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Thu 8th Nov, Day FOUR, Round Two: |
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Mens Round Two
[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt
[12] Ong Beng Hee (Mas)
11/5, 11/6, 11/8 (34m)
[8] Wael El Hindi (Egy) bt Joey Barrington
(Eng)
11/8, 11/7, 14/16, 11/9 (96m)
[3] David Palmer (Aus) bt
[13] Borja Golan (Esp)
11/8, 11/5, 11/2 (39m)
[5] Karim Darwish (Egy) bt
[10] Peter Barker (Eng)
11/9, 11/6, 11/4 (37m)
[7] Lee Beachill (Eng) bt
[16] Hisham Ashour (Egy)
11/5, 11/6, 11/2 (25m)
[4] Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt
[11] Azlan Iskandar (Mas)
11/7, 11/4, 11/5 (38m)
[6] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt
[14] Adrian Grant (Eng)
11/8, 11/9, 13/11 (80m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra)
bt
[9] Stewart Boswell (Aus) 10/12, 11/4,
11/4, 12/14, 11/5 (72m)
Womens Round Two:
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt
[16] Annelize Naude (Ned)
9/5, 9/2, 9/4 (32m)
[11] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt
[8] Vanessa Atkinson (Ned) 8/10,
9/4, 9/0, 9/1 (44m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt
[9] Laura L-Massaro (Eng) 9/5, 9/4, 10/8
(40m)
[6] Vicky Botwright (Eng)
bt
[13] Rebecca Chiu (Hkg)
9/5, 9/4, 9/3
(32m)
[5] Natalie Grainger (Usa)
bt
[10] Shelley Kitchen (Nzl) 3/9,
9/2, 2/9, 9/2, 9/2 (56m)
[13] Alison Waters (Eng) bt
[Q] Tenille Swartz (Rsa)
9/1, 9/2, 9/2 (25m)
[7] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) bt
[15] Kasey Brown (Aus) 10/8, 9/10, 9/0, 3/9, 9/4 (68m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (Aus) bt
[14] Engy Kheirallah (Egy) 9/5,
9/7, 9/5 (40m) |
End of the line for Rebecca
In the first quartet of tonight's matches there was disappointment
for the Hong Kong crowd as England's Vicky Botwright
maintained her unbeaten record against Hong Kong's own Rebecca Chiu,
winning in straight games.
It was a more competitive match than the 9/5, 4 and 3 scoreline
might suggest though, with Rebecca getting off to a good start, 3/0
in the first, and well in contention to the mid-point of all three
games. In the first it was the Asian's errors that let her down, but
in the last two games Botwright fired in some crisp winners to pull
away and seal the win.
 Elsewhere,
both reigning world champions moved into the quarter-finals.
David Palmer looked increasingly assured as he dismissed the
challenge of Borja Golan 11/8, 5 and 2, while Rachael Grinham,
after taking the first two games 9/5 and 4, found her self in a real
third-game battle with Laura Lengthorn-Massaro, saving a game ball
before closing it out 10/8.
After a day off yesterday, Egypt's Karim Darwish looked fresh
and sharp as he saw off Englishman Peter Barker 11/9, 6 and 4.
Shabana ominous
In the second set of matches top seed and defending champion Amr
Shabana looked in ominous form as he beat Ong Beng Hee 11/5,
11/6, 118. Never headed, Shabana did the simple things well. "I was
ready for him tonight," said Ong, "but I still got spanked ..."
Two contrasting women's matches as Alison Waters raced to a
straight-game win over qualifier Tenille Swartz while Natalie
Grainger came through an up-and-down encounter with Shelley
Kitchen, twice behind but winning the last two game 9/2, 9/2 to set
up a quarter-final with Walters.
Not surprisingly Wael El Hindi and Joey Barrington took
rather longer to decide which of the training partners was going to
win. After 96 minutes it was the Egyptian who triumphed, and he now
moves on to meet his rooming partner Shabana ...
Duncalf despatches Atkinson
Top seed Nicol David moved a step nearer to a hat-trick of
Hong Kong titles as she eased past her Dutch stablemate Annelize
Naude on the glass court, while Jenny Duncalf made it a
hat-trick of England girls into the quarters as she withstood a
fierce opening by Vanessa Atkinson to come through in four games.
In the men's matches Lee Beachill and Thierry Lincou
did their chances no harm at all as both win in straight games in
less than half an hour.
Greg down and up,
Omneya late ...
While one Frenchman won in three, it took the other five - although
the three games that Gregory Gaultier did win against Stewart
Boswell were all over quickly, but add the two tie-break games won
by the Australian and it came to 72 minutes on court for the second
seed. "I may have stayed on court longer than I could have," he
mused afterwards, "but I don't care, as long as I won ..."
Natalie Grinham joined sister Rachael in the quarters. Having
played on Centre Court yesterday the number two seed was 'relegated'
to the upstairs courts, but coped well enough to see off Engy
Kheirallah in three.
The last two matches were both marathons (naturally!). Nick
Matthew won his all-English match against Adrian Grant, but he
three games took 80 minutes to complete. "I was up in the third, had
a two game balls, so it's disappointing to not even get a game after
that long on court," said Grant.
 Last
to finish were Omneya Abdel Kawy and Kasey Brown who treated
the crowd to a real ding-dong battle, the Egyptian running out a
relieved winner -
"I really can't explain what happened there," she said, "I just
thank God I won!" |
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[1]
Nicol David (Mas) bt
[16] Annelize Naude (Ned)
9/5, 9/2, 9/4 (32m)
Nicol tested, but on course ...
Aisling Blake reports
 These
two girls are training partners in Amsterdam whose friendship
extends to practise partners this morning before they were due to
play each other. If that's not good sportsmanlike conduct, what is?!
Both started with a simple gameplan it seemed. Get the opponent
behind you, only take the opportunity once you've done this several
times and they're out of position completely. Basic, but effective.
Annelize looked more relaxed than yesterday and as a result good
solid rallies set the tone for the first game. Both girls moving the
ball around the court well, Annelize not afraid to go for the short
shot with Nicol hot on her heels to push the ball up above her head
to give time to get back to the T. Annelize's good length pushed the
Malaysian girl to a close first game, 9-5.
 Several
exchanges at love-all started the second game off well. Different
methods of getting that ball to those back corners were employed by
the two players - both equally effective. Annelize favoured using
the height on the front wall, slow balls taking the pace off
completely.
Nicol was countering this with punchy drives to attempt to take the
pace back up again. Close rallies were the order of the day in this
game with Nicol coming out the victor in most but she was made to
work for each point and the fact that she needed three attempts to
finally take match ball reflects on the true nature of this game
rather than the low scoreline.
Nicol began well in the third game with a forehand volley nick to
start. Annelize however quickly answered the challenge with one of
her own. Thereafter began a series of drawn out rallies, Annelize
setting up the points well with great length and Nicol trying to up
the pace and put pressure on Annelize taking that vital few seconds
away from her each time. A few forced and unforced errors on the
Dutch girl's part gave Nicol her first match ball at 8-3.
However, she would have to wait for the victory as some low boasts
at the end of a few rallies based around good length helped Annelize
come back to 5-8.
Nicol took three more tries before securing the game and match.
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 "We
were both trying to keep it tight today and away from each other's
comfort zones, I had to work hard to get the ball past her and as
usual it's a question of whoever gets control first.
"I felt better though, I knew I had to keep working her and not let
her in. We know each others' game as we practise together in
Amsterdam and a match situation is always tough, you want to do your
best.
"I think it's the best she's played against me in a competitive
match though, she worked the court really well today.
 "I
didn't have the best of matches last night so my whole focus today
was to end this trip on a good note and play well.
"Nicol's great length put pressure on me and it only got better as
the game went on. I played some ok rallies, my thought process was
to slow it down. Nicol upped the pace and tried to work against my
slow pace in the second and third.
"I'm happy with how I did, I'm flying out tonight so I can play
French league at the weekend and maybe sample some French wine!"
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[6]
Vicky Botwright (Eng) bt
[13] Rebecca Chiu (Hkg)
9/5, 9/4, 9/3
(32m)
 "I
feel much better today than I did yesterday, as Stewart said I must
have got out of the wrong side of bed!
"I knew I would have to play well today though, I couldn't get away
with playing badly and hope to win this one, especially on her home
court with the crowd behind her.
"We've played each other quite a lot, and the rallies were much
harder this time, she seemed to be moving better than normal too. If
I'd let her get ahead it could have turned into a real battle, but
fortunately I managed to get a couple of points ahead in each game.
"From the word go the crowd were on her side, but they were a good
crowd, applauding good rallies and my good shots too. Overall I'm
pleased with my performance tonight, and looking forward to the
quarters now
"
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[13]
Alison Waters (Eng) bt
[Q] Tenille Swartz (Rsa) 9/1, 9/2, 9/2 (25m)
 "She
played well, the court was fairly dead and it suited her as she has
a nice touch and some good drops, so I had to work hard to stay on
top. It's always pleasing to get off in three, so I'll watch the end
of the Kitchen/Grainger match to se who I play tomorrow
"
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[2]
Natalie Grinham (Aus) bt
[14] Engy Kheirallah (Egy)
9/5, 9/7, 9/5 (40m)
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 "I
didn't feel I was hitting the ball at my best tonight, but I was
moving well and getting everything back, but my length wasn't as
good as yesterday.
"The courts here play very differently, I remember having difficulty
adjusting when I went downstairs to the Glass Court last year, and
coming up to these after playing on glass yesterday was never going
to be easy. It's a totally different game, being able to beat a
player on one court is no guarantee of being able to do it on the
other.
"Still, at least I'm good on all surfaces now!"
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[11]
Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt
[8] Vanessa Atkinson (Ned)
8/10, 9/4, 9/0, 9/1 (44m)
 "The
first was a bit patchy, she got a good start, I came back to 8/6
then she won it. We had a few hard rallies in the second and I felt
I pushed on a bit more from there.
"I just had to concentrate and focus on finishing it, trying not to
give away any cheap points and move her to the four corners without
trying anything flashy until I had a proper winning position.
Vanessa is a classy player, you can never count her out so I'm
pleased to have closed out the last two games with those scores.
"I'll have to get a hit on the glass court now, I haven't been on it
at all yet
"
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[5]
Natalie Grainger (Usa) bt
[10] Shelley Kitchen (Nzl)
3/9, 9/2, 2/9, 9/2, 9/2 (56m)
Grainger wins roller-coaster
Aisling Blake reports
Natalie Grainger and Shelley Kitchen took to the court a little
after 6 p.m. for their second round encounter. These two girls have
played each other in two recent tournaments - Vassar Open and the
World Open only two weeks ago, both having gone Natalie's way with
3-0 scorelines. Shelley had no reason to be lacking in expectations
as her form of late has been exemplary, notching up some great wins.
 The
first game started as most first games - each player feeling out the
court, trying to establish length and take control of the exchanges.
It was evident in the early part of the game that Shelley was
willing to run everything down and this started to cause some
problems for the U.S. player as her error rate went up. Using the
lob to good effect when pushed to the front of the court Shelley
took the game from an even keel to putting a string of solid rallies
together to take the game 9-3.
A crisp forehand volley nick at 1-1 in the second game seemed to
give Grainger a boost, she started to look more relaxed and picked
off four points in a row by following up on her shots more so than
in the previous game. Tighter drops from the back of the court led
me to believe a change of gameplan had been worked on in the break,
with Grainger taking the ball to the front as much as was legally
possible. This cemented her early lead in the game to level the
match at 1-1.
The see-saw nature of the match continued in the third game, the
power and momentum now back in Shelley's hands. Given time at the
front of the court, she's lethal with hard straight and cross low
kills. She used this strength to her advantage getting on any loose
ball early and punishing it with good depth and from there
commanding a strong position on the T. Apart from a series of
hand-outs at 7-2 the game was all Shelley's from start to finish.
Coming into the fourth game, Grainger seemed to realise that if
Shelley is to be taken short, it must be good, very good. A hold and
quick boast caught Shelley unawares and was followed by some
punishing rallies. Both players working hard around the court,
Kitchen retrieving ball after ball forcing her opponent to make that
extra shot each time to be able to set up a winner. Better length
was coming in now from Natalie, forcing Shelley deep time and time
again and looking to take the pace off with a volley. Finally,
Grainger takes the game on a boast that just clips the tin.
It was level and had come down to the wire. Grainger had been
looking a little edgy during the match, was this the game in which
she was going to settle down? The early stages were too close for
someone to make a last minute bet on the eventual winner. Even on
the run, Shelley proves herself to be powerful, getting to the ball
and driving deep and solidly to set up some openings to take
Grainger short. Grainger however was putting the ball in the corners
better now, commanding that T position and taking the ball short on
many occasions. She finally seemed to settle a bit, yet Shelley just
seemed to keep on going, and going and going - I wondered was she
ever going to run out of energy?
The answer came only at match ball where a small sign of fatigue
displayed itself in her demeanour. Grainger needed only one attempt
and took the final game 9-2. |
 "Shelly's
been playing well, she came out firing and was obviously very up for
it after our previous encounters. I had to work very very hard to
make sure I won that.
"Once I found a good rhythm and pace and kept it out of that tin
I felt it was in my control, but if I happened to make a couple of
errors she was straight on top of me.
"After the third I tried to tighten up and cut out the angles,
trying not to open the court up too much.
"I haven't played Alison for a while now, but she's a strong player,
she attacks anything loose very well so I'll have to find my targets
in that one
"
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[5]
Karim Darwish (Egy) bt
[10] Peter Barker (Eng)
11/9, 11/6, 11/4 (37m)
 "I
played very well today, controlling all the rallies. I was well
ahead in the first, so only taking it 11/9 was a bit close. After
that I felt comfortable and in control and I'm very happy with my
performance.
"It's good to get a 3/0 win especially after having a day off
yesterday, I've got the mood of the tournament now
"
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[4]
Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt
[11] Azlan Iskandar (Mas)
11/7, 11/4, 11/5 (38m)
 "It
was hard work yes, but you always have to work hard against these
guys. I played him two weeks ago in Saudi and that was hard, so I
knew it wasn't going to be easy, I really wanted to keep my focus
and play better this time. I was happy with the way I played
tonight, it was pretty solid.
"I also had it in my head that I lost to Ramy on this court at this
stage last year, which was the start of his big run, and I really
wanted to be in the fight this year, wanted to do well here
"
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[1]
Amr Shabana (Egy) bt
[12] Ong Beng Hee (Mas)
11/5, 11/6, 11/8 (34m)
 "He
was very good. I thought I played well, but I obviously wasn't good
enough. He's unbeaten in the last two tournaments and you can see
why.
"He's gone up another level , just unbelievably good at the moment.
The position of his shots is so good you expect him to do
something special, but he plays such a simple game these days, it
just destroys you. He's winning his matches quickly too, so he's
fresh and ready for the next one.
"Last time I played him I was a bit tired, but today I was fresh,
and ready for him, but I still got spanked!"
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[2]
Gregory Gaultier
(Fra) bt
[9] Stewart Boswell (Aus) 10/12, 11/4, 11/4,
12/14, 11/5 (72m)
 "I
had game ball and match ball in the two games I lost, so I'm
disappointed that it went to five, but I don't really care as long
as I won, that's the important thing.
"The games I won I got quick leads so I was in my comfort zone
during all of those. I just upped the pace when I needed to, trying
to do the right things.
"He played better than the last few times we played, but even though
I spent more time on court than I could have, you have to accept
that sometimes when you're not 100%. The important thing is I'm
still on course
"
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[8]
Wael El Hindi (Egy) bt Joey Barrington
(Eng)
11/8, 11/7, 14/16, 11/9 (96m)
 "At
least it wasn't 3/2 this time! We train together and we're good
friends, his dad's my coach, so we obviously know each others games
inside out.
"I thought I might be able to win 3/0 but he came back very strong
in the third, he's improved so much over the last few months, and it
really could have gone either way.
"I'll get some rest now, ready to play my room-mate Mr Shabana
tomorrow!"
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