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4th
Cambridge Cup, 5th-7th Feb 2013,
Toronto |
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7th Feb, Finals:
Final - Cambridge Club
Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) 3-0 Amr Shabana (Egy)
11-7, 11-7, 11-7 (33m)
3/4
Play-Off - Toronto Athletic Club
Nick Matthew (Eng) 3-0 Ramy Ashour (Egy)
11-8, 11-7, 11-8
5/6 Play-Off - Adelaide club
Tom Richards (Eng) 3-0
Cameron Pilley (Aus) 12-10 11-5 11-9 (47m)
7/8 Play-Off - Cambridge
Shahier Razik (Can) 3-0 Alister Walker (Bot) 12-10
6-11, 11-7 (25m) |
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Chris Hollow Reports...
After an
entertaining appetizer featuring Canadian National Champion
Shahier Razik defeating English ex-pat Alister Walker for
the 7/8, it was time for the main course. The final of the
fourth annual Merrill Lynch Cambridge Cup was a squash
aficionado's dream: The legendary, four-time World Open
champion Egyptian Magician Amr Shabana would vie for
the title against his young countryman, surprise 2013 World
Open finalist, 2x World Junior champion Mohamed El
Shorbagy, who's quantum leap through the rankings has
him occupying the number five spot in the world. It was the
old guard versus the fresh-faced future. To use a sort-of
hockey analogy that we Canadians love so much, it's The
Great One versus the Next One. They entered the court at
706p Toronto time to battle for title, the roar of the
amped-up crowd resonating through the atrium that is the
Cambridge Club.
Shorbagy led out. Blasting low penetrating length and
conservative (relatively speaking) attacks, he won the first
two points. Shabana showed he was up to the challenge with a
stinging forehand drive from mid-court that would wrong-way
Shorbagy. Shabana evened the match at 2-2 after a huge rally
with a quick flash of the racquet, cutting a ball from up
high on the backhand in straight and tight. Shorbagy would
grind out front to 6-2 before Shabana stopped the run with
sharp cross-court volley drive that his opponent couldn't
catch up to. Shorbagy would go to 7-4 on a straight lob so
tight that, while somehow staying in up high, was simply too
tight for the left-hander to peel off the glass. A Shabana
drop-shot that clipped the top of the tin moved Shorbagy to
8-5. The following rally, timed to over 2m, saw Amr dragging
his young compatriot all over the court. Front to back, stop
and go, it was the brand of rally Shabana would need deploy
if he was to counter-act the youthfully energetic legs of
his 22 year-old opponent. But try as he may, Shabana
couldn't keep the young man contained for long. Shorbagy
crunched a forehand volley kill into the cross-court nick to
pull ahead 9-7. A brilliant head-fake disguised his winning
backhand cut straight-drop that finished in the nick (just
in case the fake didn't work) to position Shorbagy for 3
game balls at 10-7. He'd only need one go, winning the game
on a Shabana cross-court re-drop that found the tin instead
of the nick. Game to Shorbagy 11-7.
Shorbagy put the head-fake into action again in the early
going of game two, going up 2-0 on well-hidden straight
drop. Shabana put his first point on the board with a
straight drop at full stretch in response to a short-angle
Shorbagy boast that stayed up an instant too long. At 3-3,
Shorbagy held up on a close-quarters volley with Shabana
right in front of him. He was given a bit of a harsh 'no
let', the referee explaining that he'd attempted to hit the
ball. Undeterred, the young Egyptian would fade away a
perfect forehand hold-and-straight-drive after forcing his
opponent into a back-wall-boast. 6-4. Shabana tinned a
forehand drop to get stuck 4-7 and again fell prey to a huge
Shorbagy hold that dragged him to the front with ball
ultimately ending up smashed into the open cross-court. Was
the torch being passed right there in front of our eyes? You
bet it was. Running it up to a 10-7 advantage, Shorbagy
finished game two demonstrating his deft touch. He unleashed
a barrage of straight forehand drops that eventually
flat-footed the elder Egyptian and gave himself a commanding
two game lead. Game to Shorbagy 11-7.
Again close out of the gate, Shorbagy would move out front
4-2. Responding to a Shabana straight backhand drop from the
back of the court that missed it's mark, Shorbagy jumped on
it for an easy push re-drop finish. Shorbagy pinned down
Shabana with straight drives and deceptive off-speed
lengths, forcing a weak return that was quickly dispatched
into the nick for a straight kill. The shot of match came at
8-4. Shabana was being run a bit ragged but had appeared to
get off the hook with a great defensive Philadelphia from a
wide angle that was orbiting over the middle of the court on
it's way to payload in the back left. To be sure, the shot
would have dumb-founded the vast majority of the
squash-playing world. It's spots like this that the cream
rises and the best show off what they have. Back on one
foot, way up high, torso twisting clockwise against his
momentum, Shorbagy windmilled his racquet across the ball,
cutting it with soft, deadly accuracy into the left nick.
Picture it in your mind's eye. It was awesome! The crowd
ripped into applause! All Shabana could do was shake his
head, smile and offer up a couple of quick claps in
recognition of the absolutely spectacular shot by the kid.
With Shorbagy steaming towards the finish line at 9-5,
Shabana made the observation that "he must really want that
lifetime membership!" A lose drop by Shabana down matchball
at 10-7 and it was all over. Shorbagy smashed the winner and
took it in straight sets, vanquishing the 2010 champion and
becoming the next to have his name etched on the prestigious
Cambridge Cup. Game and match to Shorbagy 11-7, 11-7, 11-7
(33m)
Gracious, even in defeat, Shabana got a laugh out of the
crowd when asked by M.C. Randy Klein for his thoughts on the
match. "Damn kids."
Again, a huge thank you to Merrill Lynch, Cooper Mediation
Inc, Morris Group, Sheraton Centre, Bar Mercurio, Taylor
Asset Management and City Stone Corp. With out these great
sponsors this tournament simply could not happen. They've
made this fantastic tournament possible and helped grow the
sport of squash in Canada. Thank you to the players for
giving us mortals something to aspire to. Finally, thank you
to the fans in attendance who showed up over the last three
days to witness the best athletes in the world put on a
truly incredible display of squash, the sport we love.
See you in 2014!
Your humble scribe,
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Toronto Athletic Club & Adelaide
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3/4
Play-Off - Toronto Athletic Club
Nick Matthew (Eng) 3-0 Ramy Ashour (Egy)
11-8, 11-7, 11-8
Andrew McDougall Reports
The match started out with some
quick fire rallies. Each player hitting
a mixture of winners and tins. Nick was hitting his corners
and it looked like Ramy was a step behind. It was tight all
the way through but Nick took the first 11-8.
Ramy was still struggling to find his groove in the second
and gifted Nick with a few too many tins. Nick went up 6-0.
Nick, sensing that Ramy may not be on his A game, stepped up
the court and combined some awesome length with devastating
winners. Ramy not to be out done though started to hit a few
nicks of his own. A service error from Nick continued the
comeback, but Nick was able to stop Ramy's momentum and took
the second 11-7.
Ramy took a quick 3-0 lead in the second. He was starting to
find his
shots and his length. Both players were trading points all
the way
through the 3rd until 7-7. The racket speed, reactions, and
athleticism
was spectacular. They had the crowd gasping with
astonishment. Nick
was able to pull away and take the crucial two point lead at
9-7. Ramy
took it to 9-8 with his classic back hand crosscourt nick,
but in the end
Nick stayed strong and finished off the match 11-8. Nick
Matthew
clinching 3rd place in the 2013 Cambridge Cup.
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Adelaide
Club
5/6
Play-Off
Tom Richards (Eng)
3-0
Cameron Pilley (Aus)
12-10, 11-5, 11-9 (47m)
Laurence Delasaux reports
The
crowd at the Adelaide club was treated to a spectacular
three game
match.
The score does not outline the story of match.
Pilley had three
game balls in the first game but Tom hit some outrageous
winner to win the third and close the match.
Thanks to all members for supporting the event. |
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7/8 Play-Off
Shahier Razik (Can) 3-0 Alister Walker (Bot) 12-10
6-11, 11-7 (25m)
Chris Hollow Reports...
The opening
match of the night featured a two-of-three between world
number fourteen Alister Walker and local boy, 6x
Canadian National champion Shahier Razik for the 7/8.
Razik was doing double-duty this week as the tournament
director as well as player. He took the court to a hearty
roar from the crowd.
The match would begin in a somewhat measured rhythm of
medium-paced tight length, the bread and butter of these
players. Walker took an early 3-1 lead by winning the battle
of the forehand drop, each player's re-drop tighter than the
last until Razik couldn't claw it off the wall. Shahier
caught Walker leaning, anticipating a forehand, down 2-4. He
fired a deceptive cross that left Walker leaning one way and
looking the other to move within 1 point. A tight straight
drop from the Canadian at 4-5 forced a sprawling Walker into
the cross, setting Shahier up for the forehand volley
winner. 5-5.
They'd exchange the next couple of points until Walker
jumped out to 9-6 lead . Razik pulled to within 2 points
with a slick hold up front on the forehand, winning the
point with a sharp, deceptive cross. Walker, looking to
finish the game, set up three game balls with a snappy
forehand boast that died into the nick 10-7. But Razik
wouldn't fold under the pressure. A short forehand kill
combined with a drop into the parquet by Walker brought the
Canadian back into striking distance. It was a new game once
Razik levelled the match at 10-10 and he wouldn't squander
the opportunity.
Putting those silky hands to work, he feathered in a soft
straight drop from the front into the backhand corner to set
up game ball and, on the next rally, won the game with an
equally sublime drop on the forehand. Game to Razik 12-10
Coming back on with some fairly impressive volley drops of
his own, Alister leaped out to a 5-1 lead. The Botswanian
was moving Razik around fairly handily, controlling the
middle and forcing his opponent to put on some mileage. But
really, we all know that Razy can do this all day. He's made
a career of it. Razik battled back to 4-7 with forehand
cross from the back of the court that couldn't have had
better angle on it if you put a protractor to it. Walker
arrived on time but pinned the ball to the glass with his
racquet.
Sensing another Canadian comeback at 6-7, Walker established
himself on the tee with deceptive straight length, driving
Razik further and further back. Razik was forced into
committing short and the English ex-pat's hold-and-cross
would put him back up by 2. He'd make no mistake about it
this time, finishing the game shortly thereafter on a dying
boast that completely wrong footed Shahier. Game to Walker
11-6
Things remained tight in the early going of the rubber game.
Knotted at 2 points each, Razik would absolutely tour Walker
around the court, forcing him into a display of super-human
retrieval. In a lot of ways it is the defence that
delineates Pros from amateurs and, true to form, Walker
appeared to get out of the vicious cycle of sprints with a
diving cross lob that just managed to squeak out of the
reach of Razik's outstretched racquet. Chasing it back into
the corner, Razik turned on it and ripped a
do-not-try-this-at-home drive down the middle that narrowly
missed the retreating Englishman, the ball dying into the
back right. That got a glance and an eyebrow raise out of
Walker. They'd move to 4-4 on smooth Razik backhand straight
drop.
After leveling again at 6-6, both guys knew it was go-time,
as was evident in the increase of pace. A couple fierce
rallies later they were knotted at 7-7. It was about here
that Razik, bolstered by the cheers of the partisans
Cambridge crowd, appeared to find another gear. He pinned
his opponent down with snappy drives, moving to 10-7 match
ball on a backhand cross-court drive so well hidden it had
Ali diving after it into the corner. Walker pushed a
forehand drop into the tin on the next rally, securing the
victory for the Cambridge's favorite son. Game to Razik
11-7.
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6th Feb, Semis:
Cambridge Club
Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) 3-2 Ramy Ashour (Egy)
7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-2 (39m)
Amr Shabana (Egy) 3-1 Nick Matthew (Eng)
7-11, 11-7, 14-12, 12-10 (49m)
5/8 Play-Off 1 - Barrie Athletic Club
Cameron Pilley (Aus) 3-1 Shahier Razik (Can)
13-15, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7 (57m)
5/8 Play-Off 1 - Cricket Club
Tom Richards (Eng) 3-2 Alister Walker (Bot)
14-12, 5-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4 |
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Cambridge Club
Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) 3-2 Ramy Ashour (Egy)
7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-2 (39m)
Chris Hollow Reports...
Semi-final
night at the Cambridge Club and the stands were packed as
the players took the court for the first match. An absolute
cracker of a match-up featured the Egyptian duo of world
number one Ramy Ashour taking on the new kid on the block,
world number six Mohammed El Shorbagy.
Game one opened up 2-2 with Shorbagy smashing nicks
and Ashour playing drives and drops. At 3-3 Ramy led
Shorbagy into front right with a brilliant hold only to snap
a cross-court drive for an easy winner. Ramy opened up a
three point lead at 9-6 with forehand dead-nick cross-court
winner. Shorbagy would make a push, pulling to 7-10 with a
feathery backhand straight drop but Ramy would win the next
point on back-to-back cross-court nicks, the second a
roll-out. Game to Ashour 11-7.
Shorgbagy raced out to 3-0 lead in game two until he put one
out high on the front wall to give Ramy his first point.
Playing smart and focused squash, Shorbagy would go up 5-1
on a beautiful backhand hold from the front, hiding the
straight drive that was about to freeze Ramy on the tee.
Ever the gamesman, down 2-7 coming in, Ramy asked the crowd
"Does anyone think I can comeback and win this game?"
Embracing the action, the Cambridge crowd ate it up, giving
the young number one a rowdy endorsement. Not that Ramy
needs that kind of shot in the arm to fire a winner but it
certainly didn't hurt as he crunched the first ball he saw
into a cross-court roll-out winner, garnering a hoot and
holler from the crowd. "Anything you can I do, I can to do
too" thought Shorbagy as he smahed Ramy's serve into the
cross-court nick for a winner of his own. 8-3 Shorbagy. Like
a man possessed, Ramy won the next four points trying to
fulfill his prophecy. A questionable 'out' call to put him
down 7-9 slowed his momentum. On the next point he would
fake Shorbagy out of his shoes with full swing under and
around the ball in the front right, then pushing it in for a
perfect straight drop. Only problem is that it was a little
too perfect, the ref seeing it as clipping the top the of
tin and calling it down. Shorbagy would only need one game
ball to finish, the game ending on a stroke with Ramy
playing a rare fat one down the middle right back into his
body. Game to Shorbagy 11-8.
They players opened up the third with a crazy, long rally
that ended with Shorbagy taking a 1-0 lead. They'd exchange
volleys for the next few points resulting in 2-2, 3-3 and
4-4. Shorbagy clawed a wallpaper tight drive off the left
wall for a bit of lucky winner. "How many times can he do
this??" asked Ramy. "How many times can you do that?"
retorted Shorbagy while motioning to the front right nick,
alluding to Ramy's uncanny ability to put the ball away. 5-5
turned into 7-7 in this hotly contested game. Ramy got
dragged around in the next rally. He was forced into a
backwall boast and then had to sprint the long diagonal to
retrieve Shorbagy's volley drop. But he would get out of
jail with centre-cut drive over his own shoulder into the
chest of Shorbagy who, unable to do anything with it,
flipped into the tin. A tin by Shorbagy at 10-8 would set up
game ball and, despite saving one, Shorbagy lost the third
11-9.
The fourth game was close in the early going with both men
smashing winners. Shorbagy went on a tear at 6-3, occupying
the tee and moving his opponent around the court. It
happened quickly but suddenly found himself facing 6 games
balls. He fought off one but lost the game 11-6.
The first rally of game five would offer insight into the
physical state of the competitors. After a fairly lengthy
rally, Ramy was forced to boast from the back right and let
up after one step back into the court, opting not to do the
long diagonal to pick up Shorbagy's straight drop into the
front corner. The crowd murmured. Surely the number one
player in the world could make an attempt to get there.
Sensing weakness, Shorbagy started firing. Short, deep.
Drop, lob. Hold, hammer. After a 'taxi' at 6-2 it became
apparent that the two-time defending Cambridge Cup champion
was under some sort of physical duress. Unable to move in
his normal gazelle-like fashion, he gave a valiant effort to
try to find a way to win the fifth. But as every squash
player knows, the winners are that much harder if you don't
have solid legs underneath you. With his go-to shots AWOL,
Ramy dug himself a deep hole by finding the tin more often
than the nick over the course of the next few points.
Shorbagy showed little mercy, quickly dispatching the ailing
champion 11-2 in a rather anti-climactic finish. Game to
Shorbagy 11-2.
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Amr Shabana (Egy)
3-1 Nick Matthew (Eng)
7-11, 11-7, 14-12, 12-10 (49m)
Chris Hollow Reports...
In the second
semi of the evening, the eager Cambridge Club crowd saw
modern two legends of game square off. Two-time World Open
champion and world number two Nick Matthew was pitted
against Four-time World Open champion and world number eight
Amr Shabana. I'm a writer not a mathematician....but
that's collectively a LOT of hardware.
The first point of the match end in an 'out' call by the ref
that was met with a hearty round of boos from the Cambridge
Club crowd. "Ask the crowd," pleaded Shabana. The game
proceeded with the roles somewhat reversed: Shabana playing
for length and Matthew chopping in winners. Ahead at 3-2,
Matthew whiffed on a tight straight-drive in the forehand
corner. "Quite hard to see back here on this wall, in't it?"
Anyone who's ever played on the Cambridge courts is familiar
with the notorious dark carpet on the forehand side of the
glass show court. Welcome to the Cambridge, Mr. Matthew. Now
you know what our T&D opponents go through. Matthew would
proceed to chop his way up to 9-6 lead. The Englishman
caught his opponent incorrectly guessing straight drive at
9-6 and fired a cross-court winner into the open court,
leaving Shabana standing there racquet prepared but no ball
to hit. Matthew took the next point and with it the game.
Game to Matthew 11-7
Returning the court a minute or so late, Matthew would crack
to the crowd that he was "just getting a quick massage."
He'd need it with what the Egyptian was about to fire at
him. Pulling out to 2-0 lead, Shabana won the next point on
a terrific straight volley drop from well in front of the
service line that seemed to weave around Matthew who was
occupying the same corner. He was unable to pick it up
despite it falling in directly at his feet! Shaba would
guess correctly on cross-court drive by Matthew and volley a
straight drive down the line for winner to go ahead 5-0. A
rather entertaining rally developed at 6-2 with Matthew
cross-lobbing and Amr cross-court shooting for the
cross-court nick in what looked like lob/kill drill. The
crowd was delighted when the rally ended not in a kill, as
expected, but with a winning lob, quite a rarity at this
level of squash. It was all Shabana from there, running away
to a 9-4 lead. After a mishit volley of a blistering Matthew
cross-court found turned into an inch-perfect straight drop,
Shabana turned to the crowd and kissed his lucky racquet.
Game to Shabana 11-7
The third game began with Amr peppering a boast frame winner
and jokingly pumping his fist. A couple of Matthew tins and
a beautiful Shabana squeeze would propel the Egyptian out to
a 5-1 lead. Nick would call his next pick-up and the referee
immediately confirmed the call. "I said it first," joked
Matthew. "Yes, but you said 'down.' I called it 'not up.'"
Ziiing. Referee 1, Matthew 0. The ref got some more air-time
a few rally later with Shabana asking "His pick-up, you
liked it?" to which the ref replied "It was good." Shabana
came back with "I know. But was it up?" It was and Matthew
pulled back to 5-7 with it. A dying cross-court length would
push Shabana further ahead into the business end of the game
at 8-6. But Matthew's unrivaled mental toughness showed
through, not giving up but smashing winners to pull even at
9-9. A huge, ridiculous, indescribable rally followed. The
crowd was treated to everything in the book: Dying length,
unreal retrievals, laser-like kills, more unreal retrievals.
In the end Amr would win it with a stroke awarded to got to
game ball 10-9. Again Matthew stood tall, fighting off a
number of game balls. But the pressure supplied by the
Egyptian champion was a little too much, forcing Matthew to
go in very tight up front, generating the a couple of tin
errors. Game to Shabana 14-12.
Questioned in giving a let at 2-1, the referee offered up
the explanation that Shabana could have got there "even in
his tired state." Shabana shot him a glace from the service
box. "You wanna come down here and try this?" he asked
wryly. Matthew would return an earlier favour and fist-pump
after clawing his own frame winner off the backhand wall to
go to 3-1. The score knotted at 3-3, Matthew requested an
equipment timeout. He could be seen court-side, shoe and
sock off, reapplying some bandaging to his bleeding foot.
Who says squash players aren't tough?? Shabana seemed to
smell blood (metaphorically) when his opponent returned
after a 5m timeout. He quickly chopped in a couple of hard,
quick kills to take a two point lead. But the steady
Englishman would put him through a very tough rally to move
to 4-5, leaving Amr breathing heavily in the returner's box.
It appeared to take it's toll with Matthew taking the next
few exchanges and jumping out to 9-6 and 10-7 on the
strength of a couple winners and a couple of Shabana tins.
It was here that Shabana showed the stuff that made him a
four-time world champion. Bending but never breaking, he
fought off three tough game balls against the world number
two to draw even at 10-10. Matthew got a good laugh out of
the crowd at this tense juncture by tapping on the glass to
wake up a gentleman who had decided to catch up on some
sleep off to the side of the court. "We boring you sir?"
laughed Matthew. Two points later it was over, Shabana
deploying the best hands in the business to deliver the
knock-out blow, a perfect forehand cross-court roll-out
winner. How else would the legendary elder statesman of
squash end the match? Game to Shabana 12-10 setting up an
all Egyptian final (again) tomorrow versus El Shorbagy.
In closing, I'd like to offer a huge thank you to Mike
Capombassis, title sponsor Merrill Lynch and
all of our sponsors for supporting this tournament and
making this amazing event possible. Check back tomorrow for
what is sure to be an absolute barn-burner of a Final! |
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5/8 Play-Off 1 - Barrie Athletic Club
Cameron Pilley (Aus) 3-1 Shahier Razik (Can)
13-15, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7 (57m)
Paul Ryan Reports...
Before we start, the Barrie Athletic Club would like to
thank all the fans for coming out and Krown Rust Control
for their generous sponsorship of the Event! As for the
match, Barrie fans were treated to a great second round
match between two classy players, the two players
contrasting styles made for very entertaining squash. Pilley
the aggresor and Razik the defender.
Best game of the match was by far the first, the see-saw
battle went the distance finishing at 15-13 for Razik.
Pilley came out a little tentative and took a while to get
used to the fast BAC court. Razik having played many times
at the Barrie club took no time getting used to the speed
and feel of the court. Some great rallys kept the game going
and finally an outright winner gave Razik a one up lead.
The second game was all Pilley as he got a feel for the
court and began to hit much better length. For a guy that
hits the ball so hard he showed a knack for taking enough
off to keep the ball deep in the back of the court. A final
sizzling backhand and the match is tied 1-1, 11-4 Pilley
Game three was the pivotal one. Razik came out much stronger
than expected and pushed Pilley to do some tough retrieving
and was able to keep the game in doubt till the very end.
After a couple of tough rallys and wicked boast- drop
combinations Pilley prevailed with an 11-8 win. 2-1 Pilley
With the Barrie crowd pushing him on, Razik came out firing
in the 4th game. Some early long rallys took their toll on
the Canadian number one and a pattern developed that saw
Pilley controlling more of the T and Razik spending more
time in the corners. Razik's never say die determination
kept the game close for a while but Pilley pushed on feeling
stronger as the game went on. In the end his good length and
patience under pressure paid off and the game ended 11-7. |
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5/8 Play-Off 1 - Cricket Club
Tom Richards (Eng) 3-2 Alister Walker (Bot)
14-12, 5-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4
The Toronto Cricket, Skating
& Curling Club was treated to a fantastic 5/8 playoff match
between two equally ranked players, and equally talented
players. Walker's physical brand of hitting and retrieving
is well matched with Richards' smooth stroke production and
deft touch. The seesaw match could have gone either way
until it was eventually tied at 4-4 in the fifth.
At this point it appeared that Richards simply decided it
was time to get off the court and proceeded to slot three
dead nicks in a row from three different areas on the court
to start a momentum that carried him straight through to the
finish line. The athleticism exhibited by both players meant
that they gracefully slid past each throughout the match,
requiring only a handful of 'lets' and only when truly
necessary.
The overall result was an incredibly clean brand of world
class squash, and a testament to the professionalism of both
players.
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5th Feb, Quarters:
Mayfair
Parkway
Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt Shahier Razik (Can)
12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8 (62m)
Cambridge Club
Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Cameron Pilley (Aus)
9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9 (56m)
Georgetown Racquet Club
Amr Shabana (Egy) bt Tom Richards (Eng)
12-14,
11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8 45m)
Toronto Athletic Club
Nick Matthew (Eng) bt Alister Walker (Bot)
9-11,
11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10 (74m) |
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Quarter-Final Reports - tour four stretched in Toronto |
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Mayfair
Parkway
Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt Shahier Razik (Can)
12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8 (62m
In an
opening round match of the Cambridge Cup Shahier Razik (six
time Canadian Champion) put up a spirited defence against
World Number 1 Ramy Ashour.
The first game was the closest with Ashour taking the early
lead but Razik fought back to take a 10-7 lead,only to fall
to some brilliant shot making from Ashour as he won 12-10.
Ashour maintained control with some well placed lobs in the
second game, and took it 11-8.
Razik then showed his talent by taking the third game 11-7
with some deadly accurate drops that left Ashour staring at
some dead nicks.
The fourth game saw some spectacular shot making from both
players, but Ashour closed out the match with a combination
of great defence and deceptive shot making that left Razik
appealing for some crowd support. Match to Ramy Ashour 3-1.
Crowd response was warm with a standing ovation for an
entertaining and well contested match.
Bob Mansbridge
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Georgetown Racquet Club
Amr Shabana (Egy) bt Tom Richards (Eng)
12-14,
11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8 45m)
 Game
1: first rally was 89 shots... setting the stage for long
rallies of controlled tight shots. Tom put a lot of energy
into the game and had Amr on his heals many times. Tom won.
Game 2: Amr came out with flare and tenacity, hit better
length and fewer tins than in game 1. Tom
fought back upping his game with some power hitting and
great gets from all corners. Amr countered with finess and
won game 2.
Game 3: Tom, not to be out done, upped his game and hit
tighter shots along with super gets to give him game 3.
Game 4: again Amr upped his game with flashes of the
brilliant precision shots that got him to #1 four times.
Both he and Tom played shots the audience had never seen
before... Retriving corner nicks, Philadelphia boasts from
all over the court, 5, 7 or 10 corner drop shots - in a row
followed by perfect lobs that died in the back court... but
didn't. Amr took #4 to tie it up 2 - 2.
Game 5: we now know why Amr was #1 so often. His shots got
tighter, longer, shorter, harder and softer. Tom dug in
making incredible retrievals and hard drives to the nick...
only to have Amr send them back with even more pazzazz. Amr
won #5.
Tho serious competitors, in a serious competition, Amr's
sense of humor showed thru getting a lot laughs from the
audience.
Everyone loved the match and want it back again next year
Murray Jans |
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Cambridge Club
Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Cameron Pilley (Aus)
9-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9 (56m)
It's official: The boys are
back in town! The Cambridge Club played host to the opening
match of the 2013 edition of the Cambridge Cup. The
quarter-final tilt featured two of the brightest young stars
in the sport. Cameron Pilley, number 18 in the World
Rankings took on Mohammed El Shorbagy, who's meteoric rise
through the rankings has him installed at the number 6 in
the world. After being regaled by Master of Ceremonies Randy
Klein's inventive tales of Toronto Maple Leaf Stanley Cup
victories and the marital woes of the membership, the
player's were introduced and took the court, ready for
action!
After trading hand-out tins to open the match, the players
wasted no time in firing their guns and giving the crowd
what they came to see. Game one saw Pilley combine mid-paced
length with thunderous kills on any loose ball above
shoulder height. "Wish I could hit those more often," he
quipped. He inched out to a two point lead and stayed at
that margin for the bulk of the first game. Shorbagy was
kept slightly out of balance as he figured out the speed and
pace of the lively Cambridge courts. Tight all the way up,
Pilley finished game one with devastating straight forehand
nick kill from about five feet in front of the service line.
Game to Pilley 11-9.
Shorbagy would find his comfort level fairly early in the
second game, jumping out to an early lead. Having warmed up
to the court, he began to fire in shots. He broke out
Egyptian-style, hitting cross-court forehand winners off his
hip from seemlingly impossible angles. No drive was safe
from the talented hands of the young Egyptian. Pilley could
only stand pinned to the tee as Shorbagy capped the game off
with what has now become his trademark shot: The forehand,
between-the-legs straight drop from the back, rolling out
for the winner. Game to Shorbagy 11-6
Pilley would push out ahead early game three. At 2-1, the
Australian would jump up high, grunting to volley a Shorbagy
lob and thunder a cross-court dead-nick winner, much to the
crowd's delight. You climb up that high for the volley,
there's only one shot coming....and it's not a working
length. Pilley put on a lob drill clinic at 6-3, pulling
Shorbagy in only to have him scampering to the back to
retrieve high, soft lob after high, soft lob. Shorbagy
wasn't giving up the game just yet however, freezing a
cross-court-hunting Pilley on the tee with a punishing
straight snap backhand drive and pulling back to 5-7.
Pilley, needing to put some space between him and his
opponent, began unleashing the power that he has become
famous for. He was hitting the ball so hard it's going to
need to seek therapy. He would string together a number of
solid, high-pressure rallies to move to10-7. But Shorbagy
seemed to find another gear and blasted a few outright
winners, clawing back to win the game 12-10.
Staying in high gear, Shorbagy raced out to an early 5-1
lead in game four. After breaking his strings, he would
manufacture a let out of some light contact with his
opponent but then sportingly turn it down when offered it by
the referee. He kept Pilley pinned down with hard, low
drives and accurate winners. Under pressure at 5-2, Shorbagy
missed the ball on his first attempt off a Pilley lob. Left
with only a backwall boast, he would delight the crowd by
guess correctly and volleying the Australian's cross-court
drive. Following a Mizuki winner at 7-2, the young Egyptian
would make a series of uncharacteristic errors to let Pilley
back in it. Feathering in five straight drops in succession
at 10-9, Pilley would nick out the last for a 11-9 win in
game four.
If they were playing a measured game or entertaining the
crowd for the first four, they dropped it and went all out
for the fifth. Top-spin winners, booming cross-court kills
and unbelievable retrieval would be the hallmarks of the
final game. Shorbagy came out to 8-4 lead but seemed to ease
of the gas a bit, missing a Mizuki and a tweener while
trying to finish the match in spectacular fashion. Stroke to
Pilley at 8-10 would give him a ray of hope but Shorbagy,
having seen enough, would run Pilley ragged in the last
point, finally putting him away with a cracking half-court
straight drive kill. Game to Shorbagy 11-9. Match to
Shorbagy 3-2.
Chris Hollow |
Toronto Athletic Club
Nick Matthew (Eng) bt
Alister Walker (Bot)
9-11,
11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10 (74m)
Ali
started out the strong one. He went up 4-0 pretty quickly
with some tight squash. Nick's body seemed to be warming up.
Nick fought his way back through the middle portion of the
game and started to impose himself. Ali found himself 9-7 up
in the first with some wonderful squash. Ali hit two tins in
a row to let Nick back in it, but in the end Ali was able to
convert two more points to take the first game 11-9.
Nick was starting to show his stuff near the end of the
first and kept the momentum going into the second. Nick came
out of the gates hot and got out to a quick 4-1 lead. Nick
was now starting to step up the court and impose his game.
He shot to an 8-3 lead and quickly finished off the game
from there to take the second 11-4.
The third game brought some intense and exciting stuff. The
crowd was loving every minute of it. Nick had a great start
to go up 5-1. Ali was hitting a bit to much tin at this
point, but the rallies started to get longer and longer, and
Ali fought. Both players were showing their class by calling
their balls down, out, and at times even over ruling the
refs decisions to show their fairness. The third was neck
and neck. Nick ripped a cross court nick to tie it at 9-9.
The players fighting for each point, but again Ali was able
to convert some crucial points to take the game 11-9 to go
up 2-1.
The fourth was just as close as the third. The players were
close all the way through. There were some between the leg
shots that amazed the spectators. Each ball down the wall
was millimetres away from the wall. Impressive stuff. Nick
was able to convert some fantastic points at the end of the
4th to take it 11-9.
Ali had a wonderful start in the 5th and went up 6-1. It was
not looking good for Nick, but a couple of unforced errors
from Ali brought him back to 6-3. Ali broke away again to go
8-3 with some lovely length, drops, and cross court kills.
Nick started to turn it up though, and he put in some
beautiful forehand volley drop nicks to claw his way back.
The score was now 9-7 for Ali, and it was back and forth
stuff right up until the end.
They both battled it out hard, but Nick eventually squeaked
out the victory 12-10 in the fifth to move on to the next
round.
Andrew Mcdougal |
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TOM RICHARD:
HIS FIRST CAMBRIDGE CUP!
I'd heard good things from the
guys who'd played the Cambridge cup before and am pleased to
say that it's all true!
From the moment I arrived I've been made to feel extremely
welcome by Shahier, Jamie and the members, with everything
from massage to food being well taken care of.
The club itself is really unique and I'd love it if they'd
like add to their group of clubs in London! We had a great
crowd at our match last night and I'm sure it'll stay that
way for the rest of the tournament and its always enjoyable
playing in front of an appreciative audience. Right, time to
go and do a little bit of training followed by a lot of
sauna, steam and jacuzzi...
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29th-Jan-2013
As the cold Canadian winter descends on Toronto, it brings
with it the hottest squash on the planet. It's with great
excitement that I write to announce that the best squash
players in the world will be returning to the Cambridge Club
courts for the Fourth Annual Merrill Lynch Cambridge Cup
on February 5th-7th.
If you were lucky enough to have a ticket to last year's
tournament, you were witness to the most fantastic display
of squash one could find the world over. World Champions
battled squash legends and Hall of Famers. Most of the draw
had attained the coveted World Number One status. The bulk
of the World Top Ten was represented. Their resumes included
an impressive list of hardware including an unbelievable SIX
World Championship titles.
With squash community house-hold names like Gaultier,
Ashour, Shabana, Darwish and Lincou, it's no surprise that
the event sold out in just a few days. In the end, young but
already legendary Ramy Ashour would hoist the Cup for the
second straight year, becoming the first Cambridge Cup
repeat champion.
The Cambridge Cup has
quickly become the gold standard for professional squash
tournaments in Canada and it continues to gain momentum.
Building on the success of last year, this year's draw is
populated by a veritable who's who of global squash.
Along with World Numbers One and Two, the participants
bring with them a combined EIGHT World Championships, 59
months of World Number One ranking and four World Junior
Titles along with numerous National Championships and
PSA Tour victories. Boasting a purse of $60K in prize
money, the best of the best will be here!
1. Ramy
Ashour:
World #1, Current World Champion, 2x Defending Cambridge Cup
Champion
2. Nick Matthew:
World #2, 2x World Open Champion, 3x British Open Champion,
World #1 2011
3. Mohamed El Shorbagy:
World #5, World Open Finalist 2012, 2x World Junior Champion
4. Amr Shabana:
World #8, 4x World Champion, Defending World Series
Champion, World #1 2007-2009
5. Tom Richards:
World #13, England Elite and National Team Member
6. Alister Walker:
World #15, Botswana #1, Botswana National Champion
7. Cameron Pilley:
World #18, Australia #1, Hardest Hitter on Tour, World
Record Holder for Hardest Hit Squash Ball (282 km/h)
8. Shahier Razik:
World #35, Canada #1, 5x Canadian Champion, Cambridge Club
Touring Pro
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