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 FRAM'S
CORNER #158
Everything you never knew you needed to know about the Squash
World
30th December 2012 |
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USA
CANADA
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AFRICA
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PAKISTAN
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ENGLAND
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MALAYSIA
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FIDJI
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Mr & Mrs RICKETTS
and Co....
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BUSY WEEK!!!!!
You know me, I just luuuuuve weddings and engagements, well, I
was gâtée this week (look it up).
 First,
Joelle King is now officially married - no pics yet. Then,
Nick Matthew is about to be made an honest man at last,
as Esme Taylor, soon to be Matthew smiled "Well, somebdy
had to"...
Who is Esme?
She is a
EIS Physiologist
working with British Cycling. On top of being the nicest,
loveliest physio ever (apart from Jade Elias, of course), she
has been doing valuable work with the track team to look at the
climate conditions can affect the performances on the track and
used the London Prepares Test event to learn from.
Data was collected on temperature, pressure and humidity in the
velodrome throughout racing as an opportunity to predict what
the Olympic environment may be like and look at specific ways of
preparing for these variables for the benefit of performance.
 “Cold
weather from the north means low air pressure whereas around the
equator, you can expect the pressure to be high. When those meet,
that’s what changes the pressure. Really low pressure outside
with a high temperature will create the fastest conditions, and
we could get that in a British Summer. If it’s quite stormy then
you tend to have quite low pressure. It wouldn’t be nice for
everyone outside, but we’d quite like it stormy.”
Not just a pretty face, hey? I wonder if we could do that with
squash balls?....
 And
at last but not least, the Golden Squash Couple, Raneem and
Tarek.
This is definitely the best news of the year that ends, that
those two amazing young athletes love each other, and have
decided to care for each other for the rest of their life.
May the Gods of Squash protect them, and love them forever.
Mabrook, mes petits. |
FRAM'S
CORNER #157
Everything you never knew you needed to know about the Squash
World
25th December 2012 |
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OLYMPICS
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WORLDS
CAYMANS
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INDIA
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PAKISTAN
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WALES
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GUYANA
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ENGLAND
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NEW ZEALAND
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BERMUDA
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FIDJI
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FRAM'S
CORNER #156
Everything you never knew you needed to know about the Squash
World
20th December 2012 |
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PAKISTAN
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WORLDS
QATAR
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ENGLAND
-
 Chris
Simpson
Simpson up with the best
WALES
SCOTLAND
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INDIA
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UGANDA
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WORLDS CAYMANS
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USA
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AUSTRALIA
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THE RALLY
You've read the report,
you've
seen the video, now read the poem... by Vadim...
The Rally
Nine all. Ramy bounces the ball 9 times. The Artist is deep in
meditation. Serve.
Knowing The Rally is seconds away, a child in the audience yells
out.
Let ball.
“Points and rallies don’t get much bigger than this…”
Serve. Drive. Drive. Loose ball to Ramy with Shorbagy trapped.
Too soon to go short? Never. Ramy glides the volley into the
front right nick. For mortals, point ends there with a “nice
nick”. But pros retrieve nicks and play goes on.
Drive. Drive. Drive. Ball jams into the front-side-wall nick and
pops out to the middle. This court loves drama. Ramy is trapped.
What to do? So much time. Crosscourt to make him run? No. This
calls for a Peter Nicol 2004 ToC boast. Will Ramy dive like
Whitey did? Not yet…
Lob. Drive. Drive. Drive. Enough
of that. Time to go short. Will Shorbagy get to it? Yes, with
that beautiful sound of a racket jamming into the glass to dig
out yet another nick. Barely. The ball floats to the front. Ramy
on it.
Drop. Counter-drop. Drive. Volley. Drive. Boast. It’s too fast
now. Ramy decides it’s time to go back to basics: frontcourt
backhand cross-court drop to the nick.
“Here we go…”
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But the target is missed. Time for
Shorbagy to pulverize the ball to the back. But wait. The
Tecnifibre decelerates from 100mph to zero and it’s a drop. Now
it’s time for the Artist to dive.
“This is like something out of a comic book…”
Lob. Backhand smash. Stretch. Lob. Shorbagy wants the
cross-court forehand nick so badly. But the court wants to see
more. Ball pops up.
Backhand carve drop. Slip. Lob.
Intermission: 3 drives.
We’re back. Shorbagy thinks about the backcourt backhand topspin
drop, but opts for the more conservative backcourt backhand
semi-topsin drop. So tight. Counter-drop by Ramy. Tighter
counter-drop by Shorbagy.
Ramy punches the ball to the back.
Shorbagy calculates the geometry of what’s about to come. The
math is there. Should I do it? Nine all, down 2-1 in the final
of the World Open. Don’t be a hero. Don’t be a hero. But I’m
young. I’ll be here again. Don’t be a hero. What would Jonah say?
The hell with it. Let’s take a shot at immortality. Small hop
and there it is: The no-look-between-the-legs-drop to the front
right nick.
Brain is confused. What just happened? Ramy, relying on
instinct, not brain, somehow follows the ball to the front and
scrapes it out of the nick. Barely.
But now Ramy realizes what just happened. His brain betrays him
and takes a second to process. He is confused. Did that really
just happen? And in that terrible moment of rationality the
Artist is frozen. Shorbagy’s final winner is but a formality.
Ramy wins the championship. Ramy is the new world Number 1. But
in that one rally at nine all in the fourth, The Rally, Mohamed
El Shorbagy did what no one else has ever done. He out-arted the
Artist. |
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FRAM'S
CORNER #155
Everything you never knew you needed to know about the Squash
World
5th December 2012 |
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OLYMPICS
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HONG KONG
OPEN
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INDIA
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USA
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Squash’s
Philadelphia Open is returning in January
Zambia
Squash Association picks 13 for Namibia tourney
Squash
club lines up competitions
Squash
seeking Olympics inclusion
Malaysian
Nicol David beats Laura Massaro to world title
and now one title from equalling Jansher Khan feat
Warwickshire
trio perform well in World Squash Championships
A
depressing year for Pakistan squash
Squash
World Championship: Egypt's Ramy Ashour wins title
Quarters:
Uganda
chosen best team at Parklands Squash Open
Rain
Fails to Dampen Optimism of Squash 2020 Olympic Bid
Squash
Olympic bid able to shine after rain clouds lift
Nicol
remains the star
Pallikal
is first Indian to get into top 10
OTR
building to house entrepeneurs, squash courts
Squash
is a game that not many people know about...
Unsquashable:
Trading volleys with Maria Toor Pakay
British
Open Squash tournament all set for Hull's KC
Stadium
Carlisle
squash ace Victoria Bell breaks into world top
100
Squash
stars set for Doha action
