23-Feb, Final:

[2] Karim Darwish bt [1] Thierry Lincou
      11/4, 11/0, 13/15, 11/9 (68m)

Darwish delight in Portland
James Daigle reports

The final two nights of the event saw overflow crowds, anxious to watch some incredible athletes in action. They were not disappointed. In the final, Thierry Lincou and Karim Darwish squared off in what was expected to be a very tight match. In the first game however, Darwish at one point led 8-1 and won 11-4.

The second game was not at all characteristic of Lincou as his shots were not hitting their targets, this left Darwish with too many opportunities to showcase his own sharpshooting skills. The second game ended quickly with Darwish winning 11-0.

Many in the crowd thought the end was near for Lincou. They were wrong. The fourth game was very intense with six lead changes. Lincou shots were much sharper and he was able to move Darwish around the court. The endgame had some phenomenal points with fantastic shots off the backwall on shots after drives that would be winners against mere mortals. during the the tiebreaker, Lincou's victim from the previous night commented that at this point the game was "diaper time" for the players.

In fact Lincou began shaking his hand like he did in his Technifibre commercial shot last year in France with none other than El Hindi. Lincou won the game 15-13. In the fourth game, Lincou led 9-8 in after several lead changes and appeared poised to send the match to a deciding fifth game.

However, this time Darwish did not relent and he won the second Evergreen Aviation Museum Oregon Open taking the fourth game 11-9.

22-Feb, Semis:
[1] Thierry Lincou bt [4] Wael El Hindi   13/11, 11/7, 11/8 (73m)
[2] Karim Darwish bt [Q] Jan Koukal    11/4, 12/10, 11/4 (52m)

21-Feb, Quarters:
Koukal joins top three
James Daigle reports

Cameron Pilley and Wael El Hindi started off the evening with a blockbuster battle. Pilley, down two games to love, managed to dig down under and win the next two games. Both were retrieving the ball well and with more lets than a Beetle's tune, it seemed inevitable that muscular endurance would be a deciding factor. In the end El Hindi prevailed as Pilley's legs gave way midway through the fifth game. Tallying total points, El Hindi prevailed by two, avoiding elimination in "Survivor" Portland.

In the second duel of the night, Thierry Lincou, known locally as Spiderman, treated the crowd to an amazing array of shots. All seemingly calculated to wrap more silk around his opponent. Walker broke loose in the third game coming back from being down 7-2 to win 12-10. The final game was pure arachnophobia as Lincou tightened his web around his opponent, winning 11-3.

In the third match of the evening, Portland's adopted son, and sole survivor of the inaugural 2007 Oregon Open, Jan Koukal kept his composure in his first 5 star q-final appearance to overtake an equally determined Chris Ryder to move deeper in to the draw than any similarly ranked squash player in the history of the tour for an event of this size. Jan commented after the match that both he and Ryder had a lot of pressure to win. Both displayed grace in victory and defeat.

For the night cap, Karim Darwish attacked early and his shots were on target. Darwish's win keeps alive Mr. Harding's prediction that he will meet Lincou in the final. Now only Jan Koukal stands in his way.

20-Feb, Round One (bottom half):
Ryder & Koukal
progress in Portland ...

The anticipated Egyptian involvement in the quarter-finals of the Oregon Open was reduced by 50% when Czech qualifier Jan Koukal and unseeded Englishman Chris Ryder upset two of the event's top seeds in the first round at Multnomah Athletic Club.

Koukal, the Czech number one from Prague competing in his fourth Tour event this year, despatched Omar Elborolossy, the eighth seed from Cairo, in 40 minutes.

The 24-year-old world No60 will now face Ryder for a place in the last four. In what will rank as his best international scalp to date, the 27-year-old World University champion from Wolverhampton defeated fourth seed Mohammed Abbas, the world No13 from Giza, in 44 minutes.

Second seed Karim Darwish is leading Egyptian interest in the event. The No2 seed from Cairo beat Australian qualifier Ryan Cuskelly and will now face Frenchman Renan Lavigne, the sixth seed.sh bt. Renan Lavigne: 11-5, 11-2, 11-8 (33 minutes)
  

[1] Thierry Lincou bt Kashif Shuja   
      13-11, 11-8, 11-7 (38m)

Lincou played a masterful match, combining a variety of drop shot and lobs to defeat Shuja in a match that was well contested. Lincou's win in the first game, although close, provided him with the momentum to carry the day against his game competitor from New Zealand.

[4] Wael El Hindi bt Tom Richards
        11-9, 11-5, 12-10 (53m)

Tom Richards upped his game for this match, having made it through two rounds of qualifying to reach this point. In the end, El Hindi's experience, deception and deft touch provided the advantage. Richards' opponents in Virginia will surely take notice that this young man is not to be overlooked.

[5] Cameron Pilley bt Yasser El Halaby
          8-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-8 (58m)

In the closest match of the evening, Pilley defeated El Halaby in four games. After El Halaby won the first game, Pilley fought back during a series of long rallies to take the momentum in the match and win.

[7] Alister Walker bt Wade Johnstone
          11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 11-4 (43m)

In the final match of the evening our lucky loser Wade Johnstone stepped up his game and provided Mr. Walker with a challenging first round battle.

Local hero Julian Illingworth takes the court tomorrow against Renan Lavigne in front of what is expected to be an overflow crowd.