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Fri 3rd Dec, Round One,
Bottom Half:
Morning on the Glassbacks
[15] Adrian Grant (Eng)
v Renan Lavigne (Fra)
11/4, 11/9, 12/10
(36m)
[32] Simon Rosner (Ger) bt [Q] Robbie Temple (Eng)
11/6, 11/5, 8/11,
11/6 (58m)
Aaron Frankcomb (Aus) bt [20] Tarek Momen (Egy)
11/8, 12/10, 11/8
(52m)
[31] Tom Richards (Eng) bt [Q] Adrian Waller (Eng)
9/11, 6/11, 11/3,
11/8, 11/5 (56m)
[25] Olli Tuominen (Fin) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy)
14/12, 6/11, 11/6,
11/8 (63m)
[Q] Borja Golan (Esp) bt [26] Saurav Ghosal (Ind)
11/4, 7/11, 11/9,
11/5 (53m)
[13] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Martin Knight (Nzl)
11/6, 11/9, 11/9
(35m)
[Q] Mathieu Castagnet (Fra) bt [17] Cameron Pilley (Aus)
11/3, 8/11, 11/9,
11/5 (65m)
[23] Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) bt [Q] Steve Finitsis (Aus)
11/5, 12/10,
11/5 (30m)
[11] Wael El Hindi (Egy) bt Gregoire Marche (Fra)
7/11,
12/10, 11/9, 11/6 (67m)
Limping Ashour survives first round
scare - Richard Eaton reports
Sunset Beach Sports
Centre VideoTour
Evening on the Glass
Court
[8] Peter Barker (Eng)
bt Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas)
11/4, 11/3,
11/3 (32m)
[4] Karim Darwish (Egy)btv Julian Illingworth (Usa)
11/3,
11/5, 11/13, 11/3 (49m)
[9] Daryl Selby (Eng) bt Campbell Grayson (Nzl)
11/5,
11/3, 11/5 (37m)
[6] James Willstrop (Eng) bt Nicolas Mueller (Sui)
9/11, 11/4, 11/7, 11/2 (42m)
[2] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [LL] Kristian Frost (Den)
11/1,
11/5, 3/11, 11/9 (42m) |
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Renan signs off
Malcolm reports
First match on in the second half of the first round was between
England's Adrian Grant and France's Renan Lavigne,
at the end, it seems, of a long professional career, during
which he has never given less than his best.
Watching him in his pre-match running warmup didn't remind me of
Lavigne at his best, but once into action, playing his swansong,
he was soon moving well without being quite able to cope with
Grant, who went to 9/3 with some ease, and won the game 11/4 at
the first attempt.
Lavigne led 5/4 in the second, and was still level at 9-all, but
Grant served for the game at 10/9 and with a well executed
forehand winner took a two-game lead.
Lavigne continued to resist and even led 8/6 and 9/8 in the
third before Grant reached 10/9 on a stroke. A nick off an angle
gave Lavigne renewed hope with a tiebreak, but Grant served
again for the match at 11/10 and that was enough.
Lavigne deserved a game and left the stage, having given all,
with credit. He intends to work in squash and everyone wishes
him well.
 "I
haven't played a PSA event for a while, but I entered because
the closing date was in August and it looked like I would make
the main draw. Since then I've asked PSA to take my name off the
ranking list.
"I trained well in September and October, then got injured so
this is my first match in a month, and it showed.
"I've never been injured before, but I guess I'm training less
and the body is less able to cope with the stresses at my age.
"I was short of breath during the match, and I was lacking
lucidity in the money part of the games, 9-all, 10-all, and
didn't take my chances.
 "There's
a few things changing in my life now, I've started studying
again and I have my first child due in June, different reasons
to get up at 6am!
"I'm also playing some leagues and coaching the kids in Paris,
nut my main focus are my studies. After 18 months I have an
exam, and 12 out of the 18 of us on the course will get a job
with the Ministry of Sport. Hopefully I'll get through and be
involved in squash, but we're in competition with all the other
sports, Olympic ones too, so it's hard work and definitely
keeping me busy ..."
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Quick Reports ...
Rosner takes advantage,
Frankcomb flies through
The second pair of matches saw wins for players who might not,
at the outset of the tournament, expected them.
Simon Rosner was originally draw to play second seed Ramy
Ashour, but the withdrawal of Ong Beng Hee saw the German
elevated to 32nd seed, and a match with qualifier Robbie Temple.
Rosner looked comfortable enough in the first two games, but the
double-handed Temple fought back well in the third, and made it
tough for Rosner in the fourth too.
"I'd never played him before, and for a while it's hard to tell
where the ball's going, with his style," explained Rosner. "He
was making a few errors in the first two games, which was good
for me, but then he tightened up and played better in the third.
I was just happy to get back into it in the fourth and not go to
a fifth.
"It was a nice change of draw for me - as I left home I thought
I was playing Ramy, so I was happy to see the change, and
happier again now. It's good to have a tough match first round,
especially with a rest day, and I'm really looking forward to
playing on the glass court next round."
Aaron Frankcomb was the last player to arrive, and
considering the preparation - or lack of it - he'd had, the
Aussie turned in a remarkable performance to beat Egypt's Tarek
Momen in straight games.
 "I'm
pretty tired! I had a 48 hour journey to get here, with flights
being cancelled and delayed from Leeds then Manchester, and got
here at 5am this morning.
"I slept for five hours, had a 20-minute knock, had breakfast
and then went on for my match. I told myself I just had to deal
with it, and I think that helped me in some ways, I was moving
surprisingly well.
"I don't think Tarek played his best today, but last time we
played I won 3/2 so I knew I had a chance. Now I'll go and
get some rest ..."
Richards back from the dead
One of several all-English clashes in the draw, Tom Richards
v Adrian Waller looked to be producing an upset as Waller,
playing sublimely, opened up a two-game lead before Richards
battled back to win in just under the hour.
"He really adapted to the conditions better than me at the
start," explained Richards, "hitting flat shots and lovely
drops, which you have to do on these courts.
"I had to change my game completely from the third, play
straighter, build the rallies better, and thankfully I managed
to hang in until the tide turned in my favour."
Golan gets Ghosal
Malcolm reports
 The
Saurav Ghosal - Borja Golan match promised plenty.
Considering the bouncy nature of court one, both players
immediately began working the ball, notably Golan, who soon led
5/0 before Ghosal settled. Golan was varying the pace wekk and
although Ghosal got involved, he lost the first 11/4, almost
completely down to the quality of Golan's play.
However it was Ghosal who started the better in the second,
leading 3/0 and 6/1, playing as Golan had done in the first.
Golan recovered composure and with it the score, to 7/8, but a
backhand drop on Ghosal's first game ball at 10/7 brought
him level.
There were errors at the beginning of the third, but well
contested rallies too, as Ghosal took the early lead. The
quality and the pace remained high, at 6-all neither player was
able to dominate. It was Golan though, who got away to 9/7 and
10/8, but Ghosal brought it back to 10/9. The rallies had
lengthened and Ghosal surprisingly and suddenly went for a deep
backhand drop which he tinned to give Golan a 2/1 lead.
Golan, fortified, led 4/1 in the fourth and was in control
again. A heavy rally took him to 7/3, a crosscourt winner to
10/5 and a tin gave the Spaniard a deserved victory.
Castagnet Culls Cameron
 For
someone who was talking about giving up the game just a few
weeks ago, Mathieu Castagnet seems to have turned things
around pretty quickly.
An upset looked on the cards when the young Frenchman went 10/1
up in the first game against Cameron Pilley, and although the
Aussie recovered from another bad start to take the second game,
Castagnet continued to play with typical determination to take
the final two games, Pilley's flung racket at the end a
testament to how Castagnet's sheer persistence gets to
opponents.
"I haven't realised yet," said a delighted Castagnet.
"For a while now, I do lose a bit of motivation at times,
especially after my defeats in Egypt and Qatar. And my last two
tournaments, where I drew the top seed each time didn't help to
get my confidence back!
"Today I got on court without any pressure, and I was lucky that
Cameron didn't play his best squash.
I'm really happy, and I'm now going to prepare for my match in
two days..."
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equipment trouble all round
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Barker off to a flyer,
Darwish overcomes wobble ...
Tonight's programme on the Glass Court sees some of the genuine
contenders for the title start their campaign, and England's
Peter Barker, seeded eight and looking for his first really
big win, was in no mood to mess around as he comprehensively
beat Malaysia's Nafiizwan Adnan 11/4, 11/3, 11/3 in just over
half an hour.
In-form Egyptian Karim Darwish looked to be making a similar
statement against the USA's Julian Illingworth, taking the first
two games 11/3, 11/5 and holding a handsome lead in the third.
But Illingworth, to his credit, kept plugging away, pulled level
and pulled a game back 13/11.
 Darwish,
champion here in 2008, regrouped and resumed dominance in the
fourth, taking it 11/3 much to the delight of the already large,
and building, Subset Beach crowd.
The court may have happy memories for Darwish, but he's trying
not to dwell on that: "This is one of the best courts, and it
suits my game, but I'm not thinking about this as the World
Open, it's just another - very important - tournament.
"I'm not thinking about 2008, or of getting to the final, I'm
just taking each game as it comes and trying to enjoy it,
putting pressure on myself.
"I've been playing well recently, but each tournament is
different and this is just the first round, so it's too early to
tell if I'm playing well here ..."
Selby in Control
Malcolm reports
 Daryl
Selby, like many others of the world's leading players, has
had a busy time of it lately, but he started his match with New
Zealand's Campbell Grayson brightly and soon led 5/1. Grayson
looked uncomfortable with Selby's deception and pace, and saved
a first game ball at 10/3 only to lose the game 11/5 as Selby
hit a forehand nick.
In the second Selby again led early as Grayson struggled to stay
in touch. He quickly went to 10/3 and this time finished the
game at the first attempt with a spectacular overhead forehand
volley nick.
So far Selby had looked sharp and lively and it was hard to
visualise Grayson staging a comeback. Once again Selby was away,
to 6/0 this time, before an error gave Grayson his first point,
but Selby was soon at match ball, converting it at the second
attempt, 11/5.
Willstrop adds to English contingent
 James
Willstrop made it a hat-trick of English victors in the
evening session, but the sixth seed had to work hard to overcome
improving Swiss youngster Nicolas Mueller.
After an even opening, Mueller, unafraid to join Willstrop in
frequent attacks, opened up a 5/2 lead , increased it to 10/6
and held on to take an unexpected one game advantage.
Willstrop continued forcing the issue, frequently taking the
ball short, and it started paying dividends as the Englishman
surged to 6/2 leads in each of the next three games. Only in the
third did Mueller threaten to peg those leads back, but
Willstrop snuffed that threat out and proceeded to completely
dominate the fourth, winning 9/11, 11/4, 11/7, 11/2.
 "After
I lost the first, I had to tackle the match in small steps,"
explained Willstrop. "First get level, then take the lead, then
finish it. That's what I'm trying to do for the whole
tournament, in the past I maybe thought too much about reaching
the final or winning it too soon.
"Now I'm just concentrating on smaller targets. It's a long
week, or two weeks hopefully, you can't afford to think about
these things all the time.
"The court's a pleasure though, temperature and floor are good.
It's an art to be on the boil physically at the right time, so
I'm just going to try to keep myself at the right level, take it
a step at a time and try to make it all work out."
Ramy limps home
The last match of the day was almost the most dramatic, as
second seed Ramy Ashour, winner here last year and many people's
choice to regain the world title he lost last year, came very
close to falling at the hands of last-minute wildcard Kristian
Frost.
 There
was no hint of trouble in store as Ashour raced through the
first game, delighting the crowd and confusing his opponent with
a bewildering array of winners.
The second game started in the same manner, and an early night
seemed on the cards, as Ashour raced to an 11/1, 11/5 advantage.
But, whether it had happened at that point or earlier, in the
third Ashour started feeling his left hamstring and was having
trouble moving. At 2/8 he bent over holding his leg and the
referee asked if he required an injury timeout.
 The
offer was gratefully accepted, but on his return Ashour's
movement was still severely hampered and Frost took full
advantage to reduce his arrears.
There seemed a danger that the crowd's favourite might not
appear for the fourth, but after the referee had called "Time",
out he came, to rapturous applause.
Still struggling with his movement, and at times in obvious
pain, Ashour relied on his shotmaking to keep him just ahead of
an opponent who could now see a big payday beckoning, and was
now playing well. Helped by three drops into the backhand front
corner, all deemed "no let" to Frost's frustration, Ashour led
5/2.
5/4, 7/5, 9/7, he maintained the advantage. 10/8 with a dropshot,
10/9 with an equally good one from the Dane.
The scene was set for an outrageous return of serve winner.
Would he go for it? Of course he did, and of course it rolled
out of the nick as he turned in delight and relief to the crowd
who, of course, went wild.
Ramy had an escape tonight, be in no doubt. And he'll probably
need all of his rest day if he's to keep this particular dream
alive.
Ramy was unavailable for comment ... |
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