Semis

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TODAY in Hong Kong Daily reports from the Cathay Pacific

Sat 10th Nov, Day SIX, Semi-Finals:

SEMI-FINALS at Hollywood Plaza, Diamond Hill:

[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [6] Vicky Botwright (Eng)
           3/9, 9/3, 9/5, 9/0 (53m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (Aus) bt [5] Natalie Grainger (Usa)
           9/5, 9/3, 9/0 (27m)

[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [3] David Palmer (Aus)
          11/5, 11/5, 10/12, 13/11 (67m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt [4] Thierry Lincou (Fra)
           9/11, 11/7, 13/11, 11/9 (70m)

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[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [3] David Palmer (Aus)
11/5, 11/5, 10/12, 13/11 (67m)

Shabana staves off
Palmer comeback

For long time it looked as though Amr Shabana was going to reach his third successive Hong Kong final at a canter. Without looking to be doing anything special the world number one established a relatively untroubled two-game lead, and led 6/3 and 8/5 in the third.

But then David Palmer started on the comeback trail, making the rallies tighter, and a few errors started creeping in from the Egyptian - something we hadn't seen so far.

Palmer - despite receiving a conduct warning for court abuse at 10-all - fought hard to take the match into a fourth, sealing it on his second game ball.

He started that fourth well, too. with Shabana seemingly still thinking about the loss of the third he led 5/2 and 7/4. The match was really intense now, and as both players started diving after the ball the packed crowd started to get involved, cheering wildly each tumble.

Palmer reached game ball again - had another at 11/10, but amide a tense finish with plenty of lets, plenty of arguments and plenty of decisions for the single referee - including a conduct warning for Shabana for racket abuse - it was the Egyptian who held firm as Palmer put one last service return tamely into the tin.

An exciting start to the play at Hollywood Plaza - the crowd loved it, and there's lots more to come ...

"I struggled with the court to start with, the lighting and the surroundings make it hard to follow the ball, and Shabana isn't someone you want to play in those conditions.

"I got used to it, and I was happy to pull it back. I had chances to take it into a fifth, from 10/8 up in the fourth I should have done that but the ref gave me a couple of decisions which didn't help.

"In the end it seemed that whoever argued got the benefit of the next decision – I don't understand why they're not using the three referee system, that's taken all of this away, but I suppose today proved that the one-referee system doesn't work any more at this level.

"In the end he was too good for me today, but I'm disappointed not to at least have taken it to five …"

"I relaxed at the end of the third, from 8/5 up I took it too easy – I forgot I was playing David Palmer, that he will always be there and can come back at any time. When you are up you should finish the match, not relax until you shake your opponent's hand.

"I refocused, but by then I was 7/4 down in the fourth, so I thought I should do to him what he did to me, and thankfully I managed to come through. At ten-all in the fourth I was very nervous, I got a bad decision, but then I got one my way …

"I've played so many matches in the last three weeks I'm in semi-automatic mode, it's easy to keep my focus. It was a good game today, and I'm still feeling strong …

"I've been coming to Hong Kong since I was 15 or 16, I never miss the tournament, I love it here. This is an amazing venue too, all tournaments should be in the public view like this, it's really good to have so many people watching and getting involved."

[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [6] Vicky Botwright (Eng)
3/9, 9/3, 9/5, 9/0

Nicol wears Vicky down

If Vicky Botwright was tired after yesterday's exploits in beating the world champion, she certainly didn't show it in the opening stages of her match with the world number one.

The Englishwomen took the game to her opponent, continuing where she let off yesterday with some lovely volley kills as she took the first game.

Nicol was more her normal self in the second, buzzing around court and won most of her points on dropshots as she found her way into the match.

The third was the one that was to break Vicky. From 4/1 to Nicol it took 14 well-contested rallies for the Malaysian to reach 6/3 - it seemed that whoever came out of this patch the better was the likely winner.

It took another eight rallies to advance the score to 7/5 and it was Nicol who emerged, with Vicky now tiring quickly. The fourth was a formality as Nicol, like Shabana, moved into her third consecutive Hong Kong final.

"Vicky played so well, I just needed to push through those first two games.

"Then I found my rhythm and she started to get tired. Whether you're winning or losing you just have to stay true to what you do, and I'm feeling good at the moment.

"I'm just thrilled to be back on the glass court, and all the hype of being in the Plaza again. It's so nice to play in Hong Kong, it has that nice Asian feeling, almost like playing at home in Malaysia."

"It was hard to tell if I was tired from yesterday at the start, because whenever you play Nicol you're always under so much pressure, you get tired quickly anyway. You put in shots you don't think are going to come back and they do, every time.

"From the middle of the third I knew I was tired, and I just had nothing left in the fourth.

"I'm happy with my week here though, I played well and I stuck to my game plans, which really helped me this week."

[2] Natalie Grinham (Aus) bt [5] Natalie Grainger (Usa)
9/5, 9/3, 9/0 (27m)

Grinham turns the tables

What a difference a week makes! Just a few days ago in Qatar it was Natalie Grainger who won in straight games, seemingly announcing herself well and truly as a challenger to the top three.

This time though it was the younger Grinham sister who was in almost complete control. After a tight opening to the first game, from 5-all Grinham quickly established the lead, then proceeded to dominate the next two games.

Grainger simply had no answer today to Grinham's accuracy, her deception, her dropshots from the back, her retrieving ... it was all working beautifully today, and in truth it wasn't that Grainger was bad, just that Grinham was simply too good today.

Both Nicol and Natalie have suffered dips in form from the time when the pair seemed to be contesting every major final as if by right, but today both seemed back to - or very near to - their best.

Nicol will be looking for her third consecutive Hong Kong title, but Natalie, who always said while Nicol was on that run that she was beatable, knows for a fact that she's beatable ...
Roll on the final ..

"I felt great yesterday and I was really looking forward to playing her. But my body seemed to have other ideas, I struggled to get going and was just so slow today.

"She was hitting winners at the front, and even if I got there she'd finish me off on the next shot.

"Mentally, after three really hard weeks, I'm almost relieved it's over! Nicol and Natalie have done very well to come back after some setbacks recently, and over the three events results have evened out, no-one's dominated and everyone's done well at some stage.

"It's been a good year for me, I've made a couple of major semis, not lost to anyone outside the top three and winning the Pan Ams was great. I'm feeling good and I'm still chasing for some of the titles that have eluded me, the Worlds and the British stand out for me …"

"I'm obviously very pleased, I lost 3/0 to her last time, but I felt better today, was moving better and she wasn't as sharp so it was a mixture of both of those factors.

"Last week was hard – I've had a problem with my wrist and it was affecting me, but today I was really focused, I know this is the last tournament for a while so it's easier to just go for it knowing I'll be going home for treatment soon.

"Tomorrow I'm just going to go out there and do my best. I love being on the glass court, we're all used to them, but the crowds and atmosphere her is really fantastic …"

[2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt [4] Thierry Lincou (Fra)
9/11, 11/7, 13/11, 11/9 (70m)

Greg's repeat performance

It was a repeat of the British Open final, and a repeat winner as Gregory Gaultier became France's representative in the Hong Kong final. Greg simply got the better of four close games - there was never more than a couple of points in it at any stage.

After sharing the first two games, the third was - as ever - crucial, and it seemed to take an age to move from 9-all its conclusion, with more than a few lets, a fair bit of gentle arguing with the official, a few glances exchanged between the players, but eventually Greg took it 13/11.

That wasn't the end of it though, as Thierry kept pace throughout the fourth, but he was always a couple of points behind. He closed to 9/8, conceded match ball on a stroke, accepted a tin from Greg to save it, but could do nothing about Greg's low crosscourt drive that propelled him into the final.

He now faces another repeat, this time of last week's Qatar Classic final, which Shabana won comfortably ...