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TODAY at the Grasshopper Cup -
Thu 24th Apr, Day FOUR |
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24-Apr, Round One, Bottom:
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Quarter-Finalists decided
in Zurich
The split first round continued tonight with the bottom half
of the draw, which saw Amr Shabana, Omar Mosaad
and Mohamed Abouelghar make it a hat-trick of
Egyptian winners.
[7] Omar Mosaad (Egy) 3-1 [Q] Ali Anwar Reda (Egy)
11/4, 5/11, 11/7, 11/3 (49m)
[Q] Mohamed Abouelghar (Egy)
3-1
[8] Cameron Pilley (Aus)
11/7, 8/11, 13/11, 11/6 (62m)
[2] Borja Golan (Esp) 3-0 [Q] Henrik Mustonen (Fin)
11/7, 11/7, 11/5 (34m)
[3] Amr Shabana (Egy) 3-0 Alister Walker (Bot)
11/5, 11/9, 11/6 (36m) |
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[7] Omar Mosaad (Egy) 3-1 [Q] Ali Anwar Reda (Egy)
11/4, 5/11, 11/7, 11/3 (49m)
TACTICAL GAME
I’m so happy when I’m able to see what’s going on there. When
the game plan is that obvious/efficient that even I can see it!
Today, Mohamed Ali’s plan was very simple: make it as long and
mid pace at possible, keeping it on the backhand wall as much as
possible, closing the court as much as possible, frustrate his
opponent, and prevent him from volleying his nicks by keeping
him in the back corner, and forcing errors out of him.
 And
it worked extremely well in the 2nd. Mosaad, really fed up with
those up and down the well English style of squash was attacking
too soon, and lost the game and a bit of his nerves in 10m after
taking the first in 9.
The third was the turning point. Sixteen minutes, which for
Mosaad is a lifetime, bless him. After a poor second, Mosaad
stepped on it, picked up the pace to lead 4/1 5/2, but Takashi,
once again frustrating him by lowering the pace, clawed back to
5/5, 6/6. Mosaad gave it a big push, to have game ball 10/7.
And the ball got lost.
“Please, can you find the ball?” pleaded Takashi. “I don’t want
to play against him with a new ball. It’s not a good idea”.
“Please warm the new ball, Mr Reda, the old ball is not coming
back!”
Bless.
And as MC Vanessa Atkinson stated at the end of the match, there
was a shift in momentum, he lost the 3rd, 11/7, and Takashi
never came back. Tired physically, but more like having lost a
bit of his focus, the 4th went very quick (still 9m), 11/3.
A very good match, very few decisions, good intensity, and good
fluidity in the movement…. Good start indeed of the day.
"Yes, we live in
Cairo, we train a lot together, but we never ever played on PSA
before. And today, it was really hard to play against him, we
are really good friends, and we know each other’s game really
well.
"I thought he played well today, and that it was a good game.
"In the 2nd and 3rd, he played a very strong basic all around
game, and I’m very lucky to take that 3rd, it was crucial I
think. And had I lost it, I would have been in a lot of
trouble!"
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[Q] Mohamed Abouelghar (Egy)
3-1
[8] Cameron Pilley (Aus)
11/7, 8/11, 13/11, 11/6 (62m)
ABOU
: RAW TALENT
I thought – easy afterwards to say so – that we could have a
upset today. Those two have got the same type of game, they love
to hit the wall very hard, they adore the glass court as it
rewards their mad pace and attacking style, but they can open
the court of the opponent.
The mixture of those two on the court today gave us some great
fireworks El Gouna style!
 To
start with, they hadn’t played each other, and if Abou had
probably seen Cameron play, at least on video, I’m not sure
Cameron was ready for the ShootOut at Zurich Corral that was
about to hit him. And it showed. For the first game up to 7/2 in
the 2nd, the Australian was completely blown away. The score
doesn’t show it, as Cameron’s experience made him score a few
points, but truly, he didn’t have solutions at that point.
But as it happens with the young Egyptian, Birdsbrain came to
Town, typical Abouelghar, and tins after tins after unforced
errors (7 of them), the Australian took confidence in his own
power to reverse the odds, and out of nowhere and 11m of game,
Cameron had levelled the games, 1/1, 11/8.
The third couldn’t have not been closer. And what a game that
was people. Clever, well constructed, shootout and retrieving,
variation on the height, the whole lot. And as I was watching
Cameron barely returning the heavy attacks from his young
opponent, I realised that maybe for the first time of his life,
the Australian was given a taste of his own medicine. Yes,
Cameron, that’s what it feels like when YOU play squash!
Impressive hey?
 1/1,
3/3, 4/4, 5/5, 6/6. Suddenly, the experience is paying off,
Cameron is running with the score, 9/6. Surely that’s the end.
But no, finding some outrageous winners, Abou comes back, 9/9.
Cameron will save a game ball to force a decider, will have a
game ball of his own, at 11/10, but it’s the young man that
clinches it finally 13/11 in 18 long minutes.
In the fourth, excellent start for Abou, 4/0, and zoom to 8/2,
but long rallies, lots of work done by both. Cameron digs in,
doesn’t let go, and comes back, 4/8, 8/10. Again furious
rallies, mad pace, great squash. But today, the “insouciance”
wins – no pressure, nothing to lose – and it’s 11/6 in 12m for
Abou.
Who wins his first main draw PSA match since January. And how…..
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Thank GOD I
brought that losing streak to an end. Since January, I didn’t
win a match on the Tour. And I want to thank Mohamed Farid who
has been doing so much for me. In my ups and downs, he’s been
there, and especially in my downs…
I don’t know what’s happening in my head when I go and tin the
ball. I just don’t know. If I knew, I would be able to find a
solution. But after the 2nd, Reda that was coaching me told me
to play safe and find my game again. That’s what I did. And it
worked.
I’ve been training for two years with Shabana, so I think his
work is finally showing off, and he is having a great impact on
my game.
Also, I really want to thank my parents, I think it’s
the first time I thank them, I can’t tell them how grateful I am
for everything they are doing for me. I think my Dad must be
going insane right now!
And also, my friends, and especially Mohamed Helmy, with whom
I’ve done a lot of court work, but also who has been helping me
with the mental side of things. And of course, my fitness coach
Mahmoud, he’s been working with me for the past 10years, and I
hope I made him proud.
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[2] Borja Golan (Esp) 3-0 [Q] Henrik Mustonen (Fin)
11/7, 11/7, 11/5 (34m)
BORJA IN FORM
It was fast and intense. I feel Henrik played the right tactic,
attacking the front corner a lot, but still mixing with nice
lobs and lovely counterdrops. Borja today did the job. Kept the
errors to a minimum, and weathered the storm nicely.
The first two games about same score, and same length, 11m, but
if in the first, it was pretty balanced score wise, the second
was a great start for Borja, 7/2, with Henrik clawing back, 7/7.
But there, probably lacking a bit of energy to give it another
big push, 11/7.
Third was more of a one-sided affair, 8/1, 9/3, 10/4, one match
ball save thanks to a rare tin from Borja, but 11/5 for the
Spanish in 7m.
 To
be honest, I don’t really mind wining 3/1 or 3/2. What’s
important is the win! I’m happy to get through.
Last time we played in Montreal, it was about the same style of
game, he was attacking a lot, it was on the glass court as well.
But if last time I was a bit more solid, and he made more
errors, this time, he made far less errors. It was pretty close
for the first two games; but what made the difference was at the
end of the game, at the crucial points, I played a bit better,
and he just found the tin.
Maybe this match is going to give me the confidence I need. I
need a lot of that at the moment. As for my match with Mosaad,
he beat me 10 days ago in El Gouna. So I’ll be up for my
revenge… I just hope that I can raise my game and find the
confidence, the 100% I need.
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[3] Amr Shabana (Egy) 3-0 Alister Walker (Bot)
11/5, 11/9, 11/6 (36m)
 SHABANA
ON FIRE
Don’t be fooled by the score. It was not easy. Alister didn’t do
much wrong, 3 tins the whole match. He kept the pressure up,
finding nice attacks and moving pretty fast as he normally does.
But today, no stopping Shabs, who knew that if he want to have a
chance to win this, needs to take the early rounds as quickly as
possible.
He may look pretty young – thanks to his shoes apparently – but
he is a clever economical 34 years young…
I have to admit I
was a bit anxious today. When I saw the draw, I knew that
Alister won the tournament last year, and that he would be the
crowd favourite, so I have to say, yes I was a bit nervous.
So it all came to attention to details, I kept thinking if you
play the ball THERE, you have a chance to win the rally. Just
attention to small details.
Against Abouelgar tomorrow. Well, he doesn’t need coaching
anymore. We do train together, trying to be more accurate. But
he doesn’t need my help anymore and actually, I need to stop
feeding him information.
He has improved a lot, people who saw him play last year, and
this year can see a different player. He is more consistent,
more mature, and doesn’t have any weaknesses anymore. And his
ranking doesn’t reflect his level of squash, he is minimum top
30. Minimum.
My shoes? Yes, a bit bright. You know, I’m trying to look
younger. So if I don’t feel young, at least, my shoes make me
look young…!!
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