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Thu 2nd Dec, Round
One, Top half:
Saudi Arabia has been waiting five years for its World Open,
since the inaugural Saudi International in 2005, and today is
the day that dream becomes a reality.
Richard Eaton:
Shabana disposes of hair and opposition
[27] Shahier
Razik (Can) bt [Q] Joe Lee (Eng)
12/10, 11/7, 11/6 (44m)
[12] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt [Q] Mohammed Abbas (Egy)
11/5, 11/8, 9/11, 9/11,
11/8 (86m)
[29] Joey Barrington (Eng) bt [Q] Alan Clyne (Sco)
11/7, 11/5, 11/6 (49m)
[24] Hisham Ashour (Egy) bt Chris Ryder (Eng)
11/4, 11/5, 12/10 (34m)
Mark Krajcsak (Hun) bt [31] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (Col)
11/8, 11/5, 11/4 (40m)
[22] Omar Mosaad (Egy) bt [Q] Julien Balbo (Fra)
11/7, 11/5, 4/11, 11/5
(42m)
[28] Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) bt [Q] Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy)
11/1, 11/8, 4/11, 11/4
(40m)
[30] Farhan Mehboob (Pak) bt [Q] Muhd Asyraf Azan (Mas)
11/6, 11/8, 9/11, 11/5
(41m)
[21] Jonathan Kemp (Eng) bt Rafael Alarcon (Bra)
11/2, 11/5, 11/9
(11m)
[16] Alister Walker (Eng) bt Steve Coppinger (Rsa)
12/14, 12/10, 11/9,
11/9 (80m)
[10] David Palmer (Aus) bt [Q] Stéphane Galifi (Ita)
11/3, 11/2, 12/10
(29m)
[7] Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt [Q] Kashif Shuja (Nzl)
11/4, 11/4,
11/7 (25m)
[3] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [Q] Chris Simpson (Eng)
11/7, 12/10,
11/8 (36m)
[5] Grégory Gaultier (Fra) bt Mohammed Taher Al-Saif (Ksa)
11/3, 11/5,
11/8 (23m)
[1] Nick Matthew Eng) bt Ryan Cuskelly (Aus)
11/4,
11/5, 11/6 (35m)
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Quick reports ...
Rakiz first man through, LJ struggles
"THat never happens to me, thaty I'm on early and kick the
tournament off," said Shahier Razik after the Canadian
had won the opening match of the Saudi World Open 2010, "it's a
nice feeling."
Qualifier Joe Lee had given him a good workout, and had he
managed to keep the momentum after recovering from 10/8 down in
the first to force extra points, it might have been a different
story. The young Englishman took a 7/1 lead in the second, but
was pegged back by the experienced Canadian who took ten points
in a row, and was always in control in the third.
"The first was a key game," admitted Razik, "it's always nice to
go one up. Joe's playing well, I played him last week and the
first two games were really tough, so I knew what I was getting
myself into."
 The
day after reaching the top ten for the first time, LJ Anjema
looked to be on course for an energy-saving victory against
Mohammed Abbas, but the experienced Egyptian had other ideas as
he stormed back to equalise.
At 5-all in the decider though it was the Dutchman who found the
extra gear.
"Never in doubt ....................." was coach Lucas Buit's
tongue in cheek assessment. Malcolm's report to follow.
Joey & Hisham ease through
The bad news for the qualifiers - who had a three-month wait
after securing their places - continued as Joey Barrington came
through surprisingly quickly against Alan Clyne. The Scotsman
could never quite get to terms with Barrington, although he made
the Englishman work exceedingly hard to take the last few points
of the match.
"That was good going," said Barrington. "All the first rounds
are tough, and on paper and current form that looked a tough
one, so I'm pleased to get through, especially in three."
Watched by younger brother Ramy, Hisham Ashour made quick
work of the first two games against the in-form Chris Ryder,
then held off a spirited challenge from the Englishman in the
third.
"He's a tough player," said Ashour, "very light, always thinking
and he always puts the ball away from you.
"I'm fired up though, I've lost too many matches I should have
won. I've trained hard recently and have a good feeling inside,
hopefully it will start paying off in this tournament.
"It was tough luck for him today, I was very sharp. LJ is a
tough next round, but I'm going to be a tough opponent, for
anyone."
Krackerjack Mark
As soon as Mark Krajcsak had caused the first upset of
the tournament in putting out Miguel Angel Rodriguez in straight
games, he went straight to the travel agent that's situated in
the Sunset Beach sports centre to change his flight home.
"I was as surprised as anyone to win that," admitted the
Hungarian, "especially in three. I hadn't played him before so I
don't know if it was me playing well or him playing badly, but
I'll take that for sure.
"I was really unhappy when I lose easily in London last week, so
I refocused on this event, I wanted to play as well as I could
in my last tournament of the year, and that's a good start."
Mark's flight home was on a non-changeable ticket, so hopefully
he won't use all his extra prize money on a new one. Next in the
queue for the travel agent was, of course, Rodriguez.
Kemp at the Double
 "Ok,
I'll get on there for five minutes now," quipped Rafael
Alarcon as the Krajcsak match finished.
Little did we know that he really meant it. Having torn his calf
muscle on Friday, treatment on Saturday, the Brazilian simply
went for everything, everything except rallies, that is.
And in Jon Kemp he found an opponent all too willing to
join in the fun.
The first two games were over in a flash, Rafa did a little
better in the third, he even led 9/7, but Kemp finished it off,
to smiles all round. "Three nil or three-two, it's all the
same," said Rafa, "we had some fun on there and at the end I
told him he must have been getting worried!"
At 11 minutes it was one of, if not the, shortest World Open
matches of all time. Usually when you see a time like that you
ask "does that include the breaks?". In this case yes, it does,
it's just that they didn't have any breaks ...
Walker squeezes through
The final match on the glassback courts was the longest (well,
80 minutes for four games compared to LJ's 86m for five)
and closest.
There was little to choose between Alister Walker and Steve
Coppinger for the whole of those 80 minutes. Walker scored
12 points in each of the first two games, won one, lost one. He
edged the third 11/9, and at 10/9 match ball in the fourth
Coppinger received a conduct stroke for racket abuse.
The referee insisted that the South African had previously
received a warning, which Coppinger claimed he was unaware of.
The decision stood, the discussions continued for a while, but
the Englishman goes through.
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Experience shows on
the Glass
Matches on the glass court started with two Saudi and World Open
stalwarts.
Thierry Lincou, 2004 world champion and the only man to
have competed in each of the previous eleven events, looked in
good form as he brushed aside the challenge of Kashif Shuja. The
Kiwi offered little resistance in the first games, and when he
did threaten in the third the Frenchman quickly snuffed out any
possibility of extending the match.
 Four
time and defending champion Amr Shabana took on English
qualifier Chris Simpson, and had to work considerably harder to
finish it in three games, especially after falling 5/0 behind in
the third.
Sporting a new look - "I had a bad hairdresser [Wael El Hindi],
I asked for a trim and he shaved it all off, I don't think it
makes me look any younger!" - Shabanawas pleased enough with the
opening to his defence:
"I didn't play well here last time, so I'm happy to get through
the first match. I've been watching him for a few years, he's
one of those who has good technique so it's difficult to be
relaxed against him. I tried not to go short too much, when I
did he was putting it away.
"These days I'm just happy to be healthy and not injured. I'm
not quite that yet, but I'm getting there!" |
Greg does his duty
Gregory Gaultier - twice
a World Open runner-up - opened the show as the dignitaries
arrived, against local wildcard Mohammed Taher Al-Saif.
 He
may be the world number 460, and he may have been understandably
overawed by the occasion, but Greg was gentle enough with him -
almost too gentle in the third when at 9/8 the Frenchman had to
apply a bit more punch to his shots to make sure he didn't spend
any longer on court than needed - and he certainly didn't let
anyone down as the sizeable crowd thoroughly enjoyed seeing
their man take on one of the world's best.
Gaultier's prospective opponent in the semi-finals, Nick
Matthew, had a much tougher time of it against Ryan
Cuskelly.
The top seed never looked in any real danger, but neither could
he afford to relax against the Aussie left hander, despite the
11/4, 11/5, 11/6 scoreline. |
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