EN BREF Issue #2

Shabana wins White Shootout

In his first outing after being confirmed as world number one Amr Shabana would have wished for an easier proposition than John White, himself a former world number one.

A long opening rally ended in a let, but they soon started trading shots, with White getting the better of the early exchanges, moving quickly to a 3/0 lead. Shabana lengthened the rallies and pegged it back, and went on the edge the game 11/8.

The Egyptian went to 5/1 in the second, helped by several errors from White, but White hung in and played some crashing winners to get back into it. A surprise winner down the middle of the court put White into the lead at 9/8, and after a rare error by Shabana on game ball it was all level.

White virtually gave the Egyptian the third. Shabana went to 9/1 in double-quick time, hitting only one winner of his own, and White let the last point go.

The pattern continued into the third, White tinning his way to a 5/0 deficit, and although he recovered his game to compete strongly and give himself a sniff of a comeback, it was too late, the match finishing on two strokes to Shabana.

"Beating John White any day is a good win, but to have to play him in a second round was the hardest draw I could get, and 12 o'clock was a bit early to play too, so thank God I won. "You can't afford to play any loose shots against John, he's got the strongest arm and he forces me to play a way I don't really like, but you can't open up the court too much against him. "I'm feeling fresh, and it's good to have a game like that especially with a rest day tomorrow. "I knew I was going to be number one after I won the ToC in New York where I was sharing with Jonathon Power. We had a talk after he retired and it was almost as if he was leaving his legacy for me to carry on. I tried not to think about it because you can lose it after a month and that doesn't mean anything. "I've won two world championships but becoming number one is the sweetest for me. I've been on the circuit for twelve years now and just reached the top, so my goal now is to see how long I can stay there. I don't want to be number one for a month."

Back to basics for James

It was looking like a comfortable passage into the quarters for James Willstrop as he sped into a 10/2 lead against Graham Ryding in the second match of the day.

But as Willstrop started to struggle with his movement, the Canadian stages a comeback, taking seven points in a row to make James sweat before clinching the game 10/9.

Willstrop took a three-minute injury break to receive treatment on his back during the interval, and on the resumption he seemed to move well enough, but that early domination was gone and Ryding played a full part in what developed into a well-contested match.

In the next game the the pair were locked together until the Englishman pulled away from seven-all. It was a similar story in the third, both mixing some delightful winners with a few errors, but again it was Willstrop whose nerve held the longer, taking the match, and a date against Shabana, as Ryding's final shot went out of court.

"I got a little better after a poor start, but I was just too loose. The third was better, and I felt he was getting tired, but I was still putting too many balls down the middle. I made a few errors at the end which I'd like to take back ..."

Thierry tames Boswell

This was a dangerous encounter for Thierry Lincou, against a resurgent Stewart Boswell, who the Frenchman climbed the rankings with before a back injury sidelined the Australian for almost two years.

Boswell is back in the upper echelons, and the opening exchanges demonstrated that point as Boswell more than held his own in a series of probing rallies, leading 4/1 helped by errors from the French racket.

Lincou recovered as the patient rallies continued, but from 7/6 a flurry of errors from Boswell gave Lincou the lead. After an even start to the second, Boswell again allowed Lincou to edge ahead as he hit several tins, tightened up again but couldn't stop the Frenchman taking the game.

The third saw Boswell in control, taking the game to Lincou, increasing the pace and forcing errors out of the French racket. He closed out the game with a casual drop and a volley winner, and carried on in the same vein into the fourth.

On the hot court both players were sweating profusely, and the 'court rats' were called on several times to mop the floor, not through dives and sprawls, just general drippage. Boswell seemed to be feeling the pace more and Lincou clawed his way back, getting the better of several scrambling rallies.

At 6-all Boswell's despairing leap for a crosscourt told a tale, and on the next point he went flying into the back wall in a vain attempt to retrieve the ball.

The mass invasion of court rats that followed just delayed the inevitable as Lincou closed out the match, finishing on a stroke after a tired-looking Boswell attempted winner.

"There were some long rallies at the beginning, but I couldn't get him out of his comfort zone of pushing the ball around and going for the slow drop. "I picked it up to take the third well, but at 4/1 up in the fourth I played a really poor shot which let him back into it, and then he got back on top."

d

Easy for Matthew

The final match of the day saw Nick Matthew take a comfortable passage into the quarters to face Lincou.

Focussed from the start, Matthew was on top from the word go, keeping world number twelve Iskandar under pressure and never relenting.

The Malaysian held his own briefly at the start of the second, but once Matthew pulled clear it was obvious that Iskandar was in no mood to stage a comeback, looking dispirited from the opening of the third game and letting balls go that he would ordinarily chase down as Matthew cruised to an easy win.
 

"I’m not feeling at my best, but Nick didn’t give me anything tonight. "Hats off to him, and good luck in the rest of the tournament."

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