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TODAY at the Grasshopper Cup -
Sat 26th Apr, SEMI-FINALS |
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26-Apr,
Semi-Finals:
it's an all-Egyptian final
Semi-Finals:
[3] Amr Shabana (Egy) 3-0 [2] Borja Golan (Esp)
11/3, 13/11, 12/10
(43m)
[6] Tarek Momen (Egy) 3-2 [1] James Willstrop (Eng)
11/6, 1/11, 11/6, 8/11,
11/9 (93m)
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Today, it was not a physical
problem, it was all about quality. Shabana’s quality was better
than mine: his length, his drops, his kills, everything was more
accurate. And it was sooo difficult to win a single point.
Also, after yesterday’s match, where we had so many lets, I
wanted to make sure that it was a more fluid match. And by doing
so, I think I gave him too much respect. You’ve got to give
Shabana respect, he is such a nice guy, fair on court, such a
great guy, it’s difficult to be aggressive against him! But on
court, you can’t have friends. And Shabana is nice to watch, but
not nice/easy to play!!!!!!
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[3] Amr Shabana
(Egy) 3-0 [2] Borja Golan (Esp)
11/3,
13/11, 12/10 (43m)
THANKS MOSAAD
 It happens. When you have a very intense/heavy match, the next
day, you are a bit flat. Not so much physically – Borja is one
of the strongest boy on the Tour – but more mentally.
Yesterday was extremely important for the Spanish. He had a run
of loses, and even lost to Mosaad in a “quick” 4 games in El
Gouna a few days ago, a player lower ranked than he is. And that
must have hurt. So yesterday, it was crucial for Borja to show
to himself he was able to beat Mosaad.
I’m going to go a bit further. I think it was more important for
Borja to beat Mosaad yesterday than it was to beat Shabana
today. Mentally I mean…. Nobody can blame him for losing against
the Godfather. But Mosaad, they can expect him to win….
As Shabana clearly states in his aftermatch interview, it was
normal that Borja had a slow start. 11/3 in 7m. The time for the
body to accept that it’s got to dig in, yet again, and accept
the battle, warm up and gets more alert/flexible.
 From the second, the battle was on. And it could have gone
either way to be honest. Two tie breaks, point for point, some
stunning attacking boasts from Borja, his top weapon. A few
unforced errors from Shabana that wanted to finish a bit too
quickly, and also from the Spanish, clipping the tin or
miss-hitting the ball several times. Lack of mental sharpness.
It will take the Egyptian 4 game balls to take the 2nd in 16m.
The third is about the same format, but this time, Borja is
ahead, 10/8 game ball. Out of nowhere, Shabana finds winners
within seconds to force a second tie-break, 10/10. Two mega
rallies there (a let), and another devastating winner for the
Egyptian, 11/10 match ball. A short rally to finish, ending with
an error from Borja, 12/10.
Job done for Shabana, Borja a bit disappointed, as he felt he
could have been a bit more aggressive and taking the match to
Shabana instead of being a bit too passive at times…
 I
have to thank Omar Mosaad for having giving Borja a hard match
yesterday. I knew he was bound to have a slow start, that’s the
reward you get from playing a squash match of 2 hours, so I took
that advantage.
But all credit to him, he came back in the second and third, he
made it very uncomfortable for me, playing very accurate squash,
and I’m glad I won the big points.
Nowadays, it’s all about getting everything organised. When you
arrive at that stage in my career, it’s about finding a reason
to do this. For me, the squash players are the best athletes in
the world, so to be able to compete with them at my age, is a
great honour/pleasure.
Now I’ve got three little ones at home, I’m not as selfish I
used to be, I am careful, and I know I have to take care of
them. And I hope that today, they are watching this, and that
one day, they’ll play the sport as well hopefully.
For the next match James/Tarek, I think the crowd is in for a
treat. They will see a very fair/clean match, with a big man,
and a small man. And they will see how a big man can cover the
court, and how fast a small one can go!!!
The crowd has been fantastic, really want to thank them for
their support today, and hopefully tomorrow, and all credit to
Stephan and his team for this great event…
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[6] Tarek Momen (Egy) 3-2 [1] James Willstrop (Eng)
11/6, 1/11, 11/6, 8/11,
11/9 (93m)
UNEXPECTED…
The general prognostic was 3/1 for James for this match. So it
sounded perfectly logical that Tarek, fresh and full of beans,
would take the first one in a superb fashion, patient, incisive
and accurate, 11/6 in 14m. James didn’t do much wrong, 1 error
for 0 for Tarek. Yes Raneem, you read well. Not a single one!
 The
second was much faster, James was on fire, the rallies were very
short, and the English’s shots went in beautifully, 11/1 in 7m.
We were all levelled, and it looked like a quick 3/1 was on the
cards. Didn’t go according to plan at all.
In the middle of the third, 3/2, I saw signs that James seemed
tired. He took a bit more time than normal to wipe his hand on
the glass, his body language seemed slower than normal. That’s
when I remember that I noticed the same pattern when he played
Ramy the last few times. Third, a little drop of energy in the
middle of the 3rd game.
And I guess Tarek felt it as well. From 2/3, he scored 5 points
in a row. At 3/3, we had a huge rally where James had to
retrieve the un-retrievable about 20 times. Funny moment when
James requested very politely if they could stop the cooking, as
the smell was indisposing him. Thing is, the kitchen is
literally on the left of the court, and I had a few players
mentioning it as well during the week. So the request from James
didn’t surprise me, but I guess was a bit unusual for the refs!
 I
guess that huge rally didn’t help James’ energy level to come
back to normal, and Tarek run with the score, 10/4. Two nice
gifts in the form of tins from Tarek allow James to save two
game balls, but a lovely backhand counterdrop seals the fate of
that third, 11/6 in 16m.
The fourth could be analysed
as: James, 0 unforced errors, sublime squash. Tarek, 4 unforced
errors, and 3 harsh no lets. Very harsh. Funny the refs you
know… They give lets to players that go for the body and not the
ball, that push, that fish for it. And a fair player like Tarek,
who goes round the opponent, respects him, shows that he can get
to the ball, who is one of the fairest guy on the tour, they
give no let. Beats me.
James took that 4th 11/8 in 20 long minutes, visibly tired but
digging in like very few players can (“A champion is someone
that stands up when he can’t”), playing enormous rallies after
enormous rallies, and finally levels it at 2 games all.
At the start of the 5th, James has got his second wind. Stunning
winners, beautiful craft, and up he goes 4/0, 5/1. But as the
“no let” start again. And they seem so onesided and so unfair to
the crowd that they start supporting the underdog more and more
vocally every rally. Tarek, enraged from the injustice he feels
he is the victim of, runs of newly found adrenaline, and claws
back, point after point, scoring 6 points to 6/5.
 The
crowd is now fully behind the Egyptian, but also encouraging
James, doing his best to put his opponent under pressure, to
squeeze errors out of him as he so well knows how. And he gets
the reward, Tarek 3 tins in 4 points. The crowd is going wild….
But the Englishman is tired too, and he also clips the tin at
the end of long and mad rallies. At 9/9, an enormous rally,
James tins it. Match ball, 10/9. A few strokes, and a crosscourt
that literally dies/roll in the back left corner. Mektoub.
C’était écrit. It was written.
Tarek gets to play his coach for the week and role model, Mr
Shabana, in an All Egyptian Final tomorrow, after creating one
of the biggest upset of his career…
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This
is such a major step in my career… For me, James is one of the
best, if not the best English player of all times, his level of
accuracy is unreal. I played him several times, but the closest
I came to beat him was actually on this same court in Canary
Wharf…!
I really need to thank the crowd for their support, it was by
far the best crowd in the world!! And I really want to thank
them to have present from the beginning of the tournament.
That
makes a huge difference for us, and sometimes, we play in front
of very few people until the last 8. So, this is my first time
here, but I’d like to come back here again and again…
I'm so happy with the way I've been playing in this tournament I
felt I've matured suddenly and started to have the belief in
myself that I can beat the top players.....
I'd like to thank my parents and Raneem for their continuous
support and I hope I could build up on this performance and take
it from there
Shabana tomorrow. Yes, he was coaching me yesterday as well, and
today. He IS a legend, and although us Egyptians don’t like to
play against each other because we know each other very well,
I’m happy to play him, because he is such a fair player.
I just
hope that I’ll get a few more games this time! Trouble is, I’m
going to lose my coach!!!!
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