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Sun 11th Nov, Day SEVEN, The FINALS: |
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[1]
Nicol David (Mas) bt [2] Natalie
Grinham (Aus)
9/3, 9/5, 10/8
(58m)
Nicol reigns in Hong Kong
Nicol David is back. Victories last week in Qatar, and here today to
claim her third successive Hong Kong title, have surely laid to rest
any doubts of her status as the world's number one, notwithstanding
a couple of wobbles in the last few weeks.
 This
was a typical Nicol/Natalie match - plenty of long rallies,
inventive shots, great attacking and great defending, with rally
after rally containing the full repertoire of shots until finally
someone found a winner, or found their opponent's shot just too
tight. But then, they should know each other's games by now, this
was the seventh major final they've contested inside twelve months.
Today's victory means Nicol has won six of those meetings, but it
certainly wasn't as comfortable as you would think from the bare
scoreline.
Natalie took a 3/0 advantage in the first amid some long opening
rallies, Nicol came back quickly to level and then eked out the next
six points.
A quick start to the second and it was 6/1 to Nicol, Natalie
recovered to 6/4 but another spurt by Nicol took the game.
In the third Natalie got the better of the early exchanges, leading
6/2, then 7/5 as she pounced on a rare poor drop by Nicol, driving
it deep down the court to get game ball.
A huge rally followed, Natalie had a winning position at the front
... and tinned it. A tight drop from Nicol got her a point back,
what looked a harsh stroke in mid-court brought it level at 8-all.
A tin from Natalie, a perfect drop from Nicol and it was all over -
back to back titles and three in a row in Hong Kong for
Not bad. Not bad at all ... |
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 "It's
just nice at the moment to be getting the results again. I've felt
good all this week and last, and I just went in today to play my
best.
"This is my last tournament of the year so I went in hoping for a
good finish, especially after winning in Qatar last week.
"Three-nil doesn't show how intense the match was, Natalie's a
strong fighter, you just have to keep going and hope to get the win.
"It wasn't comfortable at all, every rally is high-intensity,
sometimes they're never-ending and you can't see how it's ever going
to finish. But I wanted it so badly in the last game, I just had to
push hard in that game to win three-nil.
"It's so exciting to play here in the Mall, the hype, the
atmosphere, all the spectators and the support they give is
fantastic."
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 "All
the games were close, even the first was tight although the score
doesn't reflect that. I thought I was playing well, but she was
moving very well today and just got everything back.
"I tried to keep doing the same thing when I was up I the third, the
worst thing you can do is to change and try to finish it quickly,
especially against Nicol. I missed one shot at the front at the end
of a huge rally, that was probably the turning point. Then she got
what I thought was a cheap stroke towards the end, it had been a
fair game all the way through but that one hurt.
"I wasn't expecting too much of myself this week, I almost pulled
out of the world open three weeks ago with my wrist, and I still
can't play some shots because of it, so to get to the final here,
I'm fairly happy with that.
"I love coming to Hong Kong, I love the shopping but I haven't had
the chance to go shopping yet this week, with the jetlag and playing
every day!"
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[1]
Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [2] Gregory
Gaultier (Fra)
11/13, 11/3, 11/6, 13/11 (61m)
Three and three for Shabana
If Nicol underlined her position at the top today, so did Amr
Shabana. For the Prince of Egypt it's not only three Hong Kong
titles in a row, but three major titles - Saudi, Kuwait and here -
in three weeks.
And hasn't he looked good doing it. As Ong Beng Hee, his second
round victim here mused, "he plays such a simple game these days,
but he just destroys you."
Nowhere was this illustrated better than when Gregory Gaultier led
5/3 in the fourth. A huge, huge rally, not frantic, but precise, and
tough ... Greg finally offers one ball that's marginally loose and
BANG, it's away into the back corner with Greg nowhere in sight.
Greg knows how to play Shabana though, and tired as he was he came
so, so close to taking it to five. The Frenchman dominated the
opening exchanges, leading 7/2 and 10/6, but was grateful for a
couple of errors from Shabana after the defending champion had come
back to level it.
The second was all Shabana, and Greg let it go a few points from the
end. The third too went the Egyptian's way, but if anyone thought
the Frenchman was finished they were mistaken.
Greg led the 5/2 in the fourth, but that huge rally helped Shabana
come back into it. Greg was getting frustrated with some of the
decisions going against him as Shabana took the lead, then gave a
big "thankyou" to the ref as Shabana got a 'no let' to make it
7-all.
Remember that here we have the giant screen behind the spectators,
showing the really excellent live TV coverage - ideal for the
players to watch the slo-mo replays before deciding how hard to
argue! And it really brings the crowd into it as they ooh and aah
after spectacular rallies or dodgy decisions. Anyway, back to the
squash.
Shabana had the momentum, but Greg wouldn't let go. Shabana led 7/6,
8/7, 9/8 but Greg levelled ... 7/7, 8/8, 9/9. Shabana smacked away a
crosscourt to reach match ball but still Greg wasn't finished.
 He
even got a game ball at 11/10, but hit the tin. He hit the tin again
to give Shabana another match ball. And then Shabana served into the
nick.
A cruel way to finish, but how much Greg would have had left for a
fifth is open to question. What's beyond question is that this has
been Shabana's month, and that Hong Kong has been a happy hunting
ground for him.
Three of the best for Shabana. Now attention moves to Bermuda where
he will be favourite to make it three world titles.
Can't wait ... |
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 "I'm
very happy to win here in Hong Kong for the third time. It was a
tough match, Greg is a great player and he never gives up.
"I didn't worry about losing the first, he was very accurate and I
just couldn't do anything, but at the moment I just focus on playing
each point and not worrying about the score. It was a lucky way to
win it, but I thought I played well all match.
"The court and the venue here are amazing, I've been coming here for
years and every year it's a surprise to see how many people are
watching. This should be an example to the rest of the world how to
run a tournament.
"I'm very happy with the way I'm playing now, I think I'm at my
peak, I just hope I carry on playing as good for the worlds later
this month.
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 "You
see how many games I've played compared to him in the last three
weeks, I've been unlucky with the draws, getting Nick in the
quarters made a big difference.
"I know how to beat Shabana, but today I just pushed my body to its
limit. I didn't have any days off between tournaments, and I know he
played as many matches but I spent more time on court than him,
that's the difference.
"Of course I'm disappointed to lose, but this tournament wasn't a
big aim for me, the worlds is my main aim and as long as I do what I
want in that I'll be happy.
"The mall is great for the public to see top squash, it's great for
the sport and great organisation here. I hope I can come back next
year and play here again …"
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