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TODAY in Cairo ... Tue 29th, Qualifying finals |
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29-Jul, Qualifying Finals:
Yasir Butt (Pak) bt Omar Abdel Meguid (Egy)
11/4, 12/14, 11/9, 11/9 (49m)
plays R.Ashour
Simon Rosner (Ger) bt
Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind)
11/8, 11/3, 11/1 (32m)
plays Ong
Jan Koukal (Cze) bt Ahmed Hawas (Egy)
9/11, 11/1, 13/11, 11/8 (47m)
plays Grant
Amr Swelim (Egy) bt Badr Abdel Aziz (Egy)
11/8, 11/8, 11/4 (35m)
plays Shabana
Stéphane Galifi (Fra) bt
Tom Richards (Eng)
11/6, 11/7, 11/4 (41m)
plays Iskandar
Amr Mansi (Egy) bt Julien Balbo (Fra)
11/4, 2/11, 11/5, 13/11 (47m)
plays Mosaad
Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) bt Saurav Ghosal (Ind)
2/11, 8/11, 11/8, 11/4, 12/10 (86m) plays Boswell
Tarek Momen (Egy) bt Steve Coppinger (Rsa)
LL
7/11, 4/11, 11/8, 11/9, 11/7 (59m) plays
Gaultier
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Good day for the Hosts in Cairo ...
Four Egyptians win through to the main draw ...
En Bref Issue #2 |
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Stéphane Galifi (Fra) bt
Tom Richards (Eng)
11/6, 11/7, 11/4 (41m)
TWO ARTISTS AT WORK
Framboise reports
I was impressed by the two players today, at different levels.
Tom Richards, firstly, because his game has matured so much. He
waited for the right time to attack, he didn’t force the issue
too early as he did so many times, and his fitness has improved
considerably, and his touch is still as subtle as ever. His work
with the three Peters (Genever, Barker, Nicol) and Paul Carter
is obviously paying off.
And also, I was seduced by Galif, as we call him in France. His
counter-attack is Wael-like, with a slight Ramy’s invention. And
he reads his opponent so well that he moves extremely fast.
Like I said, two artists at work…
Today, Tom was facing the impossible opponent: the Hungry for
Victory Player. Stéphane Galifi, who was meant in his earlier
career to get to the top rankings and on whose shoulders French
hopes used to reside, wanted to qualify probably more than
anything in the world he’s wanted for a very very long time.
”Sortir du tunnel”. “Getting out of the tunnel”. That’s what I
could see in his eyes. I’m winning this, there is no way I’m
losing this, I HAVE to win this. The Frenchman was able to keep
his errors to a maximum of two per game. Tom didn’t. The
Englishman's frustration grew, and he lost hope in the third,
mentally feeling that he just didn’t have the right answers.
God knows he tried, he varied his game, speeding it up at the
right time, increasing the physical pressure when he saw Steph
puffing a bit. But nothing worked. The Frenchman was
counter-attacking everything, running like hell, and soon
re-established his control of the rallies.
A big step for Stéphane, who was so relieved to “be able to play
squash now that he is past the qualifiers”…. May the Gods of
French Squash look after him…
 "I
never saw him playing squash before, only one game yesterday
against a not too good player, and even if people told me about
him, about his game, it was a bit of the “unknown”.
"Stéphane moves really well, he sends the ball back every time,
uses his touch to move you around, and did frustrate me, I must
say.
"I’m very disappointed, because I’m not in the main draw, not
with my performance. I don’t think I played too badly, but he
just played extremely well."
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"I’m happy, I didn’t make too many errors, it was good
squash. Now, I’m going to be able to play squash. I’ve reached
my goal, I’m going to be able to relax and PLAY SQUASH!!! I so
hate the qualifiers…
"I’m playing all my opponents as if I was playing Shabana. I
never take anybody for granted, I give my 100%, as if my life
depended on it. And I did ask about this player, who is he, who
is he. And I was told he was an excellent player, that I was to
be very wary of him…
"I do respect everybody. Not when I was young, I’m ashamed to
say, I used to be maybe a bit over confident. But now, I’ve
learnt. I’ve learnt that squash richness is coming from not only
the top 20, but from all those who do not have a great ranking.
They bring so many styles to squash, without them, what would we
do, play 16 draw tournaments??? It’s important, it’s capital to
respect ALL the players regardless of their rankings."
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 "Because
of last time, I really didn’t want to lose that match.
"I was focused, completely focused on the match since I heard I
was playing against him.
"Funny, as after our match in Toulouse, Julien told me that he
was trying to come to Egypt, and that he’d bet that we would
play against each other. And it didn’t miss…
"I really wanted to win, I’m so happy to qualify, and I hope to
play well in the main draw. Thank you very much!"
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Amr Mansi (Egy) bt Julien Balbo (Fra)
11/4, 2/11, 11/5, 13/11 (47m)
THE REVENGE
Framboise reports
I was expecting that result for two reasons. One, because Julien
was not really prepared for this tournament, he just grabbed the
opportunity that opened to him. The fact he got a bye yesterday
must not have helped either. But also because the last time
those two played, Julien won a very tough 3/2, where the ref I
heard was not of the top quality. Once again, I can only say
what I heard from different sources.
So, at home, I didn’t think that Amr would let go of any points
today, and would fight like a lunatic to get his revenge. And
that’s exactly what he did. I arrived at one game all, when
Julien was really struggling with his fitness, a third game won
by the Egyptian. But was it French pride, or was it that Amr
started to get excited in view of the finishing post? He didn’t
score a point from 6/3 to 9/6 for Julien…
'Not today', you could hear Amr thinking, and he clawed back,
saved three game points to finally raise his arms in the air as
Julien was asking for a let that he didn’t get…
 "Nothing
to say other than he was too good today.
"I knew that I was going to be a bit short, as I only had a
little more than a week to prepare. It was just a superb
opportunity to come here, and I grabbed it.
"I need my legs to play my game, and today, I just didn’t have
any, and he quite rightly took advantage of that…"
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Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) bt
Saurav Ghosal (Ind)
2/11, 8/11, 11/8, 11/4, 12/10 (86m)
WHAT CAN I SAY…
Framboise reports
 Both
players were unhappy with the refereeing today. It was one of
those matches where the three ref system showed its limitation,
as the main ref was often overpowered with the two other's
votes. Which were maybe not the correct ones…
It was still an excellent match, with two gentlemen who did
their best to go through the match without letting the situation
get to them. Both players played their racquets off, and their
game at the front was just out of this world.
Today, it was Reda who got on top. He got back from an awful
start – he hit Saurav in the first accidentally and the Indian
needed a 23-minute break – losing the first two games very
quickly to come back with a vengeance in the third and fourth,
destabilising Saurav who completely lost his way in the fourth.
The fifth could have been anybody’s really, 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 5/5,
6/6, 7/7, 8/8, 9/9, 10/10. Reda clinched the victory on a superb
backhand drop shot, one of many he and Saurav placed today…
 "The
injury is fine, really.
"I’m really sad, what can I say, I get two terrible tremendous
no lets at 9/9 and 10/10. And I find that very sad, especially
as he was playing so well, and didn’t need that.
"But I’ve got only me to blame really, because I was 2/0 and
should have pressed on, instead of letting him come back in the
match. His game became tight and really precise, and I can only
say congratulations to him for this victory."
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"After I accidentally hit him at 4/2, I lost concentration and
lost the first two games very quickly.
"He is so fast, he picks up so many balls, so you’ve got to
attack, attack, attack. I became a bit more aggressive on my
volley, and that worked well.
"I’m not sure about the last ball, I thought it was maybe down,
but two of the refs said it was good, so I don’t know if I’m
happy or sad about it. I’m happy I won, but at the same time,
I’m not, if you see what I mean.
"There were a lot of bad decisions in this match, for both of
us…"
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 "I
was very unlucky today, I played very badly, I made lots of
errors, but I am very stiff from yesterday's match."
Omar Abdel Meguid
 "Omar
is a tough opponent you should not give him the ball in the
middle or in the front so I had to play a basic game.
"Anyway I played well , I am happy to get to the main draw."
Yasir Butt |
Yasir Butt (Pak) bt Omar Abdel Meguid (Egy)
11/4, 12/14, 11/9, 11/9 (49m)
Tough Match
Marwan reports
Yasir had to wait one day because he had bye yesterday while
Omar had a very tough match against Wade Johnston. The match
today was very tough, the third game was really very important
for both players, Omar made lots of errors today, and was
unlucky, maybe very tired mentally from his match yesterday
because it was too long.
In the second game Omar surprised Yasir with his game as he kept
him at the back and volleying the ball, he kept the pressure on
him all the game, and took the lead 9/5 but then he started the
errors again and Yasir took advantage from that, just saving the
ball and keep it to the back, Yasir had a chance to win the game
at 12/11 but Omar came back to take it.
Third game was very close untill 5/5 6/6 7/7 then Butt played
some good shots to take the lead 10/7, Omar back to 9/10 but he
gave Butt the game by an error from him. The fouth was the same,
very close until 8/8 then Butt pulled awat to win it 11/9.
The match was very good from both players, Butt will be in the
Main Draw tomorrow. He may have a chance tomorrow to win, but
Omar had a very good tournament, I think if he started to play
PSA tournaments, he could be top 50.
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Simon Rosner (Ger) bt
Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind)
11/8, 11/3, 11/1 (32m)
No Sweat for Rosner
Marwan reports
I haven't seen Rosner playing like that before, he is really
very good, he has very good squash, and he surprised Ritwik
today with his game. He didn't give Ritwik any chance to play,
he was hitting the ball very well, volleying every ball, keeping
the pressure on him, and Ritwik was just running over the court,
unable to do anything against him.
Rosner is such a very good player, he played some good boasts
from his back hand, and he is in the main draw now.
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"I played very well today everything was working, my boast was
very good.
"I am really pleased to play in the main draw tomorrow, I don't
mind who I am playing ..."
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"I am not happy, I didn't play my best squash.
"I had the lead in the first game and I gave it to him which
made him confident for the rest of the match.
"I am happy to get to the main draw and I am so looking forward
to my next match ..."
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Jan Koukal (Cze) bt Ahmed Hawas (Egy)
9/11, 11/1, 13/11, 11/8 (47m)
Unexpected Tussle !!
Marwan reports
 Jan
Koukal had to wait a day because he had a bye yesterday but that
didn't help him today, as he didn't play his best squash, but
his opponent, the 18 year old Ahmed Hawas from El Shams club who
created an upset yesterday, played extremely well and gave the
Czech a real tussle.
Hawas surprised Koukal in the first game, and was slowing the
pace in most of the match. The third was the important
game, it was very tough this game, point by point until 6/6 then
the referees made some strange decisions and Koukal started to
talk to the referee, before he took the lead 9/6. Then Hawas
came back very strongly to 8/9 then 10/9 to Koukal, and Hawas
hit the nick with his back hand volley. He had a game ball at
11/10 but he made an error which gave the advantage to Koukal to
win the game.
The fourth game was very tough, But Koukal moved from 6/6 to
10/6 with great squash from him. Koukal in the main draw, and
Hawas maybe will be the lucky loser... |
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Amr Swelim (Egy) bt Badr Abdel Aziz (Egy)
11/8, 11/8, 11/4 (35m)
Swelim in Control
Marwan reports
Swelim and Badr are very good friends, they always with each
other so they know each other's games very well. Today Swelim
played better than yesterday and Badr played very badly. This is
the first time for Swelim to be in the main draw in Platinum
Event. Of course he will be looking for a good match tomorrow
against any player. So Good Luck to him ...
 "I
played better today, I'm feeling better and I am happy to
be in the main draw of platinum event for my first time in my
life.
"Me and Badr are good friends so I feel sorry for him, he is one
of my best friends. I think he didn't play well today he was
very unlucky ..."
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 "Amr
played very well today, he played better than me and he deserved
to win.
"First game I had a bad start and he was controlling the T ,
second game I played better but his ball was more deeper and he
was volleying so I was doing the running.
"Anyway I wish him good luck for his match tomorrow ..."
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But
Coppinger gets through too, as the Lucky Loser to replace
Mohammed Abbas ... |
Tarek Momen (Egy) bt Steve Coppinger (Rsa)
7/11, 4/11, 11/8, 11/9, 11/7 (59m)
What a match!
Marwan reports
Today Steve was playing very well at the start of the match,
Tarek was 2/0 down and 5/1 , Steve didn't give him any chance to
play today in the first two games, he was keeping the pressure
on him at the back and Tarek was making lots of mistakes, he was
unlucky and out of concentration.
In the third game Steve had a very good start like the first two
and took the lead 5/1. After that Tarek started to play deeper
and stopped the mistakes so he took the advantage and started to
come back very strongly to win this game. In the fourth Tarek
found his game and Steve started to be very nervous, making some
strange mistakes.
In the last Tarek was completely in control and he gets through
to the main draw, so he will be looking forward for a good
match....
"I don't know why
I started very bad like that, I made lots of errors. He was
playing very well, but then in the third game I started to play
deeper so I stopped the mistakes and it gave me more confidence.
Anyway I am happy to get to the main draw ..."
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