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TODAY in Cairo ... Mon 21st, Day FIVE, QUARTERS
Framboise reports from Cairo |
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[1] Karim
Darwish (Egy) bt [16] Cameron Pilley (Aus)
8/11, 11/6, 11/8, 11/4 (54m)
[12] Alister Walker (Eng) bt [4] Amr Shabana (Egy)
11/3, 11/6, 4/11, 11/8 (42m)
[3] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [10] James Willstrop (Eng)
8/11, 11/6, 11/7, 7/11, 12/10 (60m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt [9] Wael El Hindi (Egy)
11/9, 11/6, 11/7 (52m)
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En Bref #3 |
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[1]
Karim
Darwish (Egy) bt [16] Cameron Pilley (Aus)
8/11, 11/6, 11/8, 11/4 (54m)
MISSED OPPORTUNITY…
Cameron Pilley will be disappointed with his performance today. Not because
he played badly, not at all, he played well at the start, but because lost his way a
bit, wasn’t strict with his game plan, and went through the motions a little
after an excellent first game…
Now, Karim is no push over, of course, but he was so tense to play here, so
careful about his ankle, that had Cameron taken the second game, not sure
that the World Number One would have pushed too hard, for fear of getting
another injury.
But when the Egyptian relaxed his arm a bit from the third, what a pleasure,
how graceful he is as he hides his lethal volley drop shots from the back of
the court… How amazing it is to see how late his opponent is actually seeing
where the ball is going… Truly great stuff, Karim.
Home Boy delighted the crowd tonight, and quite rightly. His wife, Engy,
about to start her World Title quest, phoned him from Amsterdam. She can be
proud, as Karim produced an excellent performance, especially in those
circumstances of a fragile ankle….
 Mentally,
I felt a bit tired from the tournament I guess. I played two great games
here, then I played well in the first one tonight, and then… I’ve got the
feeling I got chopped!
I think that I was playing well enough in the tournament to push him more
than 3/1, although I’m perfectly aware he is the world number one… Frankly,
I was disappointed in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th games … He took it up, he raised
the intensity, and I didn’t do anything to stop him. I should have stayed
with him, or slowed it down…
Finishing a tournament this way ruins it for you…
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 You
know, I was not going to play in this tournament at all, after
my injury in the British…. I had five days of intensive
treatment with my physio, my ankle is not 100% yet, but I had to
play in this tournament…
He is such an attacker, he volleys a lot, it was always going to
be difficult. And it may only be 3/1, but it was a very tough
match…
Being in the semis is such an achievement for me. I was taking
it point by point, and feeling that my ankle is holding is
really a great feel… I still can’t believe I’m in the semis…
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[12]
Alister
Walker (Eng) bt [4] Amr Shabana (Egy)
11/3, 11/6, 4/11, 11/8 (42m)
ALI TO PERFECTION…
You know the drill, don’t you… Shabana at home is ALWAYS edgy,
he doesn’t feel comfortable, his wife was there too, probably a
bit more pressure there, on a traditional court, which doesn’t
really suit his game that well, and off the mind goes…
Not only that, but today, he was meeting a very hungry player
indeed, Ali, who turned 27 two days ago, who must think that if
he doesn’t do it now, when???
So the boy takes all his chances. He stops his very strong game
at the back mixed with great athletic qualities to explode an
intelligent game at the front, stunning counter attacks,
beautiful defensive lobs, forceful volleying. Never played
better, in my eyes anyway. After what I saw yesterday against
Adrian, I must admit it’s quite a shock. I would never have
believed he would produce such a performance.
Shabana did regroup, and did find some astonishing attacks, but
too late. The boy was confident he could win, he was confident
he had the weapons to beat the Prince of Egypt.
And on the day, he had.
 I
played him last week in Manchester, and I watched the game on
video. I changed a few things about my game. I guess he was
expecting a slow start, but that’s the best squash I’ve ever
played in terms of being positive, sharp, severe with my
attacks.
Sooner or later, he was bound to find some great squash, and
that’s what he did in the third and fourth, but I thought that
if I could just hang in there, he could maybe make a couple of
errors, and become edgy. And that’s what happened in the fourth.
He lost more points than I won, I would guess, and for that, I’m
truly grateful…
I’m still in shock, I can’t take much in right now, I guess I’ve
got to get ready for another one tomorrow…
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[3] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [10] James Willstrop (Eng)
8/11, 11/6, 11/7, 7/11, 12/10 (60m)
RETRIEVING GAME...
What kills me on this match is that it was not videoed, and that
nobody will every realise what James has achieved here tonight.
From the middle of the second game, that boy was dead. I’ve seen
him play enough to know his movement, and it reminded me of his
British Open final four years ago against Anthony Ricketts,
where he was basically flat.
 And
still he retrieved all that Ramy was sending at him, and that
was a lot, believe me. White as a sheet, James kept on digging,
pushing the World Champion to attack one more time, forcing him
to find the tin so many times…
And he still loses 12/10 in the fifth. Another defeat in the
tie-break of the fifth. I don’t think he will be celebrating
tonight.
Let’s take Ramy now. Ramy has been wise. He didn’t play in the
British Open, he is fresh. Yes, but tense. Fresh but playing in
front of his father. Fresh, but like James, playing on a
traditional court.
I thought Ramy didn’t play at his best tonight. Refusing the
rallies, he went for a lot of winners, look at the lenght of the
match, five
games in an hour, that tells the story.
What saved him was: 1.
His extraordinary retrieving skills. 2. His ability to find
winners – delicate ones, soft touch, out of nowhere. 3. His
reading of James’ game. So many times James had all the time in
the world to play the shot, and still, Ramy was there, ready for
him, counterattacking it with a vengeance.
This match was not a great match squashwise. But it was a gutsy
performance from two champions, one who fought physically,
overcoming his exhaustion, the other who fought mentally, to
overcome his fear to disappoint.
To both, bravo.
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I’m not going to
say again how happy I am to be able to perform after the
surgery, but still, I’m really pleased I’ve been able to compete
at that level. I cannot complain about losing, really.
I’m disappointed of course, but it has been three very hard
weeks, between the US Open, the British, and now here. Ramy knew
the schedule, made other choices.
I couldn’t move as fast as I would normally do today, I wasn’t
as sharp, I couldn’t twist and turn like I normally do, and that
comes with three weeks of continuous play.
Look how all the boys are falling, Nick yesterday, Peter was in
all states, we commented actually on how tired we both were
yesterday, and how it showed on each other’s game during our
match, Shabs is out today…
Ramy has played very well, of course, he made errors, but maybe
a few were coming from my persistence. I guess we played better
squash, but pace wise, it was right out there…
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Yes, yesterday’s
match took a lot out of me, but I was moving ok, I wasn’t moving
great, but not as bad I would have thought.
Greg and Thierry have completely different games, and that’s
what makes it interesting, because all the top guys are so
different, and as a player, you learn to cope with each match
individually. Pace wise, today was like going from second gear
to fifth, and my brain and body were just not reacting fast
enough…
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[2]
Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt [9] Wael El Hindi
(Egy)
11/9, 11/6, 11/7 (52m)
GREG IS BACK
 It’s
like the Frenchman has been improving by stages in this
tournament. First game against Tarek, damage control, avoiding
the same error as last year, but far from being a great
performance. Yesterday, against Shorbagy, better, but still, a
bit of nervousness, never really settled in the match.
Today was an excellent performance, against a player that Greg
will have trouble playing as he is a close friend, and that is
never easy, in any case, and certainly not when we are talking
about an Egyptian playing in Egypt in front of his father who
ever saw him play twice, ever.
Just in case you wonder, Wael did “zip it” a bit, still
got himself a conduct stroke though, not too bad really... There were a few collisions
here and there, of
course, but nothing that the two boys didn’t laugh about at the
end of the game.
The man in form won tonight…
I have got the
envy back, the desire to play… It was very hard at the start of
the season to find my motivation again, and when I arrived here,
I had no feel of my racquet, no legs.
But today, it suddenly clicked again, I found my touch again,
and I knew when I left the hotel to come here that it was going
to be alright. I’m enjoying my squash again, and I’m again
positive…
I knew today that Wael was going to struggle, we hit together
and I could see that when I was hitting at the back, he just
couldn’t turn. Of course, tonight, once he was warm, it was a
bit better, but I knew that as soon as I would hit deep in the
back corner, he would struggle. That match against Thierry took
a hell of a lot out of him…
I chose to play fast tonight, to make abstraction of the fact
that we are very close, that we spend lots of time together,
training, etc. He knows my game very well too, so he tried to
get me out of my comfort zone, but I just kept the pace up…
I’m happy, it’s a very positive match for me…
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