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TODAY at the Qatar
Classic
2011:
Mon 17th, Day Four
Fram & Steve in
Doha |
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Photo Galleries
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Ashour and Brown bow out in Doha
Day four of the Qatar
Classic in Doha saw some tough men's matches in the bottom
half of the draw, five upsets in women's round one
including the demise of a poorly sixth seed Kasey Brown,
and a dramatic end to match yesterday's dramatic start as
second seed Ramy Ashour limped out. Read
all about it ....
Men's Round One, Bottom Half:
[7] Peter
Barker (Eng) bt Ong Beng Hee (Mas)
11/6, 11/6, 9/11, 11/2 (63m)
Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt Hisham
Ashour (Egy)
9/11, 7/11, 11/9, 11/6, 11/6 (63m)
Simon Rosner (Ger) bt [Q] Chris
Ryder (Eng)
11/6, 11/4, 7/11, 11/5 (56m)
[4] James Willstrop (Eng) bt
[Q] Mohamed Abbas (Egy)
11/6, 11/4, 11/3 (30m)
[8] David Palmer (Aus) bt Alan
Clyne (Sco)
12/10, 11/9, 7/11, 11/4 (56m)
Stewart Boswell (Aus) bt [Q]
Marwan El Shorbagy (Egy)
11/7, 11/8, 11/2 (35m)
Cameron Pilley (Aus) bt Saurav
Ghosal (Ind)
11/6, 12/10, 11/7 (54m)
Tom Richards (Eng) bt [2] Ramy
Ashour (Egy)
11/4, 11/6 rtd (18m)
Women's Round One:
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt
Line Hansen (Den)
11/4, 11/4, 11/4 (25m)
Kanzy El Dafrawy (Egy) bt [16] Delia Arnold (Mas)
11/8, 4/11, 6/11, 11/6, 11/8 (73m)
[7] Camille Serme (Fra) bt [Q] Tenille Van Der Merwe
(Rsa)
11/3, 11/8, 11/5 (26m)
[9] Raneem El Weleily (Egy) bt [Q] Tania Bailey (Eng)
11/4, 11/6, 8/11, 10/12, 11/3 (41m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt [Q] Yathreb Adel (Egy)
11/8, 11/5, 11/2 (26m)
Aisling Blake (Irl) bt [14] Sarah Kippax (Eng)
11/1,
11/9, 11/3 (32m)
Emma Beddoes (Eng) [8] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy)
6/11, 11/3, 11/7, 13/11 (44m)
[15] Joey Chan (Hkg) bt Heba El Torky (Egy)
6/0 rtd
[12] Low Wee Wern (Mas) bt [Q] Emily Whitlock (Eng)
11/3, 11/9, 11/5 (28m)
[5] Laura Massaro (Eng) bt [Q] Merhan Amr Mahmoud (Egy)
11/4, 11/3, 11/5 (22m)
[Q] Farah Abdel Meguid (Egy) bt [11] Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl)
11/3, 5/11, 11/8, 11/7 (30m)
[4] Madeline Perry (Irl) bt [Q] Siti Munirah Juson (Mas)
11/6, 11/4, 11/2 (20m)
[10] Donna Urquhart (Aus) bt Victoria Lust (Eng)
11/3, 12/14, 6/11, 11/6, 11/8 (53m)
Nour El Sherbini (Egy) bt [6] Kasey Brown (Aus)
11/9, 7/11, 11/5 rtd (36m)
[13] Nour El Tayeb (Egy) bt Gaby Huber (Sui)
11/1, 14/12, 11/8 (25m)
[2] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt [Q] Sina Wall (Ger)
11/6, 11/3, 11/6 (20m) |
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Men's Round One (bottom half)
If yesterday's afternoon matches were quick, today's openers
certainly weren't, with Peter Barker and Thierry
Lincou both taking over an hour to make their expected
ways into the last sixteen.
 Barker
looked comfortable enough in taking a 2-0 lead against Ong
Beng Hee, but the Malaysian struck back to take a close
third before Barker reasserted in the fourth.
Lincou found himself two games down against Egyptian
shotmaker Hisham Ashour, but for the umpteenth time in his
career the Frenchman made it all the way back, leaving
Ashour, who was receiving treatment from the physio between
games, pretty frustrated with life.
"Anything I was putting at the front ended in the tin, and I
couldn’t find any length either, as he was twisting and
turning me too much," said the Frenchman about the first two
games. "I was only able to play one rally the whole match
where I was in control. I’ll be ready and sharp for playing
against Peter tomorrow!"
 Germany's
Simon Rosner, who had won his last four encounters
with Chris Ryder, extended that run with a 3/1 win over the
English qualifier.
"Happy to get through," said Rosner, "although I don't think
either of us were playing at our best, and I was
disappointed that I relaxed a bit in the third, still you
have to win those matches."
Rosner will next face James Willstrop, after the
fourth-seeded Englishman beat Egyptian qualifier Mohamed
Abbas 11/6, 11/4, 11/3 with little fuss.
 David
Palmer, playing his last Qatar Classic, was given a good
workout by Scotland's Alan Clyne, the Aussie eighth seed
winning 3/1 in just under an hour.
"At the end it wasn’t the best," said Palmer, "but I'll take
the win, nowadays, I take what I can! But tomorrow, I’ll
have to play better…"
Stewart Boswell had lost after leading two-nil
against Mohamed El Shorbagy last week in Philadelphia, but
having taken the first two games against the younger
Shorbagy, Marwan, 11/7 118, the Aussie finished it off this
time, racing through the third 11/2 to set up a meeting with
long-time adversary and team-mate Palmer.
When Cameron Pilley got the better of speedy Indian
Saurav Ghosal in straight - but never easy - games it
brought up an Aussie hat-trick Aussie hat-trick.
Pilley might have been looking forward to a rematch with
Ramy Ashour after taking a game off the Egyptian in the
British Grand Prix in Manchester. If so he was to be
disappointed as Ashour, clearly struggling with an injury
that hampered his movement, retired after losing the first
two games to Englishman Tom Richards.
"I know he could barely
move on there," admitted Richards, "and yet I still had to
play the best squash I ever played to beat him."
So, a first round which had started yesterday with the
defeat of our Egyptian third seed Amr Shabana, ended with
the removal of the Egyptian second seed leaving gaping holes
in both halves of the draw. |
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Women's
Round One
An eminently predictable first winner as day four got under
way at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex
in Doha as defending champion Nicol David eased to an
11/4, 11/4, 11/4 win over Line Hansen, the Malaysian moving
as sweetly as ever and showing no after effects of her
unexpected loss in Philadelphia.
 "It's
just the start of another tournament and I'll learn a lot
from the last one," said the world number one who will be
looking for a record sixth World Open title in a few days'
time in Rotterdam.
"I wanted to come in strong at the start, and I don't think
Line was feeling the court as well as I was so I tried to
take advantage of that as much as I could. It's good to get
a nice solid match under my belt to build up for the second
round."
France's Camille Serme was next onto the same court,
and completed her 11/8, 11/3, 11/5 win over a
similarly-attired Tenille Van Der Merwe a few minutes before
the first match on the adjacent court came to a dramatic
end.
Young Egyptian Kanzy El Dafrawy had taken the first
game against Delia Arnold, but the Malaysian struck back to
lead 2/1. Slowing the pace down, Kanzy, diving all over the
court - three times in one rally apparently - took the final
two games, holding her nerve in a series of long rallies at
the end of the decider.
 "I
played well in the first game," said the delighted winner,
"but I was too fast and I was dead after a few points in the
next two - she was playing my fast game but she's better at
it than me so I had to try to slow it down.
"I managed to do that, ad at 8-ll in the fifth I told myself
that she'd beaten me once, that I'd not qualified for Qatar
in three attempts, and that I didn't do all the work over
the summer for nothing so I wasn't going to lose now!
"I kept the ball deep, played patient and waited for her to
make the mistakes which thankfully she did!"
 Third
seed Rachael Grinham wasted no time in despatching
her young Egyptian though, beating qualifier Yathreb Adel
11/8, 11/5, 11/2 in 26 minutes, but Raneem El Weleily,
who has been knocking over top ten players for fun of late,
had a touch of trouble with a former top-tenner.
After taking the first two games, it looked like the
two-time world junior champion was going to ease past her
predecessor of eight years, but Bailey struck back to force
a decider. The Egyptian resumed control though, taking it
11/3.
The demise of two seeds followed as first Aisling Blake,
then Emma Beddoes upset the apple cart. Blake, apart
from the middle of the second game, was always in control
against Sarah Kippax, the 14th seeded Englishwoman looking
short on confidence while Blake was buoyed by between game
advice from Nicol David and won 11/1, 11/9, 11/3.
 "We've
had some good battles, Sarah and I," said the Irishwoman,
"but I went in with a gameplan today and stuck to it. There
was a bit of a hairy moment when I was 9/6 down in the
second, but I just settled down and refocused. I felt good
on there today, and Nicol told me all the right things, she
knows me well."
Beddoes went a game down to 8th seed Omneya Abdel Kawy, but
dug in to take the next three for a big upset. Two tins when
the Englishwoman was 10/8 up in the fourth might have been
costly, but Kawy found the tin herself on her one chance to
take it to a decider as Beddoes won 6/11, 11/2, 11/7, 13/11.
 "She
was well on top in the first," admitted Beddoes, "but she's
always a bit up and down and it takes you a while to see
where the ball's going. In the second I was seeing it much
better and just took it on from there.
"I'm really pleased to win that one, especially after
missing on those first two match balls, I was pleased to be
able to tough it out after that.
Hong Kong's Joey Chan completed the afternoon
session, easing through the first few points against Heba El
Torky before the Egyptian retired with a shoulder injury
sustained a few days ago.
 The
evening session saw four qualifiers back in action, and
three of them were despatched in straight games - Low Wee
Wern beat Emily Whitlock, Laura Massaro beat
Merhan Amr Mahmoud and Madeline Perry beat Sitih
Munirah Jusoh, all straightforward enough with only Whitlock
coming close to taking a game.
Farah Abdel Maguid did take one though, earning a
surprise lead against Jaclyn Hawkes as she more than matched
the 14th seed. Trailing 5/2 in the second, Hawkes put
together a run of nine unanswered points to level, but she
was quickly in trouble again as Meguid picked up the pace
again, and played the next two games in the vein of the
first to complete the upset 11/3, 5/11, 11/8, 11/7.
 "That's
my best win by far," said a delighted 19-year-old. "I really
didn't know what to expect, but everyone told me I had a
chance and I wasn't nervous at all, I was just looking
forward to playing one of the top players.
"It was my 19th birthday just before the world juniors which
was pretty disappointing, but this is pretty good!"
Next up were two Australian seeds and we almost lost both of
them.
Kasey Brown was having a tough, hard-hitting and
hard-running encounter with Nour El Sherbini. The
young Egyptian took the first 11/9, Brown came from 5/2 down
to take the second 11/7, but she looked to be hurting after
some particularly tough rallies.
 Sherbini
took an early lead in the third, 3/1 then 6/2, and although
Brown fought back she was clearly in some sort of trouble. A
couple of uncharacteristic attempts at quick winners from
Brown gave the game and the lead to Sherbini 11/5.
After taking the interval Brown came back onto court and
offered her hand to her opponent.
"I've not been feeling well, I was in hospital earlier
today," said last week's US Open finalist. "I thought I'd
come and give it a go and I was ok for a while but I just
couldn't carry on."
 Donna
Urquhart, on the adjacent court, was having just as
tough a time with England's Vicky Lust.
After taking the first with some ease Urquhart found herself
2/1 and 6/4 down, but managed to recover to take the win
11/3, 12/14, 6/11, 11/6, 11/8 in 53 minutes, the longest
match of the round.
"I never expected it to be easy," she said, "but you're
always a bit nervous when you're the seed and expected to
win. It was a bit scrappy at times but I just managed to
hang in there."
The final pair of matches saw contrasting 3/0 wins for
players who have done well here in Qatar.
 Jenny
Duncalf, winner here in 2009, beat German qualifier Sina
Wall comfortably enough, and although world junior champion
Nour El Tayeb, who reached the semis here last year,
also won in three, Switzerland's Gaby Huber gave her a
sterner test.
Tayeb raced through the first 11/1, had to save game balls
in taking the second 14/12, and let a good lead in the third
slip to 7-all before finishing it off. |
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[7] Peter
Barker (Eng) bt Ong Beng Hee (Mas)
11/6, 11/6, 9/11, 11/2 (63m)
PETER, MORE DEPTH…
 Immediately,
I could note two things.
One, that Peter had added layers in his game, as in the
frequent use of the lob and the counter dropping, which put
Beng Hee under a lot of pressure.
The second was that Beng Hee actually didn’t play his normal
drop shot/lob/flick game until… 6/6 in the 3rd, the game he
– surprise, surprise – won!
The Malaysian played very well in patches, being aggressive
and positive, only to let the four five next points run away
from him with a string of too early too soon errors and
silly shots.
The score in the fourth doesn’t tell the whole story, as
Beng Hee attacked very well until mid game, only to see his
efforts annihilated by a perfectly in control Peter Barker
that confirms his supremacy over the Malaysian, having never
lost yet against him in PSA.
 It
could have been better, I could have won 3/0, but it could
have been far worst! It’s a good lesson, not to switch off
in the 3rd!
Difficult conditions, the court is very cold and dead, yet
quick!
I’ve been working for the past 6 to 9 months to adding more
subtlety and complexity to my game, and tried to leaf out of
Nick’s book really…
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Thierry
Lincou (Fra) bt Hisham Ashour (Egy)
9/11, 7/11, 11/9, 11/6, 11/6 (63m)
LINCOU, FROM 2/0 DOWN.. AGAIN…
 To
be honest, at the end of the second game, after so many tins
from the Frenchman, so many stunning shots virtually error
free from Hisham, I really didn’t see my compatriot meeting
Peter Barker tomorrow…
Ok, it’s true that Thierry had, as ever, a very slow start
in the first, down 3/8, he came back to 9/9, only to lose on
a stroke and another nick from the Egyptian. The second,
well, was all about Hisham, who got his first game ball at
10/4, with the Frenchman coming back, but far too late, 11/7
to Hisham.
 The
tide started to turn in the 3rd, with a much tighter score
from the start, and a Frenchman cutting drastically the
unforced errors that has hindered his game so far, and
moving much more freely and quickly onto Hisham’s lethal
boasts.
5/5. 6/6. 7/7. Now, it was the Egyptian that was going for
too much too early, and tinning crucial points. At 8/6 for
him, the Frenchman shouted to himself “Come on Titi, dig in
for crying out loud”. It didn’t prevent Hisham to come back
to the score, 9/9, only to offer the last two points to the
Frenchman, on a silver tin.
 In
the 4th, Hisham seemed to take the control again, 5/2, but
Thierry moving better and better, caught up, 5/5, 7/6, and
from that moment on, the Egyptian tinned 3 out of the 4
points, only to let go of the 4th. 11/6 to Lincou.
“Get the physio”, he shouted to his brother as he stepped
off the court. The three of them (physio, Hisham, Ramy)
disappeared in the corridor, and Hisham came back, visibly
unhappy, one leg of his shorts still tucked it, giving him a
bit of a weird look…
 The
5th was anything but a walk in the park for the Frenchman,
because even if Hisham had problems with his hamstring, he
was still hitting some lethal shots and placing the ball
where Lincou just couldn’t reached it.
But the Frenchman pushed and pushed, until Hisham just
couldn’t compensate his lack of mobility. Thierry takes the
match, once again, I wouldn’t have bet on that result at the
end of the second….
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I was very
nervous from the start, he really put me under pressure
mentally. I knew that I had to take the ball early, hit hard
and volley, but anything I was putting at the front ended in
the tin, and I couldn’t find any length either, as he was
twisting and turning me too much, and I just couldn’t follow
the pace I had to impose!
In my opinion, I was only able to play one rally the whole
match. Only one where I was in control, and where I think I
did hurt him mentally and physically…. Only one. Mind you,
talk about a nice opener for ball spotting! I’ll be ready
and sharp for playing against Peter tomorrow!
Hisham is such a difficult player, he makes the game, both
the winners and the errors, plus he is so good at the back,
and yet, can put you completely flat out at the front!
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Simon
Rosner (Ger) bt [Q] Chris Ryder
(Eng)
11/6, 11/4, 7/11, 11/5 (56m)
Rosner rolls into round two
Having won their last four meetings, Germany's Simon Rosner
made it five in a row as he beat English qualifier Chris
Ryder.
 I
don’t know what exactly happened in the 3rd, at 5/2 up, I
think I relaxed too much, I was already in the second round
in my mind! And I’m a bit disappointed with that, because
I’ve been working on that a lot, keeping playing the match
through.
Still, you’ve got to win those matches when you are not
playing as well as you wish. Actually, I don’t think either
of us played at his best today.
I was a bit nervous, I think I was thinking too much about
my second round, and maybe the chance to get even further,
so I put a bit too much pressure on myself there.
Happy to get through…
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[4] James
Willstrop (Eng) bt [Q] Mohamed
Abbas (Egy)
11/6, 11/4, 11/3 (30m)
ABBAS NOT THERE
 Today,
the Slender Abbas was only a shadow of himself. Having
played two matches on the traditional court, he seemed to
have trouble to get used to that glass court, which is, as
James described it, “a completely unique court”.
Abbas was kind enough to give James far too many shots in
the middle of the court, that the Englishman was gladly
transforming in irretrievable backhand and forehand volley
drops….
Sweet and short for James, very frustrating and
disappointing for Abbas…
 I
don’t think that Abbas was quite, well, he played matches in
the traditional court, probably was not seeing the ball that
well.
It’s difficult for him to come back after so many injuries,
he is not used to the pace anymore, and it’s difficult for
him to come back to the level that we used to play, like a
five setter in Bermuda, and a lot of other tough matches.
Still, I think it’s really good that players still play at
their level, look at a Peter Nicol, he wasn’t the style to
stop when he was number one, he just kept on playing because
he just loved the game too much…
I got some good dividends from playing in short, but it’s
very difficult on there to get the right timing, you’ve got
to be careful, it’s a completely unique court.
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[8] David
Palmer (Aus) bt Alan Clyne (Sco)
12/10, 11/9, 7/11, 11/4 (56m)
STRONG PERFORMANCE
Running like a headless chicken, attacking all the balls he
could put his racquet on, picking up lovely attacks from
David, while finding some stunning short game of his own,
both in drop shots and counter drop shots, Scot Alan Clyne
came very close to an upset tonight. He could have very
easily taken the first two games, being up two points each
time until the very end where the Australian just gave it
the “experience” push.
Alan did not get tired really, but his concentration maybe
dropped and bit, and he was sometimes losing his length,
trying to finish the point too early (who can blame him,
David was turning and twisting him perfection).
The third game was a well deserved win for the Scot, who
didn’t let David come back this time. But in the 4th, David
just raised his game, Alan probably a bit out of energy by
then even if he kept on digging for each and every rally,
and the Australian wrong footed his opponent one more time
to take the match in 56m…
 I’ve
played here since 97, I came here to qualify, to be honest,
I can’t remember if I did qualify or not! But I know that
this court has always been my favourite, and the
organisation, well, it keeps on getting better and better
every year…
I played Alan several times, and recently, we played on a
traditional court, and I was lucky to get a win there. He is
playing better on the glass court now as well, so I’ll have
to watch it next time we play at the Worlds!
 He
gets you in a sort of rhythm, and then he changes it
suddenly, he surprised me a bit there, he really reminds me
of Simon Parke, we had a lot of tough matches him and I….
My length wasn’t great the whole match, I think I played
better at the end of the games, and I could have lost the
first two really. It’s only in the 4th that I started
lifting it a bit more, and got a better length.
At the end, it wasn’t the best, but I take the win,
nowadays, I take what I can! But tomorrow, I’ll have to play
better…
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Stewart
Boswell (Aus) bt [Q] Marwan El
Shorbagy (Egy)
11/7, 11/8, 11/2 (35m)
I've seen
Marwan play, and he can play winners, well, like his brother
really!
He maybe needs a bit more consistency, but he is only 18
years old, and he is doing much better than most of the boys
at that age! In the coming years, he’ll be pushing for the
top 20…
At the end, it seemed very strange, he tinned a couple of
serve, then I seem to have a run of points, everything
seemed to go my way. Doesn’t happen to me often!
I think that I played very well in the first two games, that
I put him under a lot of pressure and I thought at the end
of the second, he started to get a bit tired.
And then, I made a huge mistake, I completely lost
concentration, instead of giving it a big push! It all came
down to experience today…
I’m quite satisfied with my week, I did better than I did in
the Grand Prix against Lincou, where I lost under 30 m, I
feel I played better here. I’m learning, match after match….
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He played very well, I don’t
think I played perfectly, but he was patient, he didn’t make
any errors.
In each game, we were close, 3/3, 4/4, but then he pulled
away, strung a few points and I didn’t step up…
I got up to 22 world ranking, last April, I was playing the
best I ever played, but then I got injured, and I never
quite was able to come back to that level. The people around
me and I are looking into why this is happening, and at the
moment, we can’t pin point out a reason. But it will come
back, I’m working hard at it, hopefully more sooner than
later.
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Cameron
Pilley (Aus) bt Saurav Ghosal (Ind)
11/6, 12/10, 11/7 (54m)
CAMERON, ERROR FREE…
It was one of the games today I wouldn’t have missed, as I
thought that it would be a close game.
The only time those two played was during the Mumbai PSA
Masters in 2009, and in front of his homecrowd, Saurav
created the upset by beating Cameron in a beautiful
performance.
 Cameron
has got a great game, he is fast, reads the ball extremely
well, hence can take the ball pretty early, and hits it very
well indeed – I’m sure you are aware he beat John White’s
hit record of 172mph, establishing the new one at 175. But
he sometimes, like John did, can string tins like pearls,
bless him, and get rather frustrated with himself.
Today, non of that. No errors in the first, 3 in the second,
and 1 in the third. Only lovely fast ball, nice length and
accurate winners at the front.
To have an incidence on the match, Saurav would have had to
play to perfection, which he did not. Put under too much
pressure, not enough time to adjust his shots, he just made
too many errors, didn’t find a length and width that would
have prevented the Australian to play freely.
As ever, the Indian fought, ran, counter attacked, but
today, Cameron had all the answers.
 For
starters, Saurav is the only player around who can run
through my legs and still get the ball!
No, joke apart, he is one of the fastest guys out there, and
you cannot afford to play too short that quickly, as he gets
nearly everything. So, you’ve got to stay patient, and keep
at it,
Yes, I think my game is definitely progressing and getting
stronger. I have my days where I can beat anymore, and days
that are toughest than others.
But overall I would say my consistency is improving. Also,
my shot selection has improved I think in the last six
months….
I have been compared to John White, well I guess that there
are some similarities, we are both tall and lanky, we hit
hard. But I’m me as well…
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Tom
Richards (Eng) bt [2] Ramy
Ashour (Egy)
11/4, 11/6 rtd (18m)
HAMSTRING, AGAIN…
 Must
be running in the family… Hisham had to retire for an
hamstring injury he contracted in the US Open match against
Peter Barker, 5/5 in the second, and that flared up against
Thierry Lincou today. And against Tom Richards, Ramy just
had to forfeit at the end of the second game for the same
injury….
As I was running like a headless chicken yet again trying to
locate Saurav after his match, I accidentally found Ramy who
was massaging his both hamstrings with deep heat cream
seconds before getting on court.
 Then,
I saw him stretching those muscles several times in the
first game, I saw the impaired movement, the high rate of
unforced errors, as in, don’t want to rally….
Still, the Egyptian gave it a go in the second, thinking
that maybe once the muscles were a bit warmed up, it would
get better.
But it didn’t. And one of the major strengths of Ramy’s game
is his retrieving ability. Of which today, he had none.
And at the end of the second, Ramy shook his opponent's
hand.
I know he
could barely move on there, and yet I still had to play the
best squash I ever played to beat him…
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The Egyptian
Front Benches supervise another successful day in Doha ... |
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