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 09-Dec,
SEMI-FINALS:
Framboise from Islamabad
RICKETTS TAKES
POWER AT LAST…
As Jonathan Power mentioned last night, it was the fourth time
these guys were playing each other in a month. Three times Jonathan
had prevailed…
But not tonight Jonathan…
Up and down. That’s how I would describe the first game. First, it’s
Power who takes the lead, 5/1, then Ricketts that comes back and
overtakes the Canadian 9/7, to end up at 9/9. Two long rallies, a tin
from Jonathan and a no let give the game to Anthony 9/11 in 13
minutes.
The second game is one of the best
games I’ve seen this year. Power was attacking everything in sight,
and yet knew how to stay patient when needed; Ricketts was as usual
using his front court boast with great success, and retrieving from
hell…
Once again, the game could have been anybody’s… 9/9, 10/10, 11/11… And
once again, Anthony digs in, and grasps the game 13/11 in 21 long
minutes.
 But
Power was expecting a long game, so, coming back from 0/2 down was not
a problem. He got back in there, and placed so many backhand cross
courts it was sickening. Ricketts is visiting the four corners of the
court, running everywhere, digging everything out, amazing stuff
really.
Jonathan was too
precise in the two next games, and in 15 minutes, levelled it up 11/7,
11/1.
1/1. 2/2. 3/3. 4/4. So close, so beautiful, so intense…
Ricketts is sometimes about to burst in an argument, but channels his
energy perfectly, and controls himself… Good for you Anthony…
And he channels himself so well that he wins the last one in beautiful
fashion, forcing the Canadian to make mistakes, raising the pace and
wining the race, 11/7.
The match had lasted 79 minutes.
[10] Anthony Ricketts (Aus) bt
[5] Jonathon Power (Can)
11/9, 13/11, 7/11, 1/11, 11/7 (79m)
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JAMES IN ISLAMABAD
Willstrop's words ... take 2
Official Site from Islamabad
En Français
 “I
felt again today that I was playing well in patches, in bursts
of a few points. And apart from the end of the fourth and the
beginning of the fifth, we were always very very close in
score.
“I think that in the fourth, I mentally wanted to save energy,
just in case the match would go to five, which I admit, is
probably not the best approach! So, I was still running, but
mentally, I sort of accepted I was going to lose the fourth.
“Do I have a game plan for Tomorrow? No, not really, I didn't
think about that, yet, did I? I think I will probably try and
get him out of the middle of the court, because he's got a
great reach, so I'm just going to try and stop him from doing
what he does well, and I should be fine...”
Anthony
Ricketts |
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JAMES SUPERB…
 At
the end of the first game, I called Steve Cubbins (yes, from my
mobile, as I do about 15 times per day, don’t want to know how much
it’s going to cost…..) and said to him “Steve, James is up 11/4, and
the way he is playing, I think he could win this one, call Malcolm and
let him know…
Yes, from the word go, James Willtrop was imperially dominant
over friend and team mate Nick Matthew. He took control of the
rallies, and quickly led 3/1 then 4/2.
And it’s not that Nick was doing anything wrong, on the contrary, they
were both playing great squash indeed, but James was just on fire,
putting a lot of weight on the ball, varying the pace, dropping
superbly, and Nick had a lot of trouble making him move off the T.
The first game went to James in 13
minutes, 11/4. In the second, James went up to 6/0, then 8/1. But
don’t imagine that it was all volley kills and flamboyant shots…
No, a very secure, brilliant, but no unnecessary risk taking game…
Lengths, cross courts, great drop shots, hitting hard, but not too
hard…
In other words, the perfect game…
11/5 was the score in the next two games….
Today was James’ day….
Pourvu que ça dure….
(so far so good…)
[8] James Willstrop (Eng) bt
[2] Nick Matthew (Eng)
11/4, 11/5, 11/5 (30m)
And tomorrow, we’ll have an unexpected
final, Young Willstrop against Strong Ricketts who will play each other
for the first time….
And I’ll be there… |
 “It
feels wonderful when everything comes together. But the thing
is, for me, it's not a great win, it's just, "I need to do
that again tomorrow", because I think I've got a chance to win
this tournament. So, I'm just going to call home, and then,
that will be the last time I speak with anyone until tomorrow.
“I played great width, because he is so good at volleying
cross courts, and I succeeded to play my cross courts inch
perfect, which is what you need against Nick, otherwise, you
are in big trouble....”
James
Willstrop
 “James
doesn't usually admit when he's playing well, but if James is saying
that he is then he really must be. ”
Malcolm Willstrop |
A star-studded
audience
 “I
thought I played really well in the first 7/8 rallies. The
pace was fast, tight balls, probably the best squash you can
see really. But after that, James was just too good.
“After yesterday’s match, I felt a bit flat mentally. As I
told you yesterday, because of my back injury, I don’t have
enough matches, not really on the physical level, more on a
mental level. And yesterday’s match took a lot out of me.
“The pace was very fast, and I just couldn’t follow. I don’t
practice enough at that pace. So I’ll use the Christmas break
to train at that fast pace. I also think I played a bit too
loose, whereas James only made 3 mistakes the whole match.
“I’m disappointed because I didn’t push him hard enough. He
knows and I know I’m good enough to push him much harder than
I did today. Not to mention the fact it’s never a nice feeling
to get absolutely hammered. But I’m sure that, in an hour,
I’ll be glad about my tournament, and not to have that fear of
thinking “is this the match where I get injured?”. I’ve been
injured for so many weeks now, it’s a great feeling to know
that I am injury free, that I will be able to train again.
“But, at the end of the day, James was blipping superb today,
he was just too good…”
Nick
Matthew |
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08-Dec,
QUARTERS:
Framboise from Islamabad
WILLSTROP/SHABANA :
TOO SHORT!
 It
all started so well, a two minutes and 30 second rally between young
James Willstrop and Amr Shabana. And I thought we were
on for a great match. And we were, for a short while.
Shabana took a slow start, making a few unforced errors. James took
the lead 5/2. The Egyptian then played some great glued to the drive
walls, while James went a bit too short too quickly, allowing his
opponent to come back to 7/7, then go in front 9/7.
But with a backhand drive stuck to the wall, a deep forehand drive, a
tin from Shabana and a lovely delicate short crosscourt to finish,
James took the first in 12 minutes.
I wrote as a note: “Amr is lacking in precision, and talking to
himself”. In other words, he was not totally in the match. The second
game confirmed my impression. He let James lead 5/0, before starting
to get into the game, but too little too late, and James gets the game
11/7, in 7 minutes.
At the beginning of the third, Shababa will play only two rallies,
shake the hand of his opponent, and concede the match for injury…
I hate it when a player gets injured, it’s so unfair, don’t you
find????
[8] James Willstrop (Eng) bt [3] Amr Shabana (Egy)
11/9,
11/7, 1/0 rtd (20m)
James reports from Islamabad in EN
BREF
|
EN BREF
day 4
High Security,
Meeting the Big Boys,
My Guardian & Saviour,
+ THOUGHTS FROM JAMES
Official Site from Islamabad
En Français
 “I'm
OK, but I twisted my knee last week in Qatar, and today, it’s
very sore, so I’ve got to be careful, so I had to stop the
match… But James was playing very well today…”
Amr Shabana |
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RICKETTS: CALM AND COMPOSED…
 That’s
what I like to see.
An extremely well behaved Anthony Ricketts, who plays very
well. Like I said to him at the end, “I’m glad you played very well, I
just wished you would do it against somebody other than a French
player though”…
Gregory Gaultier played well today, he was controlling the ball
well, varying the pace, slowing down the game with good drives and
lobs, then surprised Ricketts with his typical magical drop shots, but
was a bit too irregular, his mind appearing to drift away, allowing
him to lose several points in a row…
Anthony took the first game in 13 minutes, 11/7, but the two players
were racquet to racquet up to 7/7, whereas in the second, the
Australian didn’t have many opportunities to put his racquet on the
ball, giving the game to the French 11/5 in again 13 minutes…
Too many mistakes from Grégory in the third, too many unforced errors,
but another 13 minutes for only 11/5 (long and disputed rallies, where
Ricketts made several astonishing retrievals, let me tell you…).
In the fourth, Grégory seemed to have given up, and was behind 6/1
before deciding to fight one more time, came back to 5/7, only to be
overwhelmed by a very confident Ricketts 11/6 in 9 minutes…
Ricketts played well, very well I thought, and fully deserves another
match with Jonathan Power…
[10] Anthony Ricketts (Aus) bt
[7] Gregory Gaultier (Fra)
11/7, 5/11, 11/5, 11/6 (54m) |
Glad to see your perfect
behaviour, Anthony, I have to say I don’t like it when you
argue with the ref…
 “Neither
does my mum! You know, when I had my injury, I had time to
think about my attitude on the court. I was not happy about
it, I didn’t have a nice feeling after the matches.
“It’s only when I couldn’t play anymore that I realised how
lucky I was to be able to have that kind of life.”
What about today’s match?
“Well,
actually, I think I played well today, but only in places, and
when I was not playing well, Gregory took full advantage of
it.
My game plan was to keep the pressure on to prevent him from
playing his winning shots. At some moments, he would play four
straight winners in a row, and there was nothing I could do
about that. But overall, I think I pretty stuck to my plan…”
Anthony Ricketts |
 |
MATTHEW: I KEPT MY HEAD…
If you’ve never put a foot in Pakistan, you cannot imagine what it
is like for the non Pakistani players to perform over here. And
this is not a Good or Bad judgement, just a different culture (a
bit like when I talk about the difference between the French and
the English cultures really!). For example, like I’ve already
mentioned, there are hardly any spectators for the non Pakistani
matches, apart from professional squash players, and when Shahid
was playing, I was told that most of the spectators present were
related to him…
 Imagine
a room filled with Nick Matthew’s relatives in Sheffield,
watching Nick play a Pakistani…
So, when Matthew was playing, all the non Pakistani players were
near his chair (Grégory, Renan, Power who was playing right after,
James, Joey…) They all sort of stick together, something they
would never do in a normal tournament…
It gave the match a sort of surrealistic atmosphere, I must say, a
sort of “them” against “us” kind of feeling…. Weird, I tell you…
Shahid Zaman played extremely well, and if he had been
slightly fitter (he has got a few pounds too many, and boy, do I
know the feeling…), he may have been able to upset the ranking
once again big time.
But Matthew’s fitness prevailed, and starting from the fourth,
Shahid, the brilliant shot maker, found himself trading for
oxygen. I was also told that a huge blister didn’t help with his
movement…
Overall, Shahid can only be proud of his performance during this
tournament. He has got a few things to learn still, of course, who
hasn’t, but he is one of the players that we may see much more
often in the last rounds of the main tournaments…
[2] Nick Matthew (Eng) bt [Q] Shahid Zaman (Pak)
11/5, 7/11,
11/13, 11/3, 11/6 (62m) |
 “It
was a hard match in the sense that there are no rallies when you
play Shahid. He has some great volley kills, and if you leave it
loose, you’re playing Russian roulette, as it was a kill let, or a
kill no let. It’s one of those matches you just have to come
through, and at the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to.
“On the surface, I may have appeared to have kept my cool, but
underneath, I was bubbling! But after what happened in Qatar,
against Graham Ryding, where I had the match virtually match won
at 2/1, I eventually lost in the 5th, because I mentally lost it,
as I started arguing with the ref.”
“So, I had a chat with Malcolm Willstrop and David Pearson
afterwards, and they told me that sometimes, I was a bit weak
on the mental department, and that I was pushing the
“self-destruct” button. And they were right.
“So today, I tried not to do the same mistake, and I’m glad,
because I was mentally very strong… Like I said, it’s one of
those matches you’ve just got to get through…”
Nick Matthew |
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POWER PREVAILED…
I felt for David Palmer today in his match against Canadian
Jonathon Power, as it was obvious to me that, although
David wanted to win the match, at the same time, he was looking
forward to going home…
When I spoke with himyesterday, he mentioned how hard it was for
him to play squash this week, and today, all the frustration he
showed to the referee was, in my eyes, a crisis characteristic of
homesickness….
 In
his corner, Dan Jenson and Anthony Ricketts were trying very hard
all match to support him. In the other corner, Grégory Gaultier
was supporting his Canadian mate.
But still, we had 50 minutes of very good rallies, a strong
traditional kind of game, no fancy shots, no big shots, no amazing
winners, just good lengths, looking for angles, good and clever
attacks, and some awesome retrieving from the Australian.
Even if the Canadian lost the third game, he always seemed in
control. In the two first games, Jonathon was always in front,
keeping the Australian right under his thumb, applying pressure to
the strong man, and forcing him to uncharacteristic unforced
errors.
I felt that Palmer was starting to get in the match at 2/9 in the
second, hitting harder, deeper, putting more weight on the ball,
and although it was too late for this one, it’s the same mementum
that allowed him to take the third, 11/5 in the longest game of
the match, 13 minutes. It was the only game he was in front
scorewise, asphyxiating Power from the start, leading 6/2. The
rallies were fierce and disputed, probably the most interesting
game of the match.
In the fourth, David's brain had gone, and his arguments with the
Ref were only signs of mental shutdown, and Power had not too much
trouble winning it, even if the game is still lengthy, 13 minutes…
So, another Ricketts/Power match, that Peter Kramer will be
refereeing… Don’t you wish you were here? I’m glad I am…
[5] Jonathon Power (Can) bt [1] David Palmer (Aus)
11/6, 11/7,
5/11, 11/7 (50m)
|
You look very tired…
 “Those
four last points just killed me! I thought I was playing well
today, but only in places. Some other times, I was really playing
rubbish, I played to his racquet cross court too many times. I
really had to dig in very hard to win that one.
“I must say the court is not helping, as the ball doesn’t die at
the front, doesn’t stay in the back, everything comes in the
middle…
“Now, I’ve played Anthony three times in a month, and every time
we had a pretty close match. The last one was in Toronto, where I
won, but in 95 minutes. So tomorrow, I will have to return a lot,
and be very patient…”
Jonathon
Power |
|
 |
“I’m very
disappointed. I’ve had injury upon injury. At the moment, I’ve got
an inflamed quadriceps. That's not why lost, but it just plays on
your mind… I also have a problem finding motivation at the moment,
I don’t seem to enjoy playing squash anymore…”
Grégory Gaultier
“Ricketts
always plays at 120%... And nowadays, everybody is more or less at
the same level technically. The game is now mental, and who is the
stronger wins…”
Renan Lavigne |
 07-Dec,
Round TWO:
Framboise from Islamabad
SHAHID:
A CLEAN VICTORY…
Shahid Zaman caused a mini-storm today as he beat World number
eleven Joe Kneipp in three straight sets.
Whereas yesterday’s match against Adrian Grant was far too physical
for me, to say the least, today’s match was clean and square. Peter
Kramer was refereeing the match, but didn’t have much to do or
say, as Shahid’s attacks were beautiful, and Joe’s lack of motivation
quite obvious to us all.
 Also, whereas Shahid’s game was accurate and sharp, Joe’s lacked in
precision, in particular in the width department. His crosscourts were
not deep or high enough, which gave the young Pakistani too many
opportunities for Joe’s good.
Joe should and could have won the first game, as he was up for most of
it, up to 8/8, then 9/9. But two drops shots from Shahid were enough
to give him a precious first game 11/9 in 12 minutes.
In the second, Shahid led from the start, and never looked back. Joe
gave him too many points (4 tins, 3 drop shots and a boast). Add to
that a few beautiful volley drop shots from Shahid, some nice glued to
the wall drives, and he was home free 11/7 in 12 minutes.
In the third, Kneipp stuck to it until 3/3, and just stopped
believing that he could win the match. Shahid got the biggest scalp of
his career, and believe me, the supporters were rightly enchanted…
Shahid Zaman bt [6] Joe Kneipp
11/9, 11/7, 11/3 (39m)
Action photos by Qazi Muhammad
Amjad |
EN BREF
DRAW & RESULTS
Pakistan
Reports
Reports from
earlier
rounds
Official Site from Islamabad
En Français
The Squash Complex
 “Shahid
played beautifully. He started the match full of confidence
from the word go, and played inch-perfect. His drop shots were
so close to the tin…
On the other hand, I felt that Joe never got into the match,
and I found the way he gave up in the third totally out of
character…”
Peter
Kramer
Match Referee |
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SHABANA/CHALONER:
NO SURPRISE THIS TIME
 A very relaxed Amr Shabana didn’t take this match for granted,
let me tell you. He was perfectly concentrated against PSA President
Mark Chaloner, and did his best to keep the Englishman under
control.
Personally, I never felt that Chaloner was going to win the match. You
know, when a player just doesn’t have the answers on the day… We saw a
very fluid, very nice match, some great rallies, but Chaloner just
didn’t attack enough, well, let me correct this, he was not allowed to
attack enough, as Shabana didn’t give him ANY opportunity.
Yes, as usual, our favourite Egyptian found the tin a few times, but
overall, his game was rock solid, good length, good movement on the
court, no fancy shots, just good solid squash.
But do not believe for a second that Mark gave it up. He never did. He
fought for every point, for every rally. He made Shabana’s life as
difficult as possible. And I must say I was impressed by his
determination and character.
But today, Shabana was in control, and won in 25 minutes of very
pleasant and high standard squash…
[3] Amr Shabana bt Mark Chaloner
11/5, 11/7, 11/6 (25m) |
“It’s the second time I've
played Mark in a week. In Qatar, he took me to 3/2, and today,
I could feel he was up to beat me. So, I made sure I didn’t
make the same mistakes that I did last week, and I was lucky
because he was a bit loose in his game…”
Amr
Shabana |
|
JAMES IN GREAT FORM
 Everybody
was expecting Olli Tuominen to have another great day, but it
was James Willstrop who stole the show. Boy oh boy did he play
well, the young man from Pontefract…
19 minutes. That’s all it took him to squeeze the Finn. And if the
first game was quite close up to 5/5, with some beautiful rallies, the
rest of the match was a formality.
James was particularly good at varying his game today. No mistakes, or
very few, slowing down glued to the wall drives, drop shots from hell,
lobs, as usual a very dangerous lob serve, transforming Olli’s
beautiful attacking shots into lethal counterattacking drop shots.
And God knows Olli really went for his shots in the first game,
hitting hard, running everywhere, trying to get control, playing short
and long… Nothing was passing through the tall boy…
The last rally of the first game was breathtaking. Those two gave us a
festival of front court shots that I personally enjoyed immensely..
So Olli goes out kicking, James stays in smiling…
[8] James Willstrop bt Olli Tuominen
11/7, 11/4, 11/1 (19m)
|
“It’s the best I’ve played
for a long time. It’s nice when everything just comes back
together. I was holding it well, I played with a lot of
confidence. The first game was tough. As Olli gets everything
back, I tried to take control of the rallies early.
“I must say I was expecting a very tough match, and I thought
that all the games were going to be as hard as the first, and
I was expecting to have to play a five setter. So I was really
pleased to win in three…”
James
Willstrop |
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FRENCH DRAMA
OK. I admit it. I was expecting a “quick” victory for Grégory
Gaultier, French number two and world number 10, over his team
mate Renan Lavigne, French number three and world number 20. A
close three-setter. I didn’t expect the “drama” we lived today.
To start with, Renan played much better squash than I have seen him
play for a long time. He was patient, his lengths were perfect, he was
getting in front, he was proactive, and he seemed to have found some
drop shots back from the time he pushed Peter Nicol to five in the
second round of the British Open in 2002 at Lambs, London.
And Grégory, who hasn't felt at his best for quite a while now, really
felt the pressure from his mate.
To prove my point, Greg took the first game 11/5. Piece of cake you
may think, but if I tell you that it lasted 14 minutes… not such a big
cake, is it?
Then Renan, surprise, wins the second, 11/7 in 11 minutes. OK. Greg
the third, 11/4. You think, back to normal, easy from now on…
I don’t think so.
Renan comes back with a vengeance, overcomes a power cut of three
minutes, and wins the game in 16 minutes… The technical level of the
game was outstanding. The quality of the drives was purely amazing,
glued on glued on perfect length, demonstration material, I tell you…
Back to square one.
Last game. 3/3. 5/5. 6/5 for Greg. And then the drama. Greg tins a
backhand drop shot left front corner, Renan arrives at full speed to
pick it up, and takes Greg's racquet in the centre of his right eye.
The game had to stop for 25 minutes, for a “contributed injury”. Don’t
ask me what it means, but that is the technical term for it in
English…
Renan in pain, Greg white as sheet as he was petrified to have hurt
his close friend … I’m telling you right now, those who think that
Gregory doesn’t care about anything or anybody haven’t seen the
distress in this young man’s eyes today…
Eventually, Renan was able to resume, but made several errors in a
row, and Gregory played good squash to try and win the match. Which he
eventually did in 66 minutes, 11/8 in the fifth.
And if the two players were not speaking at the end of the match, they
were back tonight going out together, as if nothing had appened.
I do love sportsmen....
[7] Gregory Gaultier bt Renan Lavigne
11/5, 7/11, 11/4, 8/11, 11/9 (66m)
|
 “Compared
to our last two matches, I think I started better, I attacked
well, I was patient and precise. As usual, when Grégory loses,
he starts getting frustrated, he starts arguing with himself.
But I do believe I played well, I made the right choices.
“In the fifth, he was really tired, and I think the 25 minutes
pause was very beneficial for him. I would have liked to start
earlier, but I had a sort of veil in front of my eyes, and I
really couldn’t play. It’s a shame, because at 6/6 in the
fifth, anything could have happened... Unfortunately, I made
too many mistakes at the end. And even if I played better,
especially my drop shots, at the end of the day, the result is
the same, I still lose…”
Renan
Lavigne |
|
POWER: IN CONTROL
With the delay on the glass court due to the Eye incident during the
French Match, Jonathan Power and Mohammed Abbas were
moved onto court 7. As I was stuck on the Central Court, I had a spy
who reported that … there was nothing to report.
Jonathan was always in control, and even if the first game was rather
long and disputed, 13 minutes for 11/7, the Canadian was never under
any kind of pressure…
Shame I couldn’t see the match, as I have never seen Abbas play… Oh
well, next time then…
[5] Jonathon Power bt Mohammed Abbas
11/7, 11/5, 11/4 (38m) |
 |
RICKETTS/DARWISH:
TOO MUCH SWEAT…
To start with, I was very happy to see Karim Darwish play
at last, as I never had the opportunity. He was today playing the
fiery Australian Anthony Ricketts for a place in quarter
finals.
I have to say Karim’s game seduced me. He varies his game beautifully,
slows down the ball when under pressure, plays drop shots as if he was
holding the pattern for it, and you never know if he is going to drop
it, or drive it…
Good combination….
In front, Anthony Ricketts, less angry against the world these days
than I’ve seen him when he came back after his injury… Strong hard
game, good hitter, good runner, and a stunning front court attack
boast, backhand and forehand…
Not surprisingly, the match lasted 62 minutes and 5 games….
Darwish took the lead in the first, and didn’t let go of it until he
takes it 11/9 in 11 minutes. And in that game, he still gave a lot of
points away on tins…
The second could have been anybody’s, 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4, 5/5, 6/6,
then Anthony raised his game, a great back hand drop shot, a forehand
cross court kill, and drop shots in the tin from Karim. The Australian
took the second 11/6 in 12 minutes.
The two next games will mirror each other perfectly, in style as well
as in score and time: 13/11 for Ricketts, 13/11 for Darwish, 16
minutes.
Funny, isn’t it?
But the two players were losing a lot of water, and the floor was very
slippery. Anthony started by asking Karim to stop wiping his hand on
the side glass wall, as the sweat was making the ball slip, and then,
as the drops of sweat were covering the floor, he asked him to change
his shirt.
It became a real diplomatic incident.
“I don’t have another shirt”, said Karim. So Dan Jenson, always ready
to help, took his shirt off (oh god I’m so glad I came to Pakistan)
and gave it to Fahim Gul, Ref of the game, to give to Karim.
Who then found a shirt in his bag.
All that must have taken his concentration away, and the Australian
merely had to push to win the fifth 11/2 in 7 minutes…
Sweat apart, we had a great show, and only one conduct warning each
for racquet abuse.
Pretty good, I thought…
Anthony Ricketts bt [4] Karim Darwish
9/11, 11/6, 13/11, 11/13, 11/2 (62m)
|
|
MATTHEW:
NORMAL DAY AT THE OFFICE
 No,
I didn’t see the match. It was now 5.30 pm, and I had been working non
stop since 11 am, so YES, I WENT AND HAD A BITE TO EAT. Sue me…
I came back for the last game, the closest actually, score speaking,
11/8. Some great shots from Shamsul Islam Khan, a very pleasant
young man, who I think has the potential to improve a great deal…
But Nick Matthew was pretty consistent, pretty confident, and
pretty relax yet focus…
A good warm up for his match tomorrow against Shahid Zaman…
[2] Nick Matthew bt Shamsul Islam Khan
11/5, 11/5, 11/8 (33m) |
“I don’t feel that I was
under pressure. But I needed to keep my concentration, to keep
focused, because Shamsul was playing very well for a few
points, then would let go of a few points, then start playing
well again.
So, if I hadn’t stayed very focused, I could have found myself
in a lot of trouble…”
Nick
Matthew |
|
FULL HOUSE FOR MANSOOR
 It’s
really funny, you know. I never ever saw that anywhere else. When the
Pakistani players are on court (whatever their level), the seats of
the house are full. No Pakistani? No spectators. It’s quite amazing….
Needless to say that for the last two matches of the day, all the
seats were full.
Mansoor Zaman played a very good game against Seed number 1
David Palmer. Once again, I’m amazed by the difference in the
level of squash Mansoor at home versus Mansoor abroad. Maybe something
he should work on…
The first two games were very disputed, 11/9, 11/8, 15 and 13 minutes,
but Palmer was solid and confident, even if Zaman was threatening
enough.
The third, Palmer just wasn’t there, and Mansoor didn’t give him the
opportunity to come back in it…
The fourth was quite close, 1/1, 4/4, 8/8, but as the great champion
as he is, David just found the accelerator when it was needed, and
with his deep shots and perfect lengths, Palmer wins the right to play
the Magician tomorrow…
It will be the first time I see Jonathan Power play David Palmer, and
I sincerely can’t wait…
[1] David Palmer bt Mansoor Zaman
11/9, 11/8, 3/11, 11/8 (45m) |
“It was a tricky match. I
played well. But this week, I find it difficult to find any
motivation. I felt in control for the first two games, then I
fell a bit flat, and that’s when he started playing very well.
I find it surprising that he doesn’t play at that level the
rest of the year, but then again, that has nothing to do with
me…
I’m here on my own, for the second week. It’s a personal
challenge I guess. It’s much easier when Mel is there, I miss
her. But I’m trying to play well in the last tournament of the
year, there are a lot of points up for grab. The referee was
OK I guess. I’m really happy to get through to the next round,
and I’m looking forward to playing Jonathan tomorrow..”
David
Palmer |
|
 What
happened? He played really really well, that’s what happened! I
think I played ok in the first, but still I think I wasn’t patient
enough, I played too early to the front.
And I couldn’t get back in the game, neither in the second nor in the
third. So, although I think I didn’t play too bad in the first,
I’m not happy with myself…
Olli Tuominen |
 Before
a match, I like talking about something else, I like talking with
people. If I’ve got a friend with me, I will talk with me about
anything.
I do listen to music, but not exclusively, because if you just
listen to music on its own, it can become quite daunting, a bit
heavy really. No, my best preparation is to stay as relaxed as
possible, and think about something else…
Joe
Kneipp |
 I’m
happy with my tournament. Yesterday, my victory over Iskander was
a very good win.
Today, Nick played very
tight. I’ve also realised that, to play at such a level, I need to
be able to sustain long rallies, and therefore, I need to work on
my fitness…
Shamsul
Islam Khan |
TOMORROW
Well, if you want to pick the winners, you’re welcome:
Willstrop/Shabana… Ricketts/Gaultier, don’t ask me that one, come
on… Shahid/Matthew, should be Matthew but… Palmer/Power… don’t
know.
See you tomorrow guys…
|
06-Dec, Round ONE:
Pakistanis Progress in round one
There was considerable success for the
host nation in the first round in Islamabad, with Mansoor Zaman,
Shahid Zaman and Shamsul Islam Khan all winning through
to round two with upset victories.
The top eight seeds all progressed to the second round though, leaving
a fascinating last sixteen ...
FIRST
ROUND…
THREE COURTS!
Slightly lost, the Framboise was today…
We had some matches on the Central Court, very logically the matches
involving the Pakistani players, and two-thirds of the matches on
two outside courts…
So, from the moment I put foot in the complex, to the last match
(David Palmer against a qualifier Khayal Mohammed), I didn’t have
time for a cup of tea, a bite to eat, anything!
Like I said, tourism was not really on the program for this event…
So, OBVIOUSLY, I didn’t get to see everything… Once again…
I WANT TO BE CLONED!!!!!! |
The Squash Complex
|
WILLSTROP/GOUGH: A GOOD RUN
Alex Gough does love his run, doesn’t he… And as the match
between himself and James Willstrop was played on a very
bouncy court, those two ran for England and Wales today, especially
in the first game…
I must say I was impressed by the fitness of the two boys… The
rallies went on, and on, and on, and yes, there were some drives for
ever, but there was a lot of volleying, interceptions, good guesses,
anticipations, drop shots, kills, wrong footing…
I had a ball…
 The
first could have gone either way, and maybe, if Alex had won it, we
could have gone to 5, as James wasn’t that comfortable on that
court. 4/4. 6/6. 9/9. At that point, they gave us,(well me, as there
was hardly anybody there other than me and the two refs) a fantastic
rally, the best of the tournament so far. It lasted forever, was
lost by Alex on a great cross court length from James, a rally that
probably cost the Welshman the game, as he was slightly out of steam
for the two next points…. The game lasted 20 minutes.
But the Welshman didn’t stop running yet. In the second, he clung to
his opponent, once again, 6/6, 7/7, 9/9. And with some great drop
shots and good angles, he took the game 9/11 in 12 minutes.
But OK, James then has youth on his side, and some beautiful shots
and serves that started to put the pressure on the Old Man… 11/5,
11/3, but still, the two last games lasted another 22 minutes,
hardly a walk in the park…
So Willstrop moves on to play Olli Tuominen, the man in form,
who disposed of Ong Beng Hee, winner of the last Pakistan Open in
Karachi… Beware James, John White knows how hard it is to play Olli
at the moment…
[8] James Willstrop (Eng) bt Alex Gough (Wal)
11/9, 9/11, 11/5, 11/3 (41m) |
“I’m really glad we are
playing on the glass court tomorrow, as the side court we were
playing on today is really bouncy, and you couldn’t play
winning shots at all. It forced all of us to play long
rallies, be very patient, the old style of play. I can’t wait
to be back on the glass court…”
James
Willstrop |
Side court for James
today,
and not many spectators
see EN BREF
|
SHABANA : GOOD RETRIEVING
 I
was impressed.
Everybody talks about his attacking abilities.
But believe me, today, he was sending back everything that Joey
Barrington was throwing at him, and God knows he was sending some
great shots…
But Amr Shabana’s retrieving was astonishing today.
A very very close first game, that Joey should and could have won,
if only he had lobbed just a bit higher…
6/6. 7/7. 8/8.9/9. A fierce pace, some amazing volley drops from
Joey, some fantastic saves by Shabana.
What a beautiful game that was. But Amr's experience paid off, and
he takes the first 11/9 in 10 minutes.
Well, you see what I just said? Reverse it, and you have the second
game. 11/9 for Joey, in 10 minutes…
The last two games once again, and sorry to repeat myself, could
have gone either way. Joey was still attacking, but now, Shabana was
also dropping his magic drop shots, giving us rallies to die for,
breathtaking really… 11/8 in 15 minutes for the third, and 11/9 in
11 minutes for the fourth. Hardly an easy ride…
I know, you think I like Barrington Junior, and that’s why I say he
is improving… But trust me, this boy will surprise you. He works
hard, reassesses himself constantly, changes his game…
You’ll see… [3]
Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [Q] Joey Barrington (Eng)
11/9, 9/11, 11/8, 11/9 (37m) |
I was impressed today by
your retrieving abilities…
 “Thank
you for noticing. You have a good eye! I have been working
very hard on my footwork, and on my defensive shots. Actually,
it’s funny, because Joey and I speak a lot, and because of
that, we know how to play each other. And on top of that, it
was like I was playing his game (retrieving a lot) and he was
playing my game (attacking in the front of the court).
“He played very well today, and I don't think there was much
difference between us, maybe a few defensive shots I played
better…”
Amr
Shabana |
|
 “I've
been working very hard on my front court shots, on my short
game. And today, it really worked well.
“I just lacked a bit of defence, maybe. Because of my left hip
injury, for a week I haven’t been able to play shots in the
backhand front corner of the court. And today was the first
time I was able to play those shots, so I’m very happy about
that.
“I have been training with David Pearson, who pointed out some
technical points, which I passed on to my coach/father. But I
must say it was great to play a clean match, Amr is always
very well behaved on a court, and it’s a great feeling to play
a good match of squash…”
Joey
Barrington |
|
|
05-Dec,
Qualifying:
A
SLIGHTLY JETLAGGED FRAMBOISE…
As the plane landed at 2.30 am London time, but 7.30 am Islamabad
time, needless to say I didn’t sleep at all…
 Well,
I’m lying. I succeeded to catch 1/2 hour between 9.30 and 10am…
But I didn’t come here to sleep, did I???
So, off I went, accompanied by an armed guard and a police car to the
beautiful Jinnah Complex, a huge “camp” with everything on site
related to Sports…
And at 11, the first match of the qualifying finals started…
|
ANJEMA IN CONTROL
 LJ
Anjema was playing Zubair Ali Khan today. The lefthanded LJ
took the control of the rallies right away, putting his slightly
nervous opponent under pressure, forcing him to make the error, in
particular on the backhand drop shot.
Advised by the almighty Rahmat Khan, Jahangir's coach, the
young Pakistani seemed to find his mark in the third, as he attacked
much more, put far more weight on the ball, and appeared much
stronger, physically and mentally. He equalises at 8/8, and then soars
to 11/9.
But it was to be his swan song, and LJ put the clock right in the
fiurth, just by hitting a more precise, varied, controlled game, 11/2.
Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned)
bt
Zubair Ali Khan (Pak)
11/4, 11/6, 9/11, 11/2
(27m)
CAMERON: TOO IMPRECISE
He looked very good to start with, the Australian Cameron Pilley
against a more experienced Pakistani, Shamshul Islam Khan, as
he took the first rather easily, helped by some unforced errors from
his opponent. 11/4 in 6 minutes.
 But
very quickly it appeared to me that on the day the Pakistani was
technically more astute and that the Australian's shots were lacking
in precision, most of his straight drived ending up in the middle of
the court, offering too many opportunities to Shamsul.
Cameron led the second up to 8-all, but then Shamsul seemed to take
off and siezed the game in 11 minutes, 11/8.
In the third the Australian recovered well, but Shamsul was
still fighting ... beautiful drops from the Pakistani, in particular
on his backhand where the ball seemed to slow down in the air. The
game was very close indeed, 3-all, 6-all, 9-all, but this time Cameron
grabbed his chance and closed it out 11/9 in 13 minutes.
Unfortunately it was to be his swansong as the two last games were a
formality, 11/5 in 8 minutes and 11/2 in 6 minutes.
Shamsul was in the main draw.
Shamsul Islam Khan (Pak) bt
Cameron Pilley (Aus)
4/11, 11/8,
9/11, 11/5, 11/2
(44m) |
PAKISTANI DERBY
 Refereed
by Englishman Peter Kramer, this match between Majid Khan
and Khayal Mohamed was extremely close, both players having the
definite intention of coming back the next day.
Khayal, a strong lad, a bit nervous, looking maybe a bit too often to
his support group for his own good, played a very fast pace to start
with, winning the first game very easily 11/2. The second was much
stronger, words started to be exchanged with the Ref by Majid, who
seemed to find his concentration and power in the confrontation. After
a very disputed and high class game, Majid equalised at 1/1 in a tie
break, 2-0.
The two last games were very physical, a conduct stroke was awarded to
Majid for racquet abuse, nothing bad, just frustration, as his
opponent took more and more control of the exchange. And a very
deserving Khayal wins the day, 11/8, 11/7 in the last two games ...
Khayal Mohammed (Pak) bt Majid Khan (Pak)
11/2 10/11
(0-2), 11/8 11/7
(48m)
|
WHAT?
NO MARATHON FOR JOEY?
I want my money back ...
This morning, in the huge bus that took just the two of us to the
amazing sports facilities where the competition is being held, I was
mentioning to the fast-improving (and yes, still funny) Joey
Barrington that, due to my lack of sleep, I would very much
appreciate a quick win. Isn't he sweet ... he did it!
Easy game? No, not in the slightest. His opponent, a very clever and
strong-minded player, Arshad Iqbal, led quickly 8-3 thanks to
several bad placements from the Englishman. But Joey didn't want to
let this one go that easily and decided to make his opponent work
just a little harder, and clawed back to 9-all, then finally won the
game after a series of backhand rallies where both players were very
patient, 11/9 in 16 minutes.
Shame, that Arshad decided to let go of the second, 11/5 in 5
minutes, as the third could have gone either way. The Pakistani took
an early lead, but Barrington once again glued the score - 3-3, 4-4,
5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8.
Arshad served for the game eight times at 10-9, as seven lets were
awarded, but with a beautiful backhand drop Joey forced a tie-break,
and with a few deep cross-courts succeeded to take his opponent out
of his comfort zone to win a 'quick' game, only 43 minutes.
Joey Barrington (Eng) bt Arshad Iqbal (Pak)
11/9, 11/5, 11/10(2-0) (43m)
 |
SHAHID:
A WALK IN THE PARK
 18
minutes, that's what it took the young Pakistani Shahid Zaman
to beat his friend Wakeel Khan.
His opponent gave him a few runs for his money, but his heart wasn't
in it and I doubt he ever thought he could win this match.
Shahid Zaman (Pak) bt Wakeel Khan (Pak) 11/6, 11/4,
11/6 (18m) |
WHAT I DIDN’T SEE…
I didn’t see Gavin Jones lose in five games to Farhan
Mehboob, as I was having lunch (sue me!), and I could only see
the two first games of Jonathan Kemp, that he won, as by that
time my eyes were closing, and I could hardly remember my name or
indeed the country I was in, or the language I was supposed to speak
…
And of course, I missed the last match of the qualifiers, between
Amjad Khan and Khawaja Adil Maqbool.
Sorry… But I really needed to sleep for 2 hours... Then woke up,
wrote my reports (twice, as I had a computer crash that erase the
first one, charming), and rushed to another room as, by that time,
my internet connection had stopped working…
Don’t you just love technology????
Framboise |
|
Preview:
GOING
TO PAKISTAN…
Well, I know that this country is not the highest on the tourist
destination list at the moment, but I’ve never been to that part of
the world, Turkey being the only eastern country I’ve ever worked in…
So, as the Pakistan Squash Federation has organised a prestigious
tournament, we thought that it would be a good idea to cover the
event. And even if some of the top players are not going, it is still
a fantastic draw. Mind you, with the number of injuries that are
riddling the circuit at the moment, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a
few forfeits…
I was also warned that I may not be able to get out of the hotel much
for security reasons. And how is that supposed to change anything in
my life? When I’m at a tournament, I see the hotel, my room in the
hotel, the breakfast room of the hotel, the bar of the hotel, the
glass court, and the press room. I could be anywhere, I wouldn’t know…
So, tourism and shopping are not really why I go to cover an event
anyway…
As usual before any tournament, I’m a bit nervous about what I’m going
to write about, who will be there, what are going to be the working
conditions, etc… But at the end of the day, if I don’t travel before
I’m 30, when am I going to do it?...
I am so funny….
Anyway, watch this space people, as we will be serving you with fresh
news from Islamabad, starting from Sunday …
Framboise
|
Pakistan - land of the
giants of squash ...
 |
|
