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Wed 28th
Nov - Round Two bottom half:
top half |
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From 18.00,
Fairmont Southampton
[7] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt [Q] Omar Mosaad (Egy)
11/6, 11/9, 11/7 (46m)
[4] James Willstrop (Eng) bt [12] Mohammed Abbas (Egy)
3/11 9/11, 11/7, 11/8, 11/5 (91m)
[6] John White (Sco) bt [13] Azlan Iskandar (Mas)
7/11, 11/5, 7/11, 13/11, 11/6
(76m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra)
bt Hisham Ashour (Egy)
11/4, 11/8, 11/4 (26m)
WILLSTROP & WHITE
TOUGH IT OUT
Another dramatic day at the Fairmont Southampton, as two Englishmen
progressed in contrasting styles.
Nick Matthew was always comfortable as he despatched Omar
Mosaad in three games, but James Willstrop had to fight back
from two games down - for the second match in succession - to deny
another Egyptian, Mohammed
Abbas.
Former finalist John White also took the long route to the
quarter-finals, saving two match-balls on the way to a thrilling
five-game win over Malaysias Azlan Iskandar.
Second seed Gregory Gaultier was ruthless in the last match
of the day, the Frenchman despatching an out-of-sorts Hisham Ashour
in under half an hour.
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Malcolm Willstrop:
Better late than never
Sue's Blog, #2
Daily News |
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[7]
Nick Matthew (Eng)
bt [Q] Omar Mosaad (Egy)
11/6, 11/9, 11/7 (46m)
Better for Nick
Nick Matthew is into the quarter-finals after a solid performance
that kept his opponent at bay without any undue dramas, but without
asserting any real dominance.
The Englishman was only headed briefly, at the start of each game,
but quickly asserted himself to keep any potential threat in the
background. Mosaad couldn't catch up, however hard he tried.
Six quick points in the third took Nick to 10/4 match ball as the
Egyptian's challenge looked as if it was petering out tamely, but
even a last few points of resistance weren't enough. Omar played
well enough, he just couldn't make enough of an impression on Nick's
game tonight.
 "I
could have done a bit more to stretch out when I had a one or two
point lead, but credit to him, he stuck in and hit some good winners
to stay in touch.
"It's good to get off in three and put myself into contention. I did
just enough tonight, it was better than my first round but next time
I'll have to step it up, if you don't slam the door on those guys
you're in trouble.
"It's really humid today and we're sweating a lot, it was hrd enough
holding on to your racket never mind your footing. It was a bit stop
and start with all the court cleaning, but there's nothing you can
do you just have to get on with it and keep your concentration.
"It feels a bit like starting from scratch again after a rest day,
but tomorrow it starts to get really serious, it would be great to
play my team-mate James
"
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[4]
James Willstrop (Eng) bt [12] Mohammed Abbas (Egy)
3/11 9/11, 11/7, 11/8, 11/5 (91m)
Same again for James
 Well,
he didn't wait until he was down in the third this time, but once
again James Willstrop had to claw his way back into a match from two
games down.
Mohammed Abbas had played well, very well, in the first two games,
with James looking a little flat. From the start of the third
though, there was visibly more urgency about the Englishman's play
as he took a 4/1 lead which was enough of a gap for him to take the
game.
Both players, as in the previous match, were struggling with the
glass floor in the humid conditions and the court rats were up and
down like yo-yos. At 5/3 in the fourth James went sprawling in the
back corner and asked for the tournament referee. After a brief
discussion - "what could he say, there's really nothing he could
do," said James - play resumed.
James went 10/5 up in the fourth, Abbas pulled three back and it was
getting edgy. Then a scrambling rally which left Abbas flat on his
back in the middle of the court and his rackets flying into the back
wall, hurled in frustration.
James lent his opponent a pair of shorts for the fifth, which seemed
to help. No more slips, but no more joy for Abbas either as James
pulled off another comeback ...
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 "It
was almost a carbon copy of the last match! I started very rusty and
Abbas was really on his game, so I just had to dig and dig as hard
as I could.
"It's not the best squash of my life that I've played here but I'm
thankful that I'm going to play tomorrow. Having been under the cosh
for long periods I'm just thrilled to go through.
"It's a great help having Malc in my corner, I may look calm on
court but a lot of that comes from him.
"We were both having problems with the floor. He started slipping
before me, and he probably got the worst of it, but it as becoming
unplayable. We both sweat a lot, but his shorts were soaking wet so
every time the court was cleaned they would drip onto it again, so I
had to lend him some shorts after the fourth.
"The court's great, the atmosphere and everything are brilliant, but
after this tournament the floor's got to change. It's an idea that
hasn't really worked properly, it's been better in some places but
there's always been a bit of slippiness on it. It has to be changed
or made better than it is
"
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[6]
John White (Sco) bt [13] Azlan Iskandar (Mas)
7/11, 11/5, 7/11, 13/11, 11/6
(76m)
White mark two
A fantastic comeback from John White, saving two match balls in the
fourth game as he moved into the quarter-finals.
This wasn't gunslinger White who blasted through his first round
match, he really dug in - Willstrop-style - to earn this win. Azlan
started out on fire, attacking everything White-style. Once John had
grown accustomed to the pace it developed into a great match, with a
succession of quickfire rallies, both players giving their all to
the delight of the crowd.
John levelled, Azlan regained the lead, but Azlan roared back in the
fourth, going 5/1 up courtesy of a stroke and three tins from White.
John steadied, bringing it back to 8-all, but two winners from Azlan
- the second of them leaving John in his famoous 'splits' position
on the floor - gave the Malaysian two tickets to the quarter-finals.
He couldn't take either, and amid a series of slips and dives, John
took the match into a decider.
Sad to say the match became a bit of a lottery in the fifth, with
both players slipping and sliding on the glass floor and the court
rats called into action after virtually every point. Azlan got the
worst of that, and for him to get up after a final tumble with a
smile on his face, ready to embrace his conqueror, does him much
credit.
 "I
was in control - for the last point!
"He started off at a real fast pace, stepping up and volleying
everything.
"I haven't played at that pace for a while, so I had to try to slow
it down. Once I managed to do that he started making some errors.
"I was lucky to get the fourth, but when he hit a couple of easy
tins once he got match ball I thought if he's going to do that I'm
going to stick in, get some rallies going and let him make mistakes.
"He was slipping and sliding in the fifth, it's just one of those
things, but I'm really happy to get through."
John White |
"It was a good match, but that court is just brutal.
"I had my chances, but I just froze up on match ball, I was thinking
ahead to World Open quarter-final and once you do that you're in
trouble.
"I'm just gobsmacked
"
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[2]
Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt Hisham Ashour (Egy)
11/4, 11/8, 11/4 (26m)
No sweat for Greg
The last match of the evening was the shortest, with second seed
Gregory Gaultier totally in control against an out-of-sorts Hisham
Ashour who simply couldn't reproduce the form that saw him upset
Adrian Grant in the previous round.
 "He's
a good player, strong and quick with good shots, but I feel
embarrassed for not being able to hit the ball. I just couldn't get
the court at all, couldn't see the ball and the first four drives I
hit came back at my chest.
"I just wanted to get into it and see what happened, but I was never
in it, not for one second, which is a bad thing
"
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 "I
want to be fresh for the next round so it was important not to stay
too long on court, especially going on so late. It's important to be
able to execute your opponents quickly in these matches.
"I slipped two or three times at the front of the court, but it can
happen to both of us, you just keep your mouth shut and play.
"It's ok, I've just come into the quarters, playing well feeling
good. John had a hard match, but it's another start tomorrow, I'll
prepare for that and be stronger than I was tonight."
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World Champions
upstaged by Gough
Between them Amr Shabana,
David Palmer and Thierry Lincou - the only previous champions in the
draw - have five World Open titles and tonight saw all three in
action and all three winning through to the quarter-finals.
First up was Shabana, who didn't look his best at the start against
Stewart Boswell, and although he recovered well another lapse in the
fourth forced to to pull out the stops in a decider.
Lincou had to save a couple of game balls in the first against
qualifier Jonathan Kemp but from then on was in control, and while
Palmer emulated that 3/0 scoreline, Peter Barker posed him many
questions in their hour on court.
Those three are joined in the quarters by 36-year-old Alex Gough,
who pulled off a second successive upset, this time against Wael El
Hindi, and boy was e delighted ...
Round Two, Top Half:
[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [12] Stewart Boswell (Aus)
8/11, 11/4, 11/2, 9/11, 11/4 (65m)
[6] Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt [Q] Jonathan Kemp (Eng)
12/10, 11/5, 11/5 (32m)
[3] David Palmer (Aus) bt [11] Peter Barker (Eng)
12/10, 11/7, 11/9 (59m)
Alex Gough (Wal) bt
[9] Wael El Hindi (Egy)
11/1, 7/11, 11/4, 11/7 (73m)
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Sue's Blog, #2
Daily News
FOCUS - Issue #3
GALLERY |
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[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [12] Stewart Boswell (Aus)
8/11, 11/4, 11/2, 9/11, 11/4 (65m)
Shabana "five times better"
'What's wrong with him?" someone asked after the first game ...
There was nothing wrong with top seed Amr Shabana, he just tends to
work his way into tournaments these days, getting better round by
round.
Stewart Boswell took him a little by surprise in the first, but soon
enough the silky shots were flowing as the world number one took the
lead.
He suffered a surprising lapse in the fourth, allowing the
Australian to get to 10/6, from which position he held on to level,
but Shabana was back in control in the fifth as he moved into the
quarters.
Whether his claim to be "5 times" better than last time is accurate
or not, there's no denying he seems to have mastered the art of
pacing himself through tournaments, and it's a fair bet that he
really will be better next time ...
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 "My
body's fine but it's not easy, you don't get any easy matches these
days and with playing so many times I'm not as mentally fresh as I
want to be. If you're not 100% there mentally you can make mistakes
that cost you games that you wouldn't normally make.
"I was playing to his strength in the first game, he has a very good
reach and a great touch especially on the backhand volley, he got me
four or five times on that one. So I went into the second knowing to
keep it off that and I had to play more of my shots too, when the
time was right.
"I let my guard down a little in the fourth and he went for a few
shots and got a lead. I knew I had to stay calm in the fifth, I've
played these types of matches so many times now I know I can cope
with it.
"My shots felt crisp today, much better than last match I played
five times better today than last time and after a day off I'll play
five times better again net time, I'm really looking forward to the
quarter-final now
"
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[6] Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt [Q] Jonathan Kemp (Eng)
12/10, 11/5, 11/5 (32m)
Lincou safe and solid
Jonathan Kemp is a risk-taker, and, as his opponent said after the
match, a confidence player. When his shots come off they're very
good, and if he'd managed to take the first game against the former
champion it could have been a different story.
 As
it was, Thierry just had to play solid squash as Jon rushed at his
two chances, and from them on the Frenchman was pretty much in
control.
Once level he took the first quickly, eased away from 3-all in the
second with a combination of his trademark tight squash and his
opponents winners, and quickly went 7/0 up in the third.
A couple of errors from Thierry gave Jon a glimmer of hope, but the
miracle comeback was never really on, and Thierry was into the
quarter-finals after just over half an hour.
 "So many
seeds fell in the first round, it just proves that there's no easy
matches now, you have to be focused and careful for every match.
"I felt pretty strong and solid, I tried to play at a high pace to
prevent him attacking and then taking the volley as he likes to do.
I found some good length today, that and my presence around the
court was the key to the match.
"At 10/8 down in the first I knew I had to really focus, he's a
confidence player and taking that game would have given him a real
mental boost."
"It was very special when I won the world open, I'll always remember
it and I'm happy to be still playing and in good shape, I'm really
enjoying my squash now.
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 "I
just wasn't playing well at all.
At" 10/8 up in the first I panicked normally if you're up you just
try to keep doing whatever you're doing, but I was playing badly and
winning so I just tried to finish it too quickly.
"I just don't feel confident on there, but it's Thierry's home. I
need more practice on the glass court, I had two 20min session in
the daytime which is very different, I was seeing the ball late so
didn't have time for my shots.
"Credit to Thierry though, he's a strong boy, doesn't give you much
and I just wasn't good enough really.
"I'm disappointed with how I played, but I'll go back, study the DVD
and I'll be better net time
"
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[3] David Palmer
(Aus) bt [11] Peter Barker (Eng)
12/10, 11/7, 11/9 (59m)
Barker tests the champion
Three -nil to the defending champion. Sounds comfortable enough, but
it was far from it.
 Peter
Barker was matching David Palmer every step of the way in the first.
He reached game ball a 9/10 and felt aggrieved to only get a let
when Palmer stepped back into his path. Two tins and a - possibly
generous - stroke to Palmer and the Australian was one up.
Palmer was the steadier in the second, and at 7/2 in the third it
looked all over, but the Englishman showed great spirit, fighting
back to 8-all and threatening once again to pinch a game.
But once again errors cost him. A poor tin - "NO!" - followed by a
mishit return of serve and he was match balls down.
Palmer himself missed a sitter on the first one, but an obvious
stroke on the second and he was through.
 "Peter
is one of our future stars for sure. He's physically good and has
lots of attacking ability. I felt a little bit flat at first - he
put me under pressure, but after the first game I was pretty much on
top. I tried to nullify his strengths and keep him in the back of
the court. Point by point I kept it together and he made mistakes.
"I love playing here and I'm looking to get my name on the trophy
here in Bermuda before I retire
if it happens to be the world open
too then all the better
"
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"I felt I played ok today, just a
couple of points, a couple of errors mainly. I'm disappointed to
lose 3/0, I feel I could have won the first, and that third.
"I cam back well in the first, I was feeling ok then made one bad
error and lost the ball on the wall on the next serve you just
can't afford to do that at this level.
"We both sweat a lot and were struggling with the floor. I think he
was getting the floor swept when he was tired I guess he's
entitled to do that, but the PSA know how much we sweat, how we
play, they should be able to sort out a decent floor, and quickly
"
 "Peter
played extremely well, he's playing at a very high standard, but to
beat these top guys he just need to cut his error count down.
"If he does that he's in the top ten and he'll really challenge the
top players, he'll make matches like these even closer or convert
them into wins
"
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Alex Gough (Wal) bt
[9] Wael El Hindi (Egy)
11/1, 7/11, 11/4, 11/7 (73m)
Ageless Alex axes El Hindi
Blimey. Who'd have thought an almost-37-year-old would reach the
quarterfinals of the World Open.
True, Wael El Hindi had been struggling with injury in the previous
round, but both players had rest days after their tough first round
matches, and the intensity of the match tonight gave little
indication of any problem for the Egyptian.
 The
wily Welshman was prepared to rally it out, keeping the all to the
back, and we had rally after rally up and down the backhand wall,
both players seemingly happy to bide their time.
It was never going to be totally incident free though, and in
patches both players found themselves running into the other, and
entering into discussion with the referees. It was serious, but it
never got remotely nasty.
Alex breezed through the first in nine minutes, Wael got the better
of the 24-minute second, but in another ten minutes Alex regained
the lead. In the fourth Wael was making Alex work harder and harder,
the rallies became more varied, but if Wael thought Alex would fade,
he was wrong.
Lovely touch dropshot from Wael, 6-all. Great retrieving by Alex,
volley drop into the nick, 7-all. Wael gets a 'no let' on a
situation that looks similar to ones he's been getting lets for
("You have to be aware where your opponent is," explained the
central ref). Alex goes on the attack and three points later he's
into the quarters and punching the air in delight.
Who'd have thought it ... you'd better believe it!
 "That's
awesome, it has to be one of the best results of my career.
"I love Wael to bits off court, but on court he's a nightmare, a
real streetfighter, and he's just deadly at the front.
"I was getting a bit annoyed that the refs were giving him some easy
lets, but the no let they gave at 7-all in the last was probably a
bit harsh in the circumstances, and it took him back a bit. The 3
ref system is good, but there still needs to be some dialog so they
can say "yes let, but next time it's no let," rather than just
throwing it in like that.
"But I'm loving it at the moment. If anything I'm more professional
than in my early career, I have to do everything a bit more
properly.
"I just can't give it up at the moment, it's like a drug, and I get
so much support from the other guys, I'm on about my third
generation of them and this is the best.
"Another rest day, I'll maybe get a bit of golf in and get ready for
the quarters. This court is ideal for someone like Palmer, but I've
got nothing to lose and I'll give it all I've got
"
37 in two weeks' time |
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How do you know when you're at a BIG event ??? |
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