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TODAY in Delhi - Friday 16th,
QUARTER-FINALS |
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Quarter-Finals:
[4]
Gregory Gaultier (Fra)
bt
[8] LJ Anjema (Ned)
11/5, 11/2, 11/5 (38m)
[6] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt [2] Karim Darwish (Egy)
11/9, 8/11, 11/5, 11/3 (60m)
[3] James Willstrop (Eng) bt [7] Daryl Selby (Eng)
11/7, 11/7, 9/11, 11/5 (65m)
[5] Peter Barker (Eng) bt [1] Ramy Ashour (Egy)
11/13, 11/7, 11/8, 11/1 (45m)
Willstrop and Gaultier march on
as top two seeds crash out in Delhi ...
The quarter-finals of the Punj Lloyd PSA Masters in Delhi saw
in-form James Willstrop and Gregory advance to the semi-finals,
but the third and fourth seeds will face unexpected opposition
after the top two seeds, bothe Egyptian, were beaten ...
 With
a 13-1 head to head record going into the first quarter-final,
Gregory Gaultier showed no sign of letting Laurens Jan
Anjema get as close as he did in their last meeting in
Rotterdam where the big Dutchman went 2-0 up.
The Frenchman was on top from the beginning and never let up as
he went through to the semi-finals with some ease, and in the
process ended the Dutchman's remote chance of making January's
World Series Finals.
 The
second match saw a big upset as Mohamed El Shorbagy
claimed his first ever win over compatriot Karim Darwish,
to #2 seed who had reached the final in both of the last world
series events.
Shorbagy got the better of a tight first game, Darwish levelled,
then the youngster pulled away from 5-all in the third to take
the lead and quickly built a 9-0 lead in the fourth, which
Darwish never looked likely to overhaul.
 Next
up was an all-English match between the in-form James
Willstrop and Daryl Selby, appearing in his first
world series quarter-final of the year. Willstrop, who needs to
win the tournament to become world number one for the first
time, had the edge in the first two games but Selby played well
to get back into the match by taking the third game.
Willstrop got a good start in the fourth, and although Selby
pegged the lead back, Willstrop was able to close out to make it
14 wins out of 14 against Selby, and yet another world series
semi-final.
 The
final match saw another upset as top seed Ramy Ashour,
returning to action after pulling up in the World Open with a
hamstring injury, appeared to suffer a recurrence in the middle
of his second game against Peter Barker.
The Englishman had taken an 8-4 lead in the first, but Ashour
took that 13/11 displaying his marvelous skills and built a lead
in the second too, but from midway through the game was clearly
struggling with his movement.
He made a valiant effort to stay in the match in the third, to
no avail, and Barker went through to another meeting with
Willstrop after a processional fourth.
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Your Predictions - NO all correct answers
today |
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Malcolm reports from Delhi |
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We've played a lot
recently and it's always tough. I was ready today after the
match we played in Holland, that match we had in Rotterdam was
fresh in my mind and legs!
But I started very fast today, whereas last time, I was far too
passive, and today I was in front of my 'home crowd'!
He has improved after making top 10 so congratulations to him.
I'm happy to finish 2011 injury free (well hopefully, it's not
finished yet!) because the last few years I've only been able to
play for 8 months out of 12. After a bad injury at the end of
last season I'm just happy to be fit and playing.
Pour le moment tout roule, j’ai bien joué aujourd’hui et je me
suis bien préparé vu le dernier match qu’on avait fait à
Rotterdam.
Mais j’ai démarré le match plein gaz alors que la dernière fois
j’etais trop passif.
Demain un autre match contre un Shorbagy en forme |
[4] Gregory Gaultier (Fra)
bt
[8] LJ Anjema (Ned)
11/5, 11/2, 11/5 (38m)
Gaultier Immaculate
 There was much to look forward
to on quarter finals night and first on were Gregory Gaultier
and Laurens Anjema in a repeat of their World Championship
meeting, when Gaultier won from 2-0 down.
Gaultier settled the better, too, looking very focused, leading
6-0 until Anjema hit a cross court nick to register his first
point.
He is not one to give way lightly and at 4-8 he was
involved. At 4-9 he dominated and won a testing rally, but a
quality backhand angle by Gaultier from deep gave Gaultier his
first game ball which he gratefully accepted.
Anjema was concentrating hard, but Gaultier looked well in
control of matters at 4-0 in the second, playing very well, but
especially so on the forehand.
Anjema is an improved player, but Gaultier's extra class and dimensions took him to 9-1. A rare
error from Gaultier gave Anjema his second point of the game,
but that was as much as he could muster.
Most good judges would have expected Gaultier to win, but not as
easily as was now happening. At 3-1 in the third to Gaultier
even the durable Anjema looked in some doubt, but he recovered
to 3 all before Gaultier pulled away again to win with ease.
Presenter Vanessa Atkinson described Gaultier's performance as
immaculate and she was right. He will take some beating on this
evidence.
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[6] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt [2] Karim Darwish (Egy)
11/9, 8/11, 11/5, 11/3 (60m)
Shorbagy accelerates to victory
 Of
the four of the World's top six players playing in the Punj
Lloyd, three, Gregory Gaultier, James Willstrop and Karim
Darwish have all looked in fine form, joined by Ramy Ashour,
hopefully fit again.
After Gaultier's impressive dismantling of Laurens Anjema, it
was Darwish's turn to show his skills against Mohammed El
Shorbagy. His precision gave him a 4-2 early advantage ,which
Shorbagy aggressively turned into a 5-4 lead for him.
The pace was quick which suits Shorbagy and there was little in
it at 8-7 to Darwish.A stroke took the score to 9 all and a
video review gave Shorbagy a welcome let-to him anyway. 10-9
game ball to Shorbagy and after a ferocious rally Shorbagy won
the game on a stroke.
Darwish surprisingly seemed happy to take Shorbagy on at pace,
which so far was not working. 5 all in the second-crucial times
approaching, errors from Shorbagy creeping in; 8 all after a
fluke, then a successful but lucky, I thought review by
Shorbagy. Another was denied him and Darwish served at 10-8,
levelling at the first attempt.
Two Darwish errors took Shorbagy to 5-4 in the third. He wrongly
disputed one of his pickups which was a mile down and the scores
were level again, the pace unrelenting. At 9-5 with the game
running away from Darwish a stroke to Shorbagy and the game and
a two one lead was his.
The signs were ominous for Darwish now and he offered only token
resistance in the fourth as Shorbagy, revving up raced to 9-0
and then 10-3. One match ball was enough and the youngster had
achieved a famous and deserved victory.
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"I am really
happy...out of words...
I have so much respect for him and everyone knows it.. He helped me
a lot before my world juniors and went on court with me a lot at a
time when I couldn't compete at all with him...
I did play better than my best... everything was just coming with me
even every time I asked for a review it always came my way... I
asked for 7 reviews during the match I got 6 out of them right!!! My
short game was working really well... it's just one of those days
you know when everything is just coming your way...
I play Gaultier now who is in a good form.. I have a lot of respect
for him.. first time i have ever watched the professionals playing
was in Al-Ahram in 2006 when Gaultier played the final of the world
open... I was 14 years old at that time... I have always followed
him and always wanted to play like him when I was young and now I am
playing him in a semi final of a world serious event its UNREAL for
me!!!
So happy right now but i am still in the tournament and it's not
over so I need to control that excitement inside me!! "
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I was ready for Daryl's dogged
phases at the end of those last games.
Even though I might have looked like I was in control, I was
under no illusions. I just had to dig it out and play quite
boring to stay ahead.
It was very hard but a good scrap, and fair as it always is with
Daryl.
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[3] James Willstrop (Eng) bt [7] Daryl Selby (Eng)
11/7, 11/7, 9/11, 11/5 (65m)
Willstrop wins all-English clash
Here was an all England confrontation between two players who
have competed for England together, and against each other for
over 15 years.
A fine delay on the forehand, which set the pattern of much what
was to come in the first two games brought Willstrop level at
one all in the first. He was soon into the now familiar rhythm
that has characterised his recent play and delaying
regularly-even if the officials don't recognise it-he always led
in the first game, controlling matters, winning it 11-7.
Things didn't alter much in the second game, though Selby was
resisting strongly, as he does and there were some heavy rallies
in the middle of the game. From 7 all the pressure that
Willstrop had exerted told and he won the second, also 11-7.
A combination of Selby errors and Willstrop winners gave
Willstrop a 7-3 lead in the third, but disruptions at this point
and later in the game seem to break his rhythm, as Selby
continued to fight hard. His determination paid dividends, too,
as he won the third 11-9,something that certainly looked
unklikely at 7-3,credit to him for persisting.
Willstrop, probably wondering what on earth had happened,
regrouped, playing more restrictedly and quickly reached 8-1.A
final flurry from Selby, who refused to go away, but Willstrop
won the game and the match 11-5.
Willstrop will be happy enough with his performance, andSelby
had shown signs of a return to form in his match against Simon
Rosner and these were borne out again here-he will take
encouragement from his play in Delhi. |
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[5] Peter Barker (Eng) bt [1] Ramy Ashour (Egy)
11/13, 11/7, 11/8, 11/1 (45m)
Ramy out again
Although he got off to a rusty start yesterday against Cameron
Pilley, Ashour certainly showed some signs of former brilliance
in the last two games. However, the Barker match would be the
first real test I felt, the Englishman having beaten him before.
The match started as predicted with Ramy hitting unforced errors
followed by ridiculous winners and Barker just trying to contain
the unpredictable Egyptian by keeping the ball tight and wide.
After going down 3/0 in a matter of seconds, Ashour managed to
get a few winners here and there to stay in touch. A string of
unforced errors gave Barker 8/4, only for Ashour to put together
a string of good rallies to go 9/8. Ashour had a game ball at
10/9 however a successful review by Barker forced a tiebreak.
Barker had a game ball at 11/10 only for Ashour to play a
perfect forehand drop. A stroke followed by a cross court drop
in the nick eventually gave Ashour the game 13/11.
Ashour seemed to be finding his range and he came out firing in
the second. He raced to 4/0 and then 5/2 with Barker hanging on
for dear life. At 6/3 Ashour seemed to pull up on a shot in the
front right and a few points later it was clear something was
wrong. He was stretching his hamstring in between points and
refusing to chase up his shots. A few moments later they were
off court, Barker taking the game 11/7.
Ashour, who seems to struggle to retire during matches to his
own detriment, came back on for the third and was clearly unable
to move into the front, especially on the forehand. He actually
still managed to make it quite hard for Barker, such is the
quality of his racket ability and even got as far as 8 all.
However, Barker managed to settle his nerves just in time to
expose the Ashour movement, taking the game 11/8.
The fourth was a formality with most of us watching, wondering
why Ashour hadn't seen sense yet and retired. It was frankly
painful to watch and a sad thing to witness, one of the world's
best players breaking down once again through injury. It was
almost a relief when they finally shook hands, Barker winning
the fourth 11/1.
Let's hope Ashour will learn from this and finally take the time
to get the hamstring injury sorted out once and for all. Squash
needs him to be around for the long haul, such is his appeal as
a player.
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He was still really good on one
leg! I hope he's not too badly injured.
Ramy's spearheading PSA so hopefully he'll be ably to recover
over Christmas.
Tomorrow James again! We've played a good few times over the
years especially this year.
I got him once at Canary Wharf earlier in the year but I've lost
a few times since then. We always have decent matches though so
I'm looking forward to it.
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