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EXPERIENCE WINS OVER YOUTH
Mark Laughlin bt Sabrina
Sobhy
11-5, 11-8, 11-6
From the onset of the match the
veteran Mark was in control of the match. The younger Sobhy
seemed a bit tired but still put up a good fight. Mark’s pace
and touch was enough to take the first game 11-5.
 In
the second game Sabrina found her stride and a bit of
confidence, she was playing some tight drops and rails,
preventing Mark from doing too much with the ball thus making
this game an event contest. At 7-5 down, Sabrina rallied to take
an 8-7 lead and her first glimpse of hope in the match.
However, Mark tightened up again and with the help of a couple
errors by Sabrina, Mark took the 2nd game 11-8.
The third game was one-sided as Sabrina seemed to lose her
intensity and Mark would close out the match 11-6.
First match to the home team.
TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE
Ryan Abraham/Khaled
Sobhy bt Omar Sobhy 12-10, 10-12, 11-7
In the second match of the
night, we decided to provide a little twist. In order to give
Omar a tough match, I decided to pair up with his dad, who would
be a Trini for the night!
The spectators enjoyed the idea of a 2 v 1 exhibition match and
we made sure it was entertaining.
 Without
going into too much detail, we played a best of 3 match so as
not to prolong the night. The first two games were traded off at
12-10. Omar was obviously working hard and counting on errors or
points of miscommunication, but for the most part the straight
rallies were being set up for someone to open the court.
As the third game began, the wear-and-tear became evident on
brother-Sobhy and from 7-7, the Ryan/Khaled team stepped up the
pressure to take the game 11-7.
That’s two for the “home” team!
AMANDA STRETCHES COLIN TO
FIVE
Colin Ramasra bt Amanda
Sobhy 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 13-11
 In
one of the most anticipated match-ups for the week, World #20
Amanda Sobhy took on the challenge against T&T’s professional
squash player, Colin Ramasra, currently ranked #254.
Expectations were high, but most were predicting a 3-0
score-line to Colin.
When you ask a top player or coach where the #1 female would fit
into the Men's rankings, you usually get a wide variety of
responses, but this one was an even match till the end!
In the first game Amanda came out strong catching Colin off
guard with some tight drops and moving well to get on top of the
ball early. She raced to a 7-4 lead before Colin found himself
and tied the score at 7-7. Matching each other shot for shot,
the score was 9-9, then 10-10. Then Amanda eventually closed out
the first game 12-10 with another tight wall-hugging drop.
In the second game Colin started to pick up the pace and move
Amanda deeper into the corners and working the diagonals.
Whether he won or lost the point, he appeared to be dominating
most of the rallies. However, both players were already
breathing hard as they continued to work each other.
The second and third games were pretty similar as Colin took a
2-1 lead in the match.
 In
the fourth game, Amanda came out strong again, but this is where
you could also see both players’ energy-level taking a toll.
Amanda began using her angles and some deceptive cross-court
drops to dictate the pace of the game. She had Colin moving to
every corner to stay in the rally. She took a commanding 9-4
lead before Colin’s “male advantage” kicked in, as he was able
to keep up his pace while Amanda was forced to start slowing the
ball down with lobs and drops.
As Colin slowly crept his way back into the game, Amanda found
herself slowing down. After a couple of questionable decisions
the score was 9-all. With a favourable bounce in the nick for
Amanda and another long rally ended with a drop, Amanda secured
the fourth game and the match would go the distance.
The fifth game was another topsy-turvy affair with swings in
momentum, many referee decisions and lots of ooohs and aaaahs by
the crowd. Colin came out hard as Amanda still seemed to be
recovering from the last game and she soon found herself down
4-0. Although Colin was dictating the game, Amanda eventually
got on the scoreboard and began to make it an even contest once
again. Soon she was down 6-4 and then tied at 6-6.
Then Amanda was down 8-6 and the match seemed to be coming to a
close, but all of a sudden she found one more surge of energy,
discipline, and confidence all in one. She took the next four
points with some working rallies. Her drops were tighter, her
lobs got deeper, and her anticipation was top-notch. She now led
10-8 with two match balls.
The first one she had the match at the tip of her fingers as
Colin popped one up in the middle and she went for glory with a
forehand nick that just grazed the tin. The next point Colin
played excellent defence to keep himself alive and eventually
played a perfect cross-court length to pass the Junior Champ.
10-10. Once again, this was another turning point.
The local members, with intimate court knowledge, thought that
Colin's drop on the next point was down, but a let was played.
As Amanda earned the subsequent point, the whispers of “justice”
could be heard. However, finding himself match ball down again,
Colin used his great defensive play to keep the balls tight and
preventing Amanda from having any opportunity for a drop winner.
He eventually tied it up again at 11-11.
Two rallies later after some determined play to win the match
for the home team, he earned the win.
Both players performed out of their skins and it was a very
entertaining match for everyone watching. The players were given
a resounding standing ovation as they walked off the court…
ALL SQUARE IN THE TESTS
So T&T tie up the series 3-3 against the Sobhys and we look
forward to more squash tonight!
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