Round ONE

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En Bref Issue #2

Willstrop in HK

GALLERIES

RESULTS & REPORTS

No joy for Mak on
Centre Court Opener
Alex Wan reports

A huge, supportive crowd turned up to the spanking new centre court at the HK Squash Centre to support Hong Kong’s Christina Mak in the opening match.

Mak gave it her all, but it was not enough to give Vicky Botwright a good fight. The lanky English lass put the pressure on right from the start, with Mak constantly struggling to retrieve the array of shots that Botwright threw at her, the local girl being wrong footed on many occasions as the world number 39 struggled with the pace generated by the number five.

"I think Christina played alright, but Vicky is just too good for her. The speed and pace of the game was just overwhelming for Christina, but it’s a very good experience for her."

Wong impresses (again)
Alex Wan reports

Top seed and world number one Amr Shabana opened his Hong Kong campaign against local wild card Wong Wai Hang in front of a packed crowd.

Last year at the World Open, Wong got a game off Peter Nicol and again, he impressed this year. The Egyptian started off very cautiously, playing a basic game that is so unlike his. Wong gave a good account of himself, holding on to the pace the Egyptian set and at one point, led 5-3. It was only at 8-7 that Shabana took over the lead, before wrapping up the game.

As the match went on, Shabana felt more comfortable and went for his shots slowly. Shabana slipped late in the second game and held onto his thigh, and it did look worrying. But a few seconds later he got up and was back in business.

The crowd was treated to a host of amazing shot making by the Egyptian throughout the match, but was still nothing like what he is capable of. Shabana plays countryman Mohd Abbas tomorrow, in what could be a feast of more nicks.

"It’s a very good learning experience for me. Playing against the world number one, I knew he would be head and shoulders above me. "Not only is he a class above, I think he is two classes above! I felt inferior in there, but I am happy I played well today.

Lincou looking good
Alex Wan reports

The world number three played a flawless game, nothing new from this fine Frenchman. Tight straight drives that go right to the back, cross courts so wide that it's quite impossible to cut off and great athleticism.

The Irishman, playing for the second time in Hong Kong, gave everything he had and made a good account of himself, but as he said afterwards, "you can never be happy when you lose ..."

"I feel good, happy with the way I played today. "My confidence was growing along with the match, I played better as it progressed and I am glad to have won 3-0."

Chiu keeps the
flag flying for HK
Alex Wan reports

Tricia Chuah played one of her best matches I’ve witnessed her play, but it was Chiu who came out victorious.

Chuah played with a lot of confidence and was volleying very well. Each game, she was always ahead, but each time she fell short and was unable to finish off. The first game saw Chuah take a 6-1 lead, sending the home crowd into a worry. But the Asian Champion came back to win 7 points in a row and Chuah was denied the lead.

In the second and third, Chuah had a 4-1 and 4-2 lead and the same happened again. But credit to Chiu who changed the game by hitting very low and deep, denying Chuah a chance for any volleying. The young Malaysian played well, but not long enough to grab a game.

Darwish too steady for Ritwik
Steve Cubbins reports

Last off yesterday, first on today, India's Ritwik Bhattacharya faced one of his sternest tests yet.

It didn't start well, as Karim Darwish raced into a 2-0 lead. There were plenty of good rallies, as there would be on these hot, bouncy courts, but the Egyptian maintained the control and the lead as he made Ritwik do most of the hard work.

A very determined Indian stayed level through the third, and despite finding his best shots being consistently returned by Darwish, got the better of an intense passage of play to pull a game back on his third game ball.

But Karim resumed control in the fourth, leaving Ritwik pleased with how far he had got, but wanting more ...

"The first two were quite easy, in the third it started to get a bit physical but I settled and it was fairly comfortable again in the fourth."

Malaysians crash out
Alex Wan reports

The Malaysian pair of Ong Beng Hee and Azlan Iskandar crashed out to their English opponents in similar fashion today. Iskandar, fresh from a great Village Open faced a very impressive Alister Walker, who took an early lead.

The second game lasted a whopping 29 minutes, thanks to a tie break that ended 19-17. The Malaysian won the next two go ahead, but after losing a tie-break in the fourth looked physically drained drained during the fifth. Two burst of points from the Englishman saw him upset the books.

Bengy entered the next court shortly and had the left-handed Peter Barker for company. Lasting just over an hour, Barker came out the winner 3-1, handing Bengy his worst performance in Hong Kong.

It would have been 3-0 had Bengy not held on to the very tight second game. Both players had their glory moments and retrievals by both of them were unbelievable, drawing oohhs and aahhs from the crowd on several occasions.

"She's quite unconventional, hard to get used to, and some of those shots down the middle just aren't what girls play.

"She was just too fast and accurate at the front, and I was sort of hoping sh'd make more errors than she did!"

"It was a tough two games, much closer than the score suggests.

"But she made a lot of mistakes in the third, and just gave em the game really."

"Yes, it was intense at the end, but when I was 8/3, 8/4 down I had to make it intense, it was just desperate squash from then on, I'm sure it wasn't pretty to watch.

"Cameron is a very deceptive player, hard to read, and he was hitting winners where I didn't know where the ball was going. I gave him too much time to play the ball and make his shots until the end.

"We've only player one or two PSA matches before, I won them both but he's playing very well, he's improved a lot in the last 12 months, I expect him to get a few wins over the top guys in the next few months."

"I'm really pleased, thanks to Omar's coaching. I was just too concentrated today, I tried to take care of every point and not give anything away.

"I'm trying to prove I'm getting into the seniors now, trying to play a balanced game like they do, not going for shots all the time.

"My fitness is fine, I knew I could do it until the end, and keep with the quick-paced rallies too, thanks to my fitness coach Defo.

"I've only played Thierry in training matches before, never played him in a match. I'm really looking forward to it.

"All respect for Whitey, he's a great player and I hope he does well in the next tournament. I think he's happy for me today ..."

"I've been waiting for this win for a while.

"I've been training well for the past two months and played well in St Louis.

"I like the courts, bouncy but it dies in the front, that's my game so I just waited to get to the front and then go short.

"I've not played Olli for a couple of years, his game is about putting pressure on you, but today all my shots were working so I didn't feel much pressure.

"I just played Shabana in the worlds, lost 3/1 so we'll see. THat was the first tournament after training, but since then I've played four or five events and I'm better than I was then."

"When Raneem got to 8-6 match ball she was rushing it, and I was thinking that at that stage I had nothing to lose, just see how it goes. When I got to 8-all I had to push myself again.

" She got frustrated at losing the fourth and made a few tins at the start of the fifth, I went 7-0 up quickly which helped.

"These courts are different, sometimes it bounces, sometimes it dies and you don't know what's coming up. We know each other's game so well but we were both going for a lot of shots, not just playing it safe."

"We both didn't want to lose ..."

World champion in her element
Alex Wan reports

World champion Nicol David is seeking her first Hong Kong Open title, and she started this in a convincing way, beating Melissa Martin of Australia in less than half an hour.

Playing on the newly refurbished centre court, the Malaysian attracted quite a crowd. It seems that people in Hong Kong are quite attracted to Asian players, which is interesting since they were under the British up until 1997.

David was just fast, whizzing around the four corners retrieving anything Martin wanted to throw at her. She is left to fly the Malaysian flag alone from here on, and she next plays Annelize Naude, whom she trains with in Amsterdam.

"I felt like I didn't play too bad, but I just didn't have the legs to keep up with the pace against the little bunny rabbit!"

"I won the first four rallies with volley kill nicks which gave me a bit od confidence!

"I like the court, and I kew Kasey tends to hit the ball straight so I just had to hold her and put the pressure on when I could. She was getting a bit frustrated, not only with the start I made, but I hit a few lucky frames too.

"I'm pleased with how I played, I was pretty consistent the whole match through, and it's good to get a 3-0, it was 3-1 when we met in India and before that in juniors shealwaysused to beatme."

"It's different, much faster than I'm used to. I've had a few games against Natalie back in Australia but haven't played the top girls other than that.

"If you give her anything loose she'll do something with it.

"I got myself 7/3 up in the third by keeping her behind me, and she made some errors, but I just couldn't keep it going.

"It's been a great week though ..."

Kitchen closes out Wee
Malcolm Willstrop reports

Shelley Kitchen, no doubt relieved at the survival of close friend Anthony Ricketts earlier in the day, scored a convincing 3/0 win over Sharon Wee.

Playing keenly, perhaps too keenly for the courts, which favour a more seasoned style, she won a competitive first game and then the second and third with increasing ease.

Kitchen hits the ball hard, but it was her short game which was most effective as Wee found it difficult to get forward well enough to deal with it.

The New Zealander looks quite formidable but may need to relax a bit more to get the best out of herself on these courts.

"I finished off the games well, but it took me a while getting there. "She's been playing really well recently, she won Berkshire and got to second round in New York, so I knew it would be tough. "It feels really strange coming to a tournament not thinking about playing Nicol, which I've been doing for the last 18 months! "It's good to play the best, but not all the time ..."

"I started poorly, as ever, and he capitalised by playing at a very fast pace. I gradually got into it and felt more alert, sharp and together. I was 8/4 down in the third but managed to win it.

"I knew the longer the game went on the better it would be for me, so I lengthened it out and actually felt better as the match went on.

"I straightened it in the last game and got my first-ever 11/0, I'll treasure that!"

"He was quite tired from yesterday, but for me that was good for a first round. I was moving well today and I usually get better as the tournament goes on."

"I was quite happy with how I played, I was hitting the ball well, not loose, and I was holding my own at the start of each game.

"Mmy movement wasn't as fast as it could have been because I was tired, and Greg's so quick he makes anyone look slow anyway.

"He's playing well, looking sharp and he'll do well in this tournament ..."

"I'm happy with how I played, although I relaxed a bit too much in the third.

"He's very quick, but can sometimes be a bit loose so you can take advantage of that. He's also quite small, so if I was in trouble I could lift the ball up high to givemyself a bit more time to recover.

"I was leading 10/7 in the first game, playing well, and I fell, twisting my knee and ankle.

"I tried to play on but it was too painful, it's a pity ..."

James squeezes home
Malcolm Willstrop reports

Everyone knows that Alex Gough is a tough number, even at 36, and he more than proved it in an excellent first game against James Willstrop which he lost on a tie-break.

Willstrop, striking the ball well throughout, went clear in the second, leading 9/4, but suddenly, without doing much wrong,found himself in another tiebreak.

He won that too and then eased away to win the third comfortably, a satisfactory workout from his point of view.

Gough's verbal ramblings increased as the match ran away from him and from the crowd's point of view detracted from what was a very good performance by him, which was a pity.

They are often so obtuse, already in his mid 30s, that I am concerned for him if he were to reach my age!
 

Happy but Sad Becky
Malcolm Willstrop reports

Vanessa Atkinson is always easy to watch with her facile racket, but at times in her match with Becky Botwright her movement was exposed.

Although Botwright lost the first game 9/1, there were signs that she could unsettle the number two seed if she could sustain her game better. She certainly did that in the second, combining her hitting with some well-executed drops tolevel the score.

Although she continued to stay well in the match, she couldn't quite take it into the fifth.

Atkinson was hitting the ball with her usual skill, but when Botwright kept the pressure on she had a tendancy to make unforced errors.

Botwright will be well pleased with her efforts, which will increase her confidence, and Atkinson will need to step up a gear or two to offer a serious challenge to Nicol David.

Having heard that Vanessa is a talented singer, I have spoken to her about appearing for 'Lost for Words'. Although she has never sung publicly, she is interested, so here's hoping ...

 

Beachill tested upstairs
Malcolm Willstrop reports

The upstairs courts at the Centre are attritional, unrewarding and level players out, as has been seen morethan once today.

It is hard watching and even harder playing, as quality shots go unrewarded and if players are not careful they play one-paced rallies without differences.

Shahier Razik, skilful enough, is a master of paceless, crafted rallies and so suited to the courts hemust have felt he was in heaven.

Lee Beachill hardly put a foot wrong, watched the ball accurately, took it in, delayed it and yet there was a time when he could have gone 2/1 down as Razik resisted patiently just like a counter-puncher.

Beachill made the play, but had to keep doing it and it was only in the fourth game that he freed himself from Razik's web, winning it comfortably 11/6.

A lot of good shots had been made, scantily rewarded, and Beachill will be relieved to have got through, even though he hardly put a foot wrong.
 

Hong Kong Open 2006  by SquashSite

 www.squashsite.org.uk/hk