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LONG OVERDUE…

I was there last year when Karim lost in the final of this event against an ecstatic Wael. I remember being so upset he nearly didn’t make it to the Trophy Ceremony. Last year, he froze, pure and simple.

But this time, he came here as World Number one, with a fragile ankle. No pressure on him. Everybody would have understood had he lost. Best position ever.

I have to say this was, in my eyes, the best match of the tournament. Nothing flashy, no winners in the four corners, no rolling nicks, none of that. The two best players of the moment, playing a good paced precise, relentless squash. Good stuff.

They both took the spotlight, each their turn, and looked good and the likely winner for a few rallies, and then zoom, spotlight on the other one. I have to admit that I thought that Greg would win it, when he finished the third so decisively.

But he took a not so good start in the fourth, letting Karim fly away 5/2, to come back mentally and catching up at 5/5, 6/6. There were a few decisions that should in Greg’s eyes be strokes in his favour, and were only lets. He was not happy about it, and frustrations mounted, although he never lost his focus.

Still the loss of that game must have affected him quite badly, and the momentum stayed with Karim for the whole of the fifth, the crowd enjoying each point more and more, the Egyptian just stringing winner after winner, and took the match 11/3.

Karim only made five unforced errors throughout the match, that’s spotless squash at that level. Greg did a few more, seven, but there again, not much there either.

No, the difference came probably from the accumulation of matches/time on court that Greg had (230m to 156m for Karim), about 75m less, including a long 70m last night, against a 40m for Karim in the semis. I could see that in the 5th, the boy didn’t have the ooomf that he had throughout the match.

But a Greg that will be happy he beat Tarek, Shorbagy, Wael, and Ramy, four Egyptians in Egypt, a great improvement in his game compared to last week in Manchester.

And Karim, well, he didn’t even think he could play past the first round, so, over the Moon, he was, and his explosion of pure joy at the end reflected it…

The week where it went to David's head...

En Bref #5
Looking into the future of Sky...


H2H

En Bref #4
Including "what's happening with the glass court ?"

Semi-Finals:

[1] Karim Darwish (Egy) bt [12] Alister Walker (Eng)
                     11/8, 11/2, 11/6 (40m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt [3] Ramy Ashour (Egy)
                      11/8, 9/11, 8/11, 11/5, 11/9 (70m)

Franco Egyptian Final tomorrow....

If Karim didn't have too much trouble with an Ali a bit overwhelmed by the occasion and frankly knackered, Greg and Ramy battled for 70m before the Frenchman got his ticket for the final.... World number 1 v World number 2...

KARIM IS HOME

If Ali played the game in the first game, pushing the Man quite hard with extra long and disputed rallies, and getting him a bit edgy when he came back from 9/5 to 8/9, he didn’t much left in the tank after that.

And when I say in the tank, I mean both mentally and physically. Beating Shabana, his idol, yesterday, in a long match, changing court as well – he is not as accustomed to the glass court as a Karim is, obviously, took its toll on the Englishman.

Plus, once Edgy Karim got his first game in the bag, he left the magic happen. Superb boasts that kills whatever confidence Ali had left in his body, excellent length, and a great reading of the game, led to a quick and painless victory for a delighted, relieved and serene Egyptian…

I was very strong in the first game, but after that, lost a bit of concentration. And you know what, I never played outdoors yet, the wind is a bit unsettling, you think, ah, is it affecting the ball, no it’s not, actually it is… And your mind wanders…. I never really relaxed today, never felt comfortable, I don’t think he did either, but I was not good enough to expose him. Still, I’ve really happy with my week here, I had a great time…. Shabana is the best player I ever saw play, and to get a win over him is already an achievement for me. Now, I’ve got to keep on working, and start making things happen…

"Ramy started to come back at the end, and it was really close. Last time we played was in Hurghada, it was very close too, but he beat me there, and since, we didn’t have much chance to play.

It was not easy to play on there tonight for either of us, as this is our first time on the glass court, we don’t have any marks really. So even if we played fast, we weren’t precise enough. Like he did this week, he made a lot of unforced errors, which is a shame because he takes the ball so early…

I didn’t play super squash, I was especially disappointed to lose the 2nd whereas I was leading 7/3, and 9/7. But that will teach me to shorten the rallies against somebody who takes the ball so early, you get punished big time.

I know Karim won his matches easily this week, he will be fresh tomorrow, but I’m somehow glad I played Shorbagy, and Wael, and Ramy, because after not playing for four months, I'm happy to get matches, and especially fast pace ones… That’s why I needed at the start of the season.

Now, a good rest, work on the body tonight, to be fresh for tomorrow, and try and get my first title of the season. Not the best of wins, but a win, end of this day, tomorrow, another page to be written, one day at the time….

[2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt [3] Ramy Ashour (Egy)
                      11/8, 9/11, 8/11, 11/5, 11/9 (70m)

GREG PREVENTS AN
ALL EGYPTIAN FINAL

To be honest with you guys, this was not Greg and Ramy’s best match. Both at the start of the season, neither of them had been playing on the glass court yet – see my two en brefs on the subject – neither of them was comfortable out there, and in fact, in the third and fourth, we saw more a junior squash match than a semi-final of a platinum at times.

Honestly, I had a slow connection, and I was updating the score on the site, well, I couldn’t do it fast enough, the site was still saving by the time the score was changing!!!!

Ramy in particular didn’t look at his ease at all, moment of brilliance, as ever, some stunning retrieving, but not the Legend Ramy that we know tonight. He was behind in the first game, game that he lost 11/8, also in the second. Greg was leading 6/3, then 9/7, but Ramy started to speed up the pace, looking like he was waking up to the occasion, to equalise 9/9 and taking the game 11/9.

In the third, the Frenchman seemed a bit lethargic at times, and I could hear Mathieu, his physio/coach, encouraging him, as he was, like me, feeling that Greg was losing his drive.

And the reverse in the 4th, Ramy never woke up in that one, most worrying for his fans, he seemed to keep on the same negative momentum in the 5th, allowing Greg to go ahead to 5/0 in less than a minute…

At 7/2, Greg must have thought he’d won it, but Ramy stopped the unforced errors, and we started to see some top squash, great rallies, Greg volleying most of Ramy’s attacks, the Egyptian finding some astonishing attacks and counter attacks.

The crowd got really into it as their man clawed back to 8/8, 9/9, but a Gaultier Special, you know, that crosscourt so close to the tin that comes out of nowhere set up a match ball, and a perfect length drive that died at the back gave him the match.

A very fair audience gave Greg a good round of applause, although they were disappointed to see their hero go out. Still, tomorrow, Karim will have another chance to get that title that eluded him last year….
 

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