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TODAY at the Qatar
Classic
2011:
Fri 14th, Day One
Fram & Steve in
Doha |
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Men's
Qualifying Round One:
Matthew Karwalski (Aus) bye
** Alan Clyne in main draw to replace Kemp ...
Siddarth Suchde (Ind) bt Leo Au (Hkg)
11/7, 11/13, 11/4, 11/1 (62m)
Kamran Khan (Mas) bt Omar Abdullah Al Emad (Qat)
11/5, 11/5, 11/4 (20m)
Joey Barrington (Eng) bt Bradley Hindle (Mlt)
11/5, 11/6,
2/11, 5/11, 11/7 (74m)
Mohamed Abouelgar (Egy) bt Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy)
11/7, 4/11, 7/11,
11/9, 11/9 (58m)
Yann Perrin (Fra) bt Omar Abdel Meguid (Egy)
11/3, 6/11,
8/11, 11/7, 11/6 (103m)
Muhd Asyraf Azan (Mas) bt Wael Farag (Egy)
11/9, 11/9, 8/11,
1/11, 11/4 (60m)
Chris Ryder (Eng) bt Ivan Yuen (Mas)
11/6, 11/2, 9/11,
11/6 (63m)
Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy) bt Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas)
11/8, 11/9,
6/11, 11/7 (53m)
Jaymie Haycocks (Eng) bt Ahmed Al Tamimi
(Qat)
11/0, 11/1, 11/6 (18m)
Robbie Temple (Eng) bt Raphael Kandra (Ger)
11/6,
11/9, 9/11, 11/7 (61m)
Henrik Mustonen (Fin) bt Aaron Frankcomb (Aus)
6/3 rtd (8m)
Marwan El shorbagy (Egy) bt Ryan Cuskelly (Aus)
11/9, 11/8, 9/11,
6/11, 11/9 (88m)
Mazen Gamal (Egy) bt Abdulrahman Al-Malki (Qat)
13/11, 11/4, 11/4 (30m)
Farhan Mehboob (Pak) bt Elvinn Keo (Mas)
11/2, 11/2, 11/4
(26m)
Mohammed Abbas (Egy) bt Harinderpal Sandhu (Ind)
12/10, 12/10, 8/11,
11/9 (60m) |
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Twitter:
@squashsite #qatarclassic
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Day
One Roundup:
Quiet start to Qatar Qualifying,
but it doesn't last ...
The 11th Qatar Classic got off to a quiet start as men's
qualifying top seed Alan Clyne, due on court in the first
batch of matches, was informed while he was warming up for the
match that the late withdrawal of Jonathan Kemp meant that he
was through to the main draw - against David Palmer - without
having to step on court.
The definitive ruling took a while to come through, but when it
did it was also good news for Clyne's prospective opponent
Matthew Karwalski, as the Australian received a bye instead
of having to face the running machine that is Clyne, or another
opponent as was originally ruled.
On court, Malaysia's Kamran Khan was the first to
register a win, overpowering Qatar's Omar Abdullah Al Emad in
just 20 minutes.
The quiet start didn't last long though, as there followed a
series of matches which were all long and highly-contested.
 Siddarth
Suchde overcame a tiring Leo Au 3/1 in just over an hour;
Joey Barrington saw a two-game lead disappear before finally
beating Bradley Hindle in five games and 74 minutes; Mohamed
Abouelgar's "hardest-ever match and best win" saw him beat
fellow Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad 11/9 in the fifth; Yann
Perrin came through an ugly encounter with Omar Abdel Meguid
that took five games, 103 minutes and 75 decisions; Muhd
Asyraf Azan took exactly an hour for his 3/2 win over Wael
Farag.
 Chris
Ryder looked to be about to buck the trend as he went two
games up against Malaysia's Ivan Yuen, but the youngster fought
back to take the third, leaving Ryder to wrap it up in four
games and 63 minutes.
With Omar Abdel Aziz - who at one stage thought he might
be getting a bye - battling it out with Nafiizwan Adnan on court
four, it was left to Jaymie Haycocks to bring an end to
the run of long matches as the Englishman reduced Qatari
interest with a quickfire win over Aspire student Ahmed Al
Tamimi. Haycocks will play Aziz for a place in the main draw
after the Egyptian beat Adnan 3/1 in a comparatively brisk but
entertaining 53 minutes.
Robbie Temple overcame some stern resistance from Raphael
Kandra, winning 3/21 in 61 minutes to make it a quartet of
Englishmen through to the qualifying finals, where he'll face a
fresh Henrik Mustonen, the young Finn who benefitted from
a knee injury which caused Aaron Frankcomb to retire mid-way
through their first game.
 It
soon became four Egyptians through too, as Marwan El Shorbagy
and Mazen Gamal won in contrasting styles to set up a
meeting tomorrow. Gamal put out the third and last Qatari
entrant, although Abdulrahman Al-Malki had game balls in the
first before subsiding in straight games, while Shorbagy, having
taken the first two games against Ryan Cuskelly, finally secured
an 11/9 in the fifth victory after 88 minutes. The Aussie was
left feeling aggrieved by his no let on the final point, while
Shorbagy summed it up saying "I just didn't want to lose today."
The final pairing was decided when Pakistan's Farhan Mehboob
made quick work of his win over Malaysian shotmaker Elvinn Keo
and experienced Egyptian Mohammed Abbas held off a
spirited challenge from young Indian Harinderpal Sandhu to win
3/1 in exactly an hour.
Qualifying finals, and women's qualifying round one, start at
noon tomorrow. |
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Siddarth Suchde
(Ind) bt Leo Au (Hkg)
11/7, 11/13, 11/4, 11/1 (62m)
Kamran Khan (Mas) bt Omar Abdullah Al Emad (Qat)
11/5, 11/5, 11/4 (20m)
Kamran with ease, Sid tested
If Kamran Khan didn’t have too much trouble handling
Qatari Omar Abdullah Al Emad – although he made far too many
errors for his own good – it was a different story for Indian
Siddarth Suchde against Hong Kong's Leo Au.
Sid started very well indeed, firmly planted on the T, helped
with Leo many unforced errors. But in the second game, the Hong
Kong player was far more patient, varied the pace much more,
accelerating the pace and surprising his opponent several times.
Leo had his first game ball at 10/7 in that second, but Sid
worked very hard indeed, clawing back to 10/10, 11/11. The
fourth game ball was the good one for the Hong Kong player, but
he really left all his energy on that game, and just couldn’t
find any power in the last two games, that Sid won, 4 and 1…
 "He
is a good player, and we had some very long rallies, but in the
first, he really made a lot of mistakes, he lost a bit of
confidence on there, and I was able to get a good and
comfortable lead.
"But in the second, the unforced errors levelled, and he got his
first game ball at 10/7. I dug in, hung in there, and I guess
that although I lost the game, the hard work paid off in the
end, as I could see he was slow to get to the ball after that,
making it easier for me to move the ball around.
"I’m frustrated, I wanted to finish the point far too quickly,
and made so many errors in the first game! I lost it far too
quickly. At the end, I was tired physically, but I have no
excuse for the earlier mistakes…"
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Joey Barrington (Eng)
bt Bradley Hindle (Mlt)
11/5, 11/6,
2/11, 5/11, 11/7 (74m)
JOEY IN FIVE, AS EVER
I’m sorry, but there should be a law that says that Joey
Barrington has got to play the last one of the day, bless his
sweet white cotton socks, as he likes to make the pleasure
last…. I left after watching the first two games, where Joey was
well in control on the T, and Bradley looking a bit out of focus
at times, then working hard again, then looking veeeeeery tired
at the end of the second.
And I thought, ok, that’s done and finish, let’s go and see
what’s going on next door, by the time I come back, I’ll have
the quotes from them both.
But of course, it didn’t happen, did it?? Joey lost the next
two, and I arrived at the start of the 5th, with both players
tired, but digging in, some nice rallies, each wrong footing the
other one, nice squash.
But Bradley on that last game just didn’t seem to finish the
points, and Joey, as he always does, hang in there, forcing Brad
to take more and more risks, and getting errors out of him at
crucial times, 5/4 and 8/6 in particular. So frustrating.
The Maltese will be extremely disappointed with that loss, as he
came so close, and Joey, well, as he said “It’s nice to get a
win on PSA for once ..."
 "I
played some pretty immaculate and accurate squash in the first
two, I was very relaxed and moving well. But in the next two, I
relaxed too much, and the ball having gone soft, Bradley took
advantage of the conditions much earlier than I did. I lost my
length, and he played very positively – which he had to do, as
he was 2/0 down!
In the fifth, it was up to me to make a choice where I wanted
the match to go, and I chose to make it a go.. I’m happy to win,
of course I would have rather win 3/0, but it’s all credit to
Bradley who made it very difficult for me."
Joey Barrington |
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Yann Perrin (Fra)
bt Omar Abdel Meguid (Egy)
11/3, 6/11,
8/11, 11/7, 11/6 (103m)
 PERRIN
IN THE END
A very long, very disputed, very “let please” match between the
Frenchman and the strong Egyptian that lasted over 100 minutes,
and the least that can be said is that there was not much love
lost on court.
So many decisions, over 75 a few injury times, dead leg for the
Frenchman in particular plus a few bruises, both trying to plead
with John Massarella, firmly in charge of the referring, which
today was a tough job indeed…
 "I
didn’t make so many errors today, I had a very bad start this
season, and my aim today was to keep the ball in the court as
much as possible, to play straight, and to prevent him from
volleying as much as I could.
"And I also made sure that I kept my focus at all times, as I
knew we were going to have a few discussions, and a lot of lets!
I really tried my best not to get involved in the decisions with
the refs…
 "I’m
happy to win such a match, which was really won on a mental
level. And I was happy that I felt good physically as I had to
go round him a lot, and change direction, and dig in the
rallies!
"I’m really looking forward to playing Abouelgar tomorrow, a
junior that is coming up.
He’s improved a
lot. He is a fair and very honest player, it will be a pleasure
to play against him.
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Mohamed
Abouelgar (Egy) bt Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy)
11/7, 4/11, 7/11,
11/9, 11/9 (58m)
 "This
is the hardest game of my life, and definitely the best win of
my life!
"Karim and I are very good friends, and we play each other all
the time, we know each other’s game inside out, he knew what to
expect, and so did I!
"It was all about who would play better on the day, and who was
going to be able to adapt and change his game….
Karim is so strong mentally, he is the most difficult player to
win in five against! I’m happy with the way I played, both
mentally and physically, and I just hope I can keep on playing
like that tomorrow.
And I too thought he was going to win, Fram!!!!"
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Chris Ryder (Eng)
bt Ivan Yuen (Mas)
11/6, 11/2, 9/11,
11/6 (63m)
 He
was playing well today, he had no pressure, and any opportunity
he had, he just went for his shots, and he got his fair share
!!!! I think I played tight, and contained him pretty well.
At the end, he was coming back at me quite well. I think with a
bit more experience he’s going to be good. It all came down to
shot selection in the end.
My training is improving, I’m working with Rob Owen, an ex top
20 player, who makes me work on the severity on the ball, more
cut. I’m now improved my tactical awareness, and I now
understand better where my weaknesses and strengths are!
You know, I’m past 30 now, and I keep being introduced as “an
up and coming professional”, but I’m about the oldest one
here!!!!
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Omar Abdel Aziz
(Egy) bt Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas)
11/8, 11/9,
6/11, 11/7 (53m)
A FAIR MATCH, ALTHOUGH…
That one between Omar Adel Aziz and Wan was in my book the best
match of the day.
The two players were so respectful, fair, honest, giving each
other their doubled, not up, etc. Both players are unorthodox
squash players, they both worked very hard to get where they
are, not your flashy racquets, I mean. But really lovely boys,
great solid squash, long rallies and determined souls.
In my view, Wan lost a bit of energy and confidence in the 2nd,
when he thought so many times that he had the point won, only to
see Omar getting it back and digging in, forcing him to take
more risks, and finally, errors came…
At the end, Omar, extremely hungry after he had to stop more
than two months for injury, just found some lovely winners,
especially as Wan couldn’t apply the same pressure anymore,
having worked extremely hard.
It’s a shame that the last call on match ball – no let – upset
our Malaysian, who left the court rather quickly. Shame really,
as like I said, it had been the perfect match.
 "Wan
is a very fair player, and a very nice guy. But today, I think
maybe I adapted better than he did to the court conditions, and
I’m really happy to be back trying to qualify for a Platinum
event after receiving physio treatment in the US on both my
knees.
"Now I feel good physically, and I’m working hard for each and
every point, I don’t try and win cheap points, I’m constructing
my rallies, and still finding some good winners…"
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Marwan El shorbagy (Egy)
bt Ryan Cuskelly (Aus)
11/9, 11/8, 9/11,
6/11, 11/9 (88m)
MARWAN, EVENTUALLY
 This
was never going to be an easy match.
Ryan Cuskelly, the up and coming Australian who played very well
in Boston a few days ago, against the World Junior Champion
Marwan El Shorbagy, who has really been making his mark on the
senior circuit for a few weeks now.
And it seemed that we were going to have a pretty quick upset
too, when the Egyptian was up 2/0, 11/9, 11/8. But Ryan, well,
he’s got the experience, the physical strength not to mention a
great ability to dig his heels in, and make his opponent work
very hard for every freaking point!
 And
that’s exactly what the Australian did for the next three games.
Marwan, well, he fought very hard in the third, 9/9, and zoom,
two tins. And in the fourth, maybe he relaxed a bit mentally,
also a bit tired from the hard work produced up to then, with
Ryan keeping pushing and pushing, being more aggressive and
confident in the attack…
Here we were in the fifth. 3/3. 4/4. 5/5. 6/6. 8/8. Honestly,
some superb squash, even if we were starting to get a few too
many calls, both players trying to get some cheap points, well
both being pretty cooked by then!
The end was pretty tight, and it could have been anybody’s
match. Still, on a no let, Marwan gets his first match ball,
10/8. He slips getting onto the ball in the left front corner,
injures his knee, 10/9. On his second match ball he goes for a
drop shot that Ryan cannot get past his opponent to try for, no
let.
 Ryan
was not happy with Marwan’s movement [running into him more than
once], and made his opinion quite clear to both his opponent and
the refs at the end. I personally didn’t see any obvious
wrongdoing from Marwan, but then again, I was not the one
playing him and I’m not as technical as others on that
department.
Strangely, the Egyptian was very calm all the way through – he
is sometimes extremely excited, but none of that today – and in
my view the key of the match stands in what Marwan told me at
the end “I just didn’t want to lose today”.
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 "Honestly,
I thought it was normal interference in a squash match, and I
didn’t mean to go through his body, and if I did, well I
apologise, I was just trying to get to the ball.
"In the first two games, I played really well, and in the 3rd,
it was pretty close too, I just made two errors at 9/9. In
the 4th, I’m not sure what happened, I kept on pushing on my
legs – it was quite a very feeling really – but it was not
responding, but in the 5th, I just didn’t want to lose, I flew
all the way from England, and I was NOT going to lose in the
first round.
"This is a good win for me. After losing in the US Open, I came
back and worked on my weaknesses with Ian Thomas in Millfield.
I’ve improved a bit on it, but I still need to get better on
those.
"Tomorrow, another tough match, which I hope to win, and qualify
for another Platinum tournament."
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Mohammed Abbas (Egy)
bt Harinderpal Sandhu (Ind)
12/10, 12/10, 8/11,
11/9 (60m)
SOMETHING IN THE INDIAN WATER??
During the Worlds Team event in Paderborn, Saurav Ghosal was
playing David Palmer, and I wrote that Saurav didn’t play for
India that day, but actually run for it! Well about the same
story today, with an Abbas a bit slow in the brain department –
sorry, but you know what I mean, not taking the right decision,
a bit slow to move, wrong shot selection - and Harinder running
like a motorcycle on there, the ones that run and run
forever, the ones you just cannot stop!
Honestly, that boy is as fast as it comes, talk about Speedy
Gonzales, and he found some pretty accurate shots too. It
reminded me of Marat Safin when he was playing Frenchman Fabrice
Santoro, and he just couldn’t understand what the heck was going
on there.
Hari pushed Abbas all the way, forced him to make error upon
error, and to be honest, had he taken the 4th, the Egyptian
could have been mentally in a lot of trouble there. The Indian
was playing very well, that’s for sure…
Close, very close indeed
 "I
don’t know what happened to me today, I was so flat inside, it
felt like I hadn’t played for a long time, which is not the
case. But I couldn’t move, I couldn’t put any rhythm at all on
the ball. That type of game doesn’t suit me at all!
"I’m glad to reach the second round, and those things I’ll have
to assess and change for tomorrow…
"But he is FAST!!!!!"
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