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Mon
16th,
SEMI-FINALS
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Semi-Finals:
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [4] Tania Bailey (Eng)
9/7, 9/4, 9/0 (52m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (Aus) bt [3] Rachael Grinham (Aus)
3/9, 9/3, 9/3, 9/3 (45m)
[3] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [5] Nick Matthew (Eng)
6/11, 11/9, 11/7, 10/12, 11/8 (82m)
[2] David Palmer (Aus) bt [10] Wael El Hindi (Egy)
11/13, 11/5, 11/7, 11/9 (72m)
Ramy
wins thriller,
Palmer ends El Hindi run
Ramy Ashour's amazing run continues as the Egyptian teenager reaches
the final in Doha,but what a game, and what a fright Nick Matthew gave
him. Matthew took Ashour by surprise in the first, but at 2/1 and 4/0
Ashour looked to be in control and on his way.
Matthew refused to budge though, as he clawed his way back into the
game, saving two match balls along the way. The fifth was a real
nailbiter, with the crowd at the Khalifa squash complex getting heavily
involved and nothing to separate them up to eight-all, but it was Ramy
who took the crucial last three points.
In the final he will meet David Palmer, the second seed who
prevailed in a physical encounter with Wael El Hindi. The Egyptian came
from behind to take the first, but Palmer struck back to take the next
three games.
Nicol & Natalie again
Nicol David and Natalie Grinham will renew their rivalry in the
Qatar Classic final.
Top seed Nicol took her time to get the measure of Tania Bailey, who
stuck to her task well and pretty much matched the Malaysian for two
games before the world number one's pressure told.
Natalie found herself frustrated in the first game against sister
Rachael, but slowly began to impose her game and ran out the 3/1 winner.
Nicol and Natalie's last three meeting have all been 90-minute plus
thrillers, so a treat could be in store for the Doha faithful tomorrow.
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[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [4] Tania Bailey (Eng)
9/7, 9/4, 9/0 (52m)
No stopping Nicol
Top seed Nicol David took her time to get the measure of Tania Bailey, who
stuck to her task well and pretty much matched the Malaysian for two
games before the world number one's pressure told.
The English number one was maybe working that little bit harder in
the first game, and in the end paid for making a couple more errors.
The second was just as close, with Tania well in the mix.
This was one of those matches where the scoring system doesn't
always do justice to the loser. In PAR the first two games would have
finished 17-14 and 22-17, giving a fairer picture of how they went.
After ten rallies in the third it was 2-0 to David and then the dam
broke as the pressure finally told on Tania, who won just one more rally
as Nicol powered through to yet another major final.
 "She
played well, she played some good shots especially in the second game.
My focus was a bit on and off in the second but I just hung in there and
started hitting the ball better. I stepped it up a notch in the third,
volleying more and making sure she had to work from behind me.
"I played quite well in the end and it's nice to be in the final here
for the first time. It's great to have all the Malaysian supporters here
too … I'll have to go shopping for a new outfit for the final now."
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 "I
felt I was competing with her quite well in the first two games, but
it's frustrating, you win a lot of rallies but don't get many points.
It's just ridiculous how hard it is to win a point against her, you have
to get her so out of position.
"I knew I needed the first game but couldn't get a point at 7/8, she
plays the big points so well. I feel I made her work hard at least, but
at 2/0 down you know it's virtually impossible to win, and I'd had a
couple of hard matches already so I was tired mentally and physically in
the third.
"I've had a good run and I've got some thing to take back to work on,
trying to find a way to catch up to those three …"
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[2] Natalie Grinham (Aus) bt [3] Rachael Grinham (Aus)
3/9, 9/3, 9/3, 9/3 (45m)
Natalie closes the gap
In the all-Grinham matchup
Natalie found herself frustrated in the first game against sister
Rachael, but slowly began to impose her game and ran out the 3/1 winner.
It wasn't like any women's match we'd seen before, since usually it's
one of the Grihhams mixing it up while the other player tries to impose
their game, but here we had two of them mixing it up - plenty of lobs,
drops, boast, angles with the ball spending more time in the air than a
747.
Rachael was doing it better to start with, but as the match progressed
Natalie was picking everything up and Rachael was having to try to get
it tighter and tighter,with the errors starting tocome.
Rachael still leads the head to head, but it's getting closer ...
 "I
was hitting better in the beginning, but I was getting a bit tired and
losing accuracy towards the end. Maybe I was going for too many angles,
I had chances to play it straight which could have won me the point.
"I'm not going to play hard and fast with her, or Nicol, they'll both
beat me at that, In have to get them out of position to have any chance
of winning. I'm not disappointed how I played, it was much better than
last time, I felt pretty focused and on my game."
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 "We
always seem to end up playing like that, we know what the other will do
so
"In the first game she was putting all her lobs in and I was getting
frustrated because I couldn't run around and get everything back - she
was controlling it.
"I had to change my gameplan, and it started working. I just hope I can
have as good a day tomorrow."
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[3] Ramy Ashour
(Egy) bt [5] Nick Matthew (Eng)
6/11, 11/9, 11/7, 10/12, 11/8 (82m)
Nick almost
there
Ramy Ashour's amazing run
continues as the Egyptian teenager reaches the final in Doha, but what a
game, and what a fright Nick Matthew gave him. Nick took Ramy by
surprise in the first, firing out to an 8/3 lead, closing it out 11/6.
With both player looking to volley everything the next two games were
hard fought affairs. Ramy was more willing to go short, Nick looking to
get the ball deeper, and it was the Egyptian's shots that held sway,
although t 9-all in the second Nick was so close to a 2-0 lead.
Quickly up 4/0 in the fourth Ramy looked in control, but Nick kept
plugging away and got his reward as Ramy tinned four times to level the
scores. His attacking intent seemed to diminish, he was content to play
longer rallies whichworked to Nick's advantage. Ramy still had two
matchballs, at 10/8, but Nick won the next four points tolevel.
The fifth was a real nailbiter, with the crowd at the Khalifa squash
complex getting heavily involved and nothing to separate them up to
eight-all, but it was Ramy who took the crucial last three points,
driving the final ball wide of Nick's despairing racket at the crowd
rose in appreciation of a fine match.
 "I
was feeling good in the fourth and had matchballs, but once I lost that
it became edgy. I made a few errors and he took advantage.The fifth
could have been anyone's.
"He's really consistent, he cuts the ball well and you have to keep the
pressure on him all the way through. The key to today's match was the
volley, who volleyed the best won the point.
"I'm working on my composure as much as my squash skills and fitness,
and I'm pleased that I managed to keep it at the end. It's very pleasing
to make another final and I hope I play well tomorrow …"
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 "I
think I played pretty well there, and one positive I can take from the
match is that I know I can play better. I thought I might have the game
to rattle him, which I did, but he came back well and handled the
pressure very well.
"I've got a lot of respect for him, he's doing something no-one's done
for a long time, but we're going to have a lot of matches and I'm not
going to lie down to him."
"If I can get my short game half as good as his I know I've got the rest
of the game to challenge at the top, I've never been in the top four so
that's a real target for me.
"I'm delighted with how I finished the season, considering I was out for
three months and I know I won't be back to my very best until next
season. I was just a few points from beating Palmer last week and just a
few points away tonight, so I'm very encouraged by that."
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[2]
David Palmer (Aus)
bt [10] Wael El Hindi (Egy)
11/13, 11/5, 11/7, 11/9 (72m)
Palmer ends El
Hindi run
David Palmer, the second seed,
prevailed in a physical encounter with Wael El Hindi. The Egyptian came
from behind to take a fairly quiet first game, something he did twice to
Lee Beachill in the last round.
But Palmer struck back to take the next three games in a match that was
rarely flowing, with lots of collisions, discussions and lets extending
affairs.
The three referee system was in use, but main official Graham Waters
penalised El Hindi twice for barging his opponent. The first time, in
the third game, El Hindi got a no let, a conduct stroke for barging and
another for dissent, which saw his 5/4 lead turn into a 7/4 deficit
which he rnever recovered from.
Another conduct stroke for barging in the fourth, where again the
Egyptian led, 6/2, helped Palmer back to parity, and from 9-all he
finished it off with a stroke and a spectacular drive into the nick with
Wael frantically backpedalling out of the way.
Not a classic, but another final and another shot at Ramy for David ...
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 "He's
a tricky player, he always tries to slow the pace down and it's hard to
get into a rhythm against him, every time you have a hard rally he walks
around, has a discussion, he does it very well.
"I was trying not to play too much on the backhand side, I saw how he
got Anthony and Lee into trouble there, so I was keeping on the forehand
where I could and just trying to keep calm.
"It was a nice way to finish [a crisply hit nick from the middle of the
court] and now I'm looking forward to playing Ramy again.
"I beat him a while ago when he was a junior, but he's beaten me twice
since. I lost quite badly in Toronto but I'm in better shape than I was
then so I'll be looking for a game plan to keep him under control …"
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