Day ONE

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Joey & Annie through

EN BREF #1

Tony Choi,
Tournament Director

Bob Lloyd,
Tournament Referee

Women's Round One:     full women's draw

  Joey Chan (Hkg) bt Orla Noom (Ned)
        1/9, 9/5, 9/3, 9/7 (44m)
  Sarah Kippax (Eng) bt Shin Nga Leung (Hkg)
        9/7, 9/1, 8/10, 9/2 (45m)
  Louise Crome (Nzl) bt Ka Kei Chiu (Hkg)
       9/7, 9/0, 9/0 (17m)
  Peta Hughes (Aus) bt Margriet Huisman (Ned)
       9/1, 9/5, 9/6 (27m)
  Annie Au (Hkg) bt Donna Urquhart (Aus)
      3/9, 9/7, 9/4, 6/9, 9/4 (63m)
  Rachel Smith (Aus) bt Karen Lau (Hkg)
       9/6, 9/0, 9/3 (16m)

Omar goes top

When a former world number 14 comes out of the qualifying draw to be placed against the top-ranked player in qualifying, there's some fireworks coming ...

And so it proved as Omar Elborolossy, who ventured out of retirement for the World Open in Cairo and decided to keep it going for a little longer, took on Spanish Champion Borja Golan in the firstmatch of the 2006 event.

The Egyptian dominated the early stages, his flicks and volley interceptions taking him to a two-game lead against a somewhat subdued Golan.

The Spaniard rallied in the third, opened up a quick 7/2 lead and looking in control, with Omar struggling to find the touch of the first two games.

It was onlt temporary though, Omar worked his way back into it, levelled at 9-all and finished with another straight drive that left his opponent guessing wrong, and out.

No joy for Hong Kong men ...

"It was a battle. I knew I was in for a tough one, we played lots of hard matches as juniors.

"The ball was flying all over the place. It was really tough all the way through until the fourth, but I got through.

"The locals really get behind their players, and I'd prefer to play a match like this rather than have an easy one because I know it won't be easy tomorrow against Ritwik ..."

"I felt comfortable in the first two.

"The third was tighter as I tried a few things out, but at 8/5 down I pulled it together again."

"I've been in India for three or four months, and I've been losing a few matches. I'm working on a few things on my game, trying something different and playing more relaxed - I was being too hurried and as the standard went higher I was mis-hitting the ball.

"Now, I'm enjoying my squash more, still have some work to do with Neil so I'm looking forward to getting back to England for some training work and league matches, then I'll play Wolverhampton, maybe Pakistan and a couple of two-star events and then prepare for the Asian Games.

"I've taken a step back, but what I'm doing now will take meback up three steps, so it's quite exciting.

"I couldn't believe it when they redrew the 5/8 seeds and my name came out in the same position twice in a row!

"It was a fairly easy start, now I'll go and watch Omar and Borja ..."

"It's good to have a runout, I didn't want a bye, and even though I'm not playing on Centre Court again tomorrow I pleased to have played.

"It was quite hard, he's one of the better locals, and it should be a hard match again tomorrow."

"I played ok in the first game but then played some bad squash to lose the second. He played well, but I didn't put enough pressure on and he started to believe he could win again.

"The third was a bit scrappy, but I got through it, and was more in control in the fourth.

"It's good to get through on your not so good days, and hopefully things will go well tomorrow."

"He's been over England to train, so I knew it wouldn't be easy. I wanted to be on and off as quick as I could though, so I'm glad it wasn't a too arduous one.

"It's my first time in Hong Kong, I'm really enjoying it and hope to play well tomorrow."

"It's the first time I've played against a top opponent. It's the pace, it's extremely fast, you just can't follow it at that speed.

"I played my lengths better than I have before, so I can learn from this, it's very good experience.

"I hope I can have this chance next year, and in other tournaments, but at fifteen my school work has to come first for the moment."

Hong Kong is rightly proud of its junior girls - they are world team champions after all - and Joey Chan, 18, and Annie Au, 17, continued the tradition of success today as they both battled to wins against much higher-seeded opponents.

"After the world teams where I saw all the top players, I realised I needed to slow my pace down.

"I learned to be more patient and set the rallies up, rather than going for my shots and trying to finish it too soon.

"There was no pressure on me, with her being ranked much higher, so I could relax and treat it almostas a training game. It's a very good win for me though ..."



"Orla started well then lost her length a little, and gave Joey the confidence to start going for her short shots, which are very good and they all seemed to be going in."

"We played each other in the Buler Cup, I lost 3/1 then so I'm glad to turn that result around.

"I felt comfortable, but got too relaxed in the fourth and started to get nervous when she was coming back, but I managed to settle again in the fifth.

"She has a very solid game and picks up a lot of shots you don't expect. I started tentatively, but put it together and was decisive in the second. Then I wandered a little and lost concentration, lost my length and it all became harder.

"It's a tough section of the draw, and it will be tough again tomorrow against Louise ..."

"We played against the Hong Kong girls a few times last year, they're all very talented so I knew it would be tough.

"The first was close, I found she was very good at the front so I knew I had to keep it long after that.

"I had a heavy flight from New York less than 24 hours ago, so it's good to get the first matchout of the way and to really get into the tournament."

"I was a bit nervous at the start, so I just tried to be patient and relax. In the third I started getting a bit too impatient, but it was good to get it finished in three.

"I played here earlier in the year in the Buler Cup, but obviously this is a much bigger tournament.

"I'm playing Amelia tomorrow, so at least one Australian will get through ..."

Hong Kong Open 2006  by SquashSite

 www.squashsite.org.uk/hk