Day TWO

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Willstrop in HK
 

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EN BREF #1
 

Women's Qualifying Finals:
 
  Nicolette Fernandes (Guy) bt Elise Ng (Hkg)
      9/7, 9/3, 9/1 (44m)                                 plays Duncalf
  Runa Reta (Can) bt Joey Chan (Hkg)
      6/9, 9/5, 9/3, 9/5 (53m)                      plays Lloyd-Walter

  Louise Crome (Nzl) bt Sarah Kippax (Eng)
      9/3,9/2, 9/6 (32m)                                 plays Naude
  Peta Hughes (Aus) bt Amelia Pittock (Aus) 
      9/7, 6/9, 9/3, 9/6 (41m)                          plays Kawy

  Suzie Pierrepont (Eng) v  Annie Au (Hkg)
      9/1, 9/6, 9/4 (30m)                              plays R Grinham
  Becky Botwright (Eng) bt Rachel Smith (Aus)
      9/5, 9/0, 9/6 (23m)                              plays Atkinson

Youth over Experience

Omar would have wished for a gentler re-introduction to the tournament scene than matches against two young guns like Borja Golan and Aamir Atlas, and tonight the former world number fourteen had to bow to the skill, stamina and, more than anything, the speed of Pakistan's bright new hope.

The Egyptian kept Aamir on a tight leash for the first half of the match, but as it wore on the Pakistani's free-running style was opening the game up more and more.

At 8/5 in the fourth a decider looked on the cards, but Aamir refused to give in, forced a long rally to make it 8/6, won a huge one that must have hurt Omar to go ahead 9/8, and finished it off with a straight drive that Omar just didn't have enough left to reach.

"Aamir played well, he knew his opponent wasn't fully fit and took full advantage of that, forcing him to the front of the court and making him stretch. "Aamir retrieves very well, and when he was 8/5 down in the fourth he played safe for a few long rallies and it worked. It's a good sign that he can do things like that.

"He's a very skilful player, I tried to play steady and be quick onto the ball so as not to give him time to play his shots, he's got very fast hands.

"I was up in all the games but he fought well to make it very close.

"I wanted to win in three but it's hard to find the good length you need on the glass court here. I struggled a bit, but I'm glad to be through."

"I played very well today. Two weeks ago in Karachi I played Adrian Grant and played well, so that gave me a lot of confidence.

"I played very good shots at the front of the court today. Once I got in front I was confident to go for the nicks.

"Tom's a good up and coming player, he just needs a bit more experience."



"I didn't feel like I started to get used to his game until the middle of the second, but he puts the ball away so well on the glass court it's really difficult, all credit to him.

"I felt that if I'd nicked the second it could have been close, but once he got aheadhis confidence grew."

"He's a big guy, it's difficult to get around him, he's always there.

"It was close, but he played the big points better."

"You can't get much closer to going out than that, I'm mentally drained.

"It took me a while to get going, his touch is so good, especially on the backhand. Once I got moving better and made the rallies longer I felt more comfortable, and after saving those match-balls in the third I felt I would win.

"I actually felt fresher in the last two games than the first two, but I think he was a bit tired by then. I was just thinking that I hadn't flown 14 hours to get here just to lose 3/0, so although I'm drained at the moment I'm happy to go through."



"I didn't do much wrong, I just didn't play the right shots at the right time.

"I should have capitalized on those match balls in the third, but I played two really bad shots and he jumped on them.

"But he played really well in the fourth and fifth, and he deserved to win."

"I had no short game today, so had to keep pushing it to a length to get the court opened up, which made the difference.

"I managed to stay a couple of points up most of the time, so although it wasn't my best performance I'm happy to get through."

"That was tough all the way, the scoreline in the second and third didn't show it but she played really well. She attacked very well, so I had to keep everything tight - that's what Malcolm said anyway, and it worked!"

"Joey started really well, she's very deceptive especially being left-handed. I wasn't reading her at all at the start, but I worked out that I needed to straighten it out and keep it off her forehand.

"Once I got the second game I felt more comfortable. Nicol was telling me to hit through the ball with more pace, rather than floating it, and that worked."

"I had to stay focused the whole way through, there were no cheap rallies.

"I went 3/0 down in the third, I started going short quite early in the rallies but she's too good for that.

" I had to focus on keeping her behind me, which is what I tried to do the whole match.

That's the best I've played in a while so I'm quite happy with that, and happy to qualify obviously, it's a while since I've been in the main draw of a big event."

"Very good! I got to practice with her a lot in the Institute, but I've never beaten Amelia before.

"I was tired, but once I worked out that she was tired too I thought I'd just try to keep it going, and it paid off in the fourth.

"It's the biggest draw I've ever made, it's so good.

"I just want to play someone really good in the first round so I really remember this tournament, just to top it off."

Hong Kong Open 2006  by SquashSite

 www.squashsite.org.uk/hk