[3] David Palmer (Aus) bt [6] Wael El Hindi (Egy)        11/8, 8/11, 11/5, 8/11, 11/5 (64m)

[5] Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt [4] James Willstrop (Eng)                    11/6, 11/4, 11/2 (31m)

[2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt [8] Ong Beng Hee (Mas)        12/10, 7/11, 11/7, 11/9 (52m)

[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [7] Lee Beachill (Eng)                        12/10, 11/6, 11/6 (40m)
  

No joy for the English on day one
Fram and Steve report from Broadgate

Day one of the 2008 edition of the Super Series Finals saw the first round of pool matches completed.

Newly-crowned British Open champion David Palmer won a see-saw five-game match against debutant Wael El Hindi, but his reign at the top of the ATCO group didn't last long as last year's finalist Gregory Gaultier won an entertaining four-game victory over Ong Beng Hee, who was called in only at the weekend.

In the Prince group 2004 champion Thierry Lincou took advantage of an under-par James Willstrop, the Englishman struggling with a leg injury from the early stages of the match. In the last match of the day top seed Amr Shabana also beat an Englishman in straight games, leaving Lee Beachill and Willstrop with all to do if they are to qualify for the semis.

[3] David Palmer (Aus) bt [6] Wael El Hindi (Egy)
              11/8, 8/11, 11/5, 8/11, 11/5 (64m)

GOOD SPIRIT, EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE…

I can’t explain the slight difference between a PSA match, where the players are putting their racquet and life on the red line, and a pool match from the Super Series Finals. Don’t believe for a minute the guys are not taking it seriously. Oh no, they are. But they are just fighting with different weapons, they go for more shots, they have a bit more of a sense of humour, and they play with/for the crowd just a bit more.

And sorry, guys, but I love it!!!!

Today, Wael was really up for it, and looked good up to the fifth, where his lack of matches started to show, whereas David was a bit with out, brain-wise, in patches, I think maybe listening to the lovely gagas of his adorable daughter Kayla who was waiting patiently for him in the wings, along with wife Mel.

So, as David said, a bit of an on and off match, but on a cold court, both their shots were going in superbly, forcing the other one to run like mad, offering us some great entertaining squash that really ravished the sold out crowd…

"Tough match obviously, it felt a lot tougher on there than it was last week in Liverpool. There, it was very bouncy, whereas today, it’s very dead out there.

"It was on and off the whole game, I played well in the first, then he played well in the second, me in the 3rd, him in the 4th, and I managed to pull away in the 5th, and he got tired.

"I’ve been coming here about 8/9 times, and I never ever won my first match! So I normally lose the first, get myself having to win the second one, and having to relying on somebody losing or winning on the third day!

"My days are running out, especially when I see Wael making a split like he did at the back there, there is NO WAY I can do that… But no, I’ll keep on playing till the day I’m not in contention, that’s the day I’ll stop…

"I think that we’ve both played a bit patchy tonight, but considering it’s a very dead court, I think I moved well, especially as you’ve got to move twice as fast on that court…

"But I thought we played a very fair match, and a perfect start of the tournament…"

"I hardly had any matches since…. Hurghada actually…

"It was a bit hard to move on there, especially, it was very hard to get from the back to the front, and the front seems very very far out! And then, when you finally get to the front, you are a bit late, and you don’t have many options left…

"It was a stop, go, stop, go, match, still, a few good rallies, at a reasonable pace…"

[5] Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt [4] James Willstrop (Eng)
                  11/6, 11/4, 11/2 (31m)

JAMES NOT MOVING WELL…

A few nights ago, James felt a little twinge while playing in Lee on Solent, I was told, and although it didn’t seem too bad, today, after 5 or 6 rallies, he went to stretch his right leg quads, and from that point on, was not moving from the service line, attacking very well, but volleying a bit too much for it to be his normal game.

Thierry, after his three love defeat in the semis of the British Open last week against James, had readjusted his tactic, and got a good tight start, finding some stunning shots, supported by a great length, helped most certainly by a slower pace from the English player, who obviously couldn’t accelerate or push on his legs too hard.



After receiving treatment between games, a few unforced errors at the back end of long rallies seemed to take its toll on James (5 in the 2nd, 5 in the 3rd), and although he never gave up, it was obvious to all that he was struggling movement wise… Thierry, very focused, played the perfect game in those circumstances, twisting and turning Dig In James, who tonight, just didn’t have the means to fight back…

"I could see from the start that he was struggling, and although I was happy with the start of my match, with my length, I soon realised that he was clearly not moving well. We had to finish the match, but it was obvious that he couldn’t push too hard…

"The Kuwait tournament was a good tournament for me, I just love fighting, giving everything I have until the end, I just love winning in five.

"I’m lucky, a lot of players are getting injured at the moment, I’m in good form, and as long as the body is fine, I’ll keep on playing…"

[2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt [8] Ong Beng Hee (Mas)
        12/10, 7/11, 11/7, 11/9 (52m)

Greg gets through
Steve Cubbins repports

You tend to think of Gregory Gaultier as the elder statesman these days, but in fact the Frenchman was making only his second appearance in the finals while Ong Beng Hee, who only heard on Saturday night that he was playing, is making his third visit to Broadgate.

And tonight the Malaysian matched Greg for the vast majority of the time in a fast-paced match that the Broadgate crowd really got into.

Bengy overcame an early deficit to earn gameball at 10/9 in the first, but Greg snatched it away. He continued to match him as he pulled away at the end of the second to level, and well into the third game too.

That third game fizzled out a little as Bengy made too many errors from 7-all, but he picked it up again for the start of the fourth which began with a series of fast, hard rallies, both having to work hard to stay in touch.

Greg applied the pressure at 6-all to move a precious few points ahead, and although Bengy recovered to 9-all it was mainly on the back of his opponent's errors. He didn't have enough left in the legs to capitalise though, and with two crisp winners last year's finalist was at the top of the ATCO group.

"The rankings don't mean much these days, you never know who's going to win a tournament, even in the first round.

"We were both in Germany for the playoffs at the weekend and he had a really tough game while I had a day off and that was probably the difference.

"He was hitting the ball well and didn't give me any points so I had to really push to stay ahead."

"Not that I’m complaining, as I’m so lucky that Ramy had to retire, but it was such a late call, last minute. I was playing German League this week-end, some late nights, lots of travelling, not the best of conditions, but hey, not complaining!

"I think I just needed the first game to be able to push him a bit further. Still, I find that I’m playing at bit better….."

[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [7] Lee Beachill (Eng)            12/10, 11/6, 11/6 (40m)

SHABANA NERVOUS BUT…

It’s so characteristic from the Prince of Egypt… Every time he comes to London to the Super Series, he is as nervous as a blushing teenager before the proms! I’ll always remember when he got here just after winning the first of his three world titles, “People came here to see a World Champion,” he said, “and they saw a club player”….

And I guess that stuck with him, that “not being good enough for London crowds” syndrome, and he just gets tense… Still, despite a few hiccups in the marking – see en bref –Shabana took a solid start 3/1, only to be caught up and closely monitored for the rest of the game, 3/3, 5/5, 6/6, 7/7, 8/8, 9/9, 10/10, with the Egyptian scoring most of his points in the backhand drop shot nick… A lucky deep crosscourt backhand to set up a second game ball, 11/10, and yet another straight backhand dropshot to earn a crucial first game for the Prince of Egypt.



Once the Egyptian is in front score wise, it’s hard on any surface to beat him, but on a dead court??? And although Lee found some superb lengths, following through perfectly, and surprising Shabana so many times at the front with some stunning winners of his own, the Egyptian took a devastating good start in the second, 6/1 (thanks to three unforced errors from the Englishman). Lee clawed back to 10/6, but the Egyptian was not going to be denied a 2/0 lead.

Lee didn’t die that easy, you know that, don’t you. He stuck in there, 4/4, 6/6, but again, a few errors at the crucial time offered Shabana the confidence he needed to close the match out, 11/6. A good win, is a 3/0 against Lee, with the form the Englishman has been showing recently…

"Well, I had what, one day, one day and an half of preparation for an event like this, and it’s clearly not enough, especially on the movement side, when you are not prepared on such a cold court, it’s hard to keep in the rallies, especially against the world number one.

"I’m not too unhappy with my start, for my first match, it’s not too bad. I guess that if I’d won the first game, things could have been a bit different, but once he is ahead and confident, he is pretty hard to beat…"

"I was a bit tense, I so want to do well in London…

"Beachill is playing well again, and he is so tough when he is playing good! I’ve observed him during those past few months, he is a different player…

"I was really happy to take the first game, got the confidence level up. And I started playing better, not that I was playing badly, but when you win a game, you always have the impression that you are playing better…

"I’m really really happy to get the first win…"

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