Karim was always going to be the winner tonight in my prediction. But still, nobody can take Abbas for granted, and write him off.

His short game and read of the ball is still the same. He just needs, like Borja, to get more games with the top players to get match fit, mentally focused for games onwards, get his body to get back into gear as well and learn to trust it again after all those injuries he had….

We’ve been playing each other since the age of 10 years old, and been very good friends ever since. He is one of my best friend, and I’m so happy to see him back on tour. He has such a great touch, such talent, and it’s good for the game he is back, and it’s good for Egypt…

I had to be on my toes because I know how good and dangerous he can be.

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