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TODAY in Doha
... daily reports
Framboise & Steve
in Doha |
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Centre |
Court 2 |
Court 3 |
Court 4 |
Duncalf
3-0 Naudé
11/3, 11/8, 11/8 (19m) |
Hawkes
3-0 Pierrepont
11/8, 11/5, 11/4 (27m) |
Atkinson
3-0 Hansen
11/4, 16/14, 11/7 |
Momen 3-2 Walker
6/11, 10/12, 11/6, 11/5, 11/8 (60m) |
Waters
3-0 Chan
11/3, 11/5, 11/8 (21m) |
Massaro
3-0 Pallikal
11/9, 11/5, 12/10 (29m) |
Brown
3-0 El Weleily
11/6, 11/2, 11/8 (26m) |
Boswell
3-0 Lavigne
11/4, 11/6, 11/9 |
David
3-0 Low
11/3, 11/8,11/6 (22m) |
Bailey
3-1 Miller
11/8, 9/11, 11/5, 11/4 (35m) |
Au
3-0 Fialova
11/8, 11/4, 11/7 (25m) |
Palmer w/o Galvez
back injury |
Grinham
3-1 Beddoes
11/5, 10/12, 11/8, 11/4 (35m) |
Chiu
3-2 Lloyd-Walter
8/11, 11/3, 11/9, 7/11, 11/6 (48m) |
Pilley
3-0 Ryder
11/5, 11/6, 11/2 (35m) |
Anjema
3-0 Krajcsak
11/1, 11/2, 11/6 |
Darwish
3-0 Selby
11/9, 13/11, 11/7 |
Kheirallah 3-0 Kawy
11/6, 11/7, 11/6 (30m) |
Lincou
3-1 Rosner
9/11, 11/2, 11/4, 11/4 (45m) |
Tuominen 3-2 Shorbagy
11/5, 8/11, 7/11, 11/3, 11/8 (61m) |
R.Ashour
3-0 Al-Malki
11/2, 11/2, 11/5 |
Stoehr
3-2 Urquhart
11/8, 9/11, 14/12, 8/11, 11/9 |
H.Ashour 3-1 Grant
11/7, 7/11, 11/8, 11/7 (51m) |
Barker
3-0 Aziz
11/6, 11/3, 11/5 (33m) |
Matthew
3-1 Kemp
5/11, 12/10, 11/6, 11/7 (46m) |
Serme
3-1 Arnold
10/12, 11/9, 11/3, 11/7 (42m) |
El Hindi
3-0 Mehboob
11/8, 11/7, 11/8 (47m) |
Khan
3-1 Ong
11/5, 11/6, 9/11, 11/8 |
Gaultier
3-0
Barrington
11/7, 11/7, 11/4 (37m) |
Perry
3-1 King
6/11, 11/9, 14/12, 11/6 (58m) |
Willstrop
3-0 Ghosal
12/10, 12/10, 11/4 (44m) |
Teran
3-1 Kippax
12/10, 11/9, 9/11, 12/10 (60m) |
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Photo Galleries
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Women's Round One
The day started with a few 3/0 wins and no upsets. Jenny
Duncalf and Alison Waters wasted no time on the glass
court as the top English pair breezed past Annelize Naudé and
Joey Chan in a combined 40 minutes of play.
On the outside courts Laura Massaro made it a hat-trick
of early English wins as she staved off an attempted recovery
from Dipika Pallikal, saving three game balls to close it out in
the third.
 Vanessa
Atkinson did a similar thing against Line Hansen, saving
five game balls before taking an extended second game, then
easing through the third.
Jaclyn Hawkes found the warmer temperature and bouncy
ball to her liking against Suzie Pierrepont, while Kasey
Brown was in dominant form against Raneem El Weleily.
Top seed Nicol David didn't look in top form against
compatriot Low Wee Wern, the world champion making a few more
casual errors than we're used to, but she still came through in
three.
Annie Au had too much guile for qualifier Lucie Fialova,
but Alana Miller made Tania Bailey work hard for her four
game win as she made it four Englishwomen through.
 Rebecca
Chiu stopped the English charge as she overcame Dominique
Lloyd-Walter in a really tough five-game battle. The momentum
swung one way then the other, but it was the Hon g Kong girl who
pulled through at the end.
Rachael Grinham, elevated to second seed in the absence
of her expectant younger sister Natalie, dropped the second game
against qualifier Emma Beddoes before reasserting to win through
in four games.
Engy Kheirallah created the first upset of the day,
beating compatriot Omneya Abdel Kawy in straight games before
dashing off to support husband Karim. Engy has a good record
against her compatriot, so maybe it wasn't that much of a shock
to them, but nevertheless the sixth seed is out.
 September's
British Open marked the rise to prominence of Donna Urquhart, as
the Aussie stunned Isabelle Stoehr to reach the quarters.
The French girl was desperate for revenge today, but she had to
earn it, ultimately prevailing 11/9 in the fifth.
Camille Serme followed Isabelle onto court, and found
Delia Arnold something of a handful a handful. The Malaysian
took a close first game, threatened to go two up, but Camille
staved off the threat to win in four, doubling the French tally
in the last sixteen.
 Madeline
Perry knew she had a tough draw in the vastly-improved
Joelle King, and the Kiwi lived up to her billing, taking the
first and narrowly losing the second against the Irishwoman.
The
third was crucial - Madeline let a 10-6 lead slip, but rallied
to take it 14-12, and although the fourth was far from easy the
crisis was averted.
The last match of the day, starting after even the men had
finished, was one of those 'could have gone either way' affairs,
with Sarah Kippax making a couple of crucial errors at the end
of the fourth of four very close games, as a relieved
Samantha Teran went through to the last 16. |
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Women's Quote Box ... |
"This court
is quite a lot different from most we play on, it's fast off the
front wall but dead too, so it's good to get to play on it from
the first round.
I'm happy with how I played, it was a bit
scrappy at times but generally ok, and it's good to win in
three."
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"It's not as cold today, they only
just turned the A/C on, so it suited me being a bit warmer and I
tried to make the rallies long.
I thought I played pretty well,
happy enough with that."
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"Taking the
second was crucial, it must have been quite demoralising for her
being so far up and then going two games down. I just wanted to
get on with it in the third and stay on top.
Qatar's been good
to me, I won here in '04 and '05 but this year I'm just taking
it one match at a time."
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"I felt she played really well,
everything she hit was very tight and she got so many winners
going short. I got a bit impatient in the second, went for a few
winners and it didn't work, so I had to go back to rallying. I
feel stronger and fitter now, I don't die after a hard rally!
I
want to get back into the top ten, but it will be tough,
everyone seems so much fitter and and playing better than when I
stopped with my injuries!"
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"I knew she's
played well against some of the top players so it was going to
be tough, and she's a lot fitter than when I last played her. I
was quite lucky in the end, she slowed down a bit for the last
five points, after four and a half games where there was nothing
in it.
Still, this tournament looks like being a good warmup for
the East Asian Games next month …"
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"I beat her in all our WISPA
matches, but she beat me in the Nationals this year. I had
nothing to lose, and I was really focused today, right from the
beginning.
I was playing well, but it wasn't really her day, she
made a lot of unforced errors in the first, tried to get back in
the second but made more errors at the end. I'm happy to win,
it's just a pity we had to play each other so early …"
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"I hadn't
played her before, and we spent the first game feeling each
other out. From the second I played more disciplined, hitting my
lengths and volleys better.
In the third she went for a few shots and I lost my length, and
before I knew it I was 7-4 down. I managed to get my discipline
back, and I'm happy to have closed it out in three."
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"It was a tough draw, I was
prepared for a hard match as I know she's playing a good way
above her ranking. I felt good in the third, got to 10-6, but
she picked it up a bit and suddenly we were 10-all.
Winning that game was crucial, it gave me confidence to press in
the fourth."
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"Sometimes I
was good, sometimes I was bad, but she played really well, and
either of us could have won that. It was good for me to win the
first two games, but then I stopped volleying as much, I really
needed to refocus.
I hit a tin to go game ball down in the fourth and told myself I
had to just keep the rallies going then, no mistakes, and it
worked. I'm really happy to be in the last sixteen …"
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Tactically, I
made the wrong choice at crucial times, but I never played her,
I only worked on a video, and I was hoping to play on her
backhand, but I couldn’t stick to my game plan in the first
game.
In the second, she leads 6/2, but I succeed to be more patient,
and that makes the difference. In the third, she was maybe
surprised by my good start, and it seemed like she let that one
go.
I thought it was going to be the same in the fourth, but she
came back score wise, we battled, 6/6, 7/7, and I was able to
take the lead again, and won the game and match…
Happy to get through, it was a tricky one…
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I didn’t play that well at all.. In
the third, I’m three points away from the match, and I get all
tensed up.
I have trouble to keep consistent and focused at the crucial
times. Also, I put myself under pressure, I then got trouble
breathing, which leads me to waste a lot of energy there,
whereas I just would need to let go of the arm. Tactically, I
know what to do, and physically, I worked hard, I’m happy with
that.
She is tall, fast, if you give him any opportunity to volley,
she is very dangerous, you have got to play her very tight. And
the last time we played, she beat me 3/2, so I knew what to
expect, I know it was going to be tough…
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Men's Round One ...
Framboise reports |
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[Q] Tarek Momen
(Egy) bt [11] Alister Walker (Eng)
6/11, 10/12,
11/6, 11/5, 11/8 (60m)
TAREK’S STARTLING
COME BACK
From the second rally of the match – the first one was very long
and tired Tarek for the rest of that game – I felt that Ali was
not moving as he normally does, that he was not playing his
normal game – hit hard at the back and then attack at will –
that he was a bit nonchalant, to be honest.
He still won the first game “easily”, and was on his way to a
easy second, 9/3, when the Giant Tarek woke up to go in one hand
to 10/9 game ball! Alister just couldn’t stop him, just couldn’t
stop the energy and the outburst of nicks and great shots
pouring out of Tarek’s racquet. He somehow managed to still win
that game, but it must have given Tarek a sniff at it. Big
mistake….
And from that moment on, Alister seemed like he lost his way. He
kept on fighting with Tarek at the front, instead of using his
physical power to pin him at the back, and that give more and
more confidence to the Egyptian that basically, was in a zone. I
guess the same one that made him beat David Palmer in the
Worlds….
In the fourth, Ali, against under enormous pressure, made far
too many errors, all credit to Tarek. The Englishman fought
hard, retrieved a lot, run even more, fought for every point,
but Tarek was just flying way up there near the Gods of Squash
to get anything gets in his way today. Ali saved 3 match balls,
but Tarek takes another scalp, 11/8 in the decider. Good win,
Tarek. Well played.
 I’m
happy and surprised. Alister is such a good player, last time I
saw him play, he beat Shabana in Cairo and played amazing
squash!
The first two games, I was freezing! I don’t know why, I work in
that environment every day, but today, my arms, my toes were
just freezing because of the AC, I couldn’t move. Until 9/3 in
the second, out of nowhere, I started to find my shots,
crosscourt drop shots, drop shots. In a flash, I was game ball
up, and was soooo disappointed when I lost that one. I thought,
that’s it, you had your chance to come back in the match, and
you let it slip.
But somehow, I got my confidence back, and I kept telling
myself, don’t lose 3/0, and that’s what pushed me in the 3rd.
From that point on, it all went my way, even if in the 5th I was
a bit nervous, and my shots were not as accurate as they were in
the previous games.
Overall, I’m very happy..
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"In all honesty, it was not a bad performance but not a winning
one. He played very well and did exceptionally well to come back
from 2-0 games down and caught me with shots at the front that i
will deal with differently next time.
I am disappointed yes but not devastated. My preparation was
good and it will be for my next event too."
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[15] Stewart
Boswell (Aus) bt [Q] Renan Lavigne (Fra)
11/4, 11/6, 11/9
RENAN STILL DANGEROUS
Hard to believe that Renan is over 35 now, and still fighting
till the last shot. It ain’t over till it’s over, really, is it
Renan? Always that little chance to be seized. He is now the
oldest on the circuit, and in the last game – his best today
from far – one could only bow to the determination and
experience he displayed.
Taking as much breathing time as he could, getting the cleaner
in as soon as possible, serving as slow as he dared, Renan
started to frustrate a bit Stewart, who at the end of the 3rd,
was really worried it would go to a 4th. Well, the Australian,
not that comfortable on that court, wasn’t able to get Renan out
of his comfort zone, playing at mid pace, perfect for the
French.
So, a few lets, some enormous rallies, a bit of up and down the
wall of course, not the most exciting game ever, but a serious
one, that Stewart was right not to overlook. The fight that is
still in those tired legs of the French could have cause him a
lot of trouble…
"I never thought
this was going to be a sure thing, there are not many matches
nowadays where I would allowed myself to think that!! Especially
on a traditional court, Renan dwells on there, and I knew I
would have to be extremely patient, that it would be hard…
I think he started the first game a bit slow, but he got better
in the second, and the third, well, so close, until the last
point, a hard battle.
I just couldn’t get pass him with my crosscourts, so I kept it
as straight as possible. Probably not the prettiest squash
ever…"
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[16] Cameron
Pilley (Aus) bt [Q] Chris Ryder (Eng)
11/5, 11/6, 11/2 (35m)
"I played well. Thing is, last year, he beat me in Macao, and I
didn’t like it a bit. It was in the back of my mind, I wanted
revenge, very badly, and he knew it!!!!!
"Mentally, I think I’ve improved recently, I’ve been working on
it. But it also comes with the fact I’ve worked on my fitness,
and that I can now back up hard match after hard match after
hard match… I don’t think my shots got better, but I’ve improved
my shot selection of winners…"
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In the first game, I was able to keep the pace up, to step up
the court and to play short, but after that, Thierry changed his
game completely, showing once again the great player he is, it’s
amazing… He was just too good afterwards.
It was so nice to play against Thierry, it’s not every day I get
to play against a top 10 player, especially with somebody as
experienced as him…
In the first game,
I didn’t know what to expect, so he surprised me a bit with his
attacks, his opportunism and his shot variations. After that, I
was able to read his game a bit better, therefore counterattack
him better, and move him more. Which in time gave me the
advantage both physically and tactically.
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[8]
Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt
[Q] Simon Rosner (Ger)
9/11, 11/2,
11/4, 11/4 (45m)
THIERRY STILL THERE…
After Renan, Thierry is the oldest player around, but still
going is the former world number one. It was a bit of a typical
Lincou match really. First round, discovering his opponent,
analysing his tactics, strength and weakness, while making him
work as hard as possible, even if it means losing that opening
game.
 Which
he lost, of course… Lincou loses the first game, hold the
press!!!
Simon paid the hard work he did for the next two games, and just
wasn’t able to have any influence on the rallies at all, nor he
could in the 3rd. But bless his little German socks, Simon found
his second wind in the fourth, and fought valiantly, making the
French work much harder, and more consistently than in the two
previous games.
Several times, Thierry backhand crosscourted the ball so flat
that Simon just couldn’t volley it, and if it frustrated him, it
also made him smile –how many times is he going to pass me with
that one kind of thought…
Thierry will be happy to win against Simon, who is in my eyes, a
good hope for the top 20, if he can maybe work a bit more on his
fitness under heavy pressure, which will strengthen his mental
too….
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Olli
Tuominen (Fin) bt
[13] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy)
11/5, 8/11, 7/11, 11/3, 11/8
(61m)
INTENSE…
Strange. Squash is strange. At the start of September, while
Mohamed was fasting for Ramadan, the Egyptian beat Olli 3/0 in
Cairo. And today, where as he is full blast, he loses against
Olli in a close 3/2.
Go and figure….
I didn’t see the whole match, so I won’t do a full report. What
I could see immediately though was that Olli was up for it. And
that was good to see, as for the few past events I’ve seen the
Fin, I had the impression he was going through the motion more
than anything else.
And although the match was a bit tense – discussions with the
ref, a bit of chatting between the players, well, I don’t think
those two will spend the Easter Break together, let me put it
this way, it never got out of hand. But yes, it was tense, yes,
the two players wanted to win very badly, and yes, the
atmosphere could have been friendlier…
An Hollywood ending, with suspense till the end, in the decider,
with 4 lets on match ball 10/7, that Olli finally put in the
tin. 10/8. Was Mohamed going to be able to make a come back?
Olli wouldn’t have it, and jumped up and down, expressing with
loud YES, YES, YES, his contentment to have got his revenge.
 "Today,
I started better than I did against him last time we played, I
passed him a bit better, and the bad things I did then I still
did them today, but I just did less of them. And I didn’t
crosscourt too much, I played tight enough….
At the end, I kept my patience, well, during the rallies I
mean!!! I think I did pretty OK under the circumstances. I’m
glad it was my good day…"
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Hisham Ashour (Egy)
bt [10]
Adrian Grant (Eng)
11/7, 7/11, 11/8, 11/7 (51m)
 "I
wouldn’t dare to say Qatar, Qatar, Qatar, but then again, you
never know….!!!!!
Adrian is one of the most gifted players out there, he’s keep
his hands hidden, he delays his shots, which mean you are always
a step late to get to the ball. Plus he is very strong
physically, and mixes fast and slow pace to perfection. So I’m
really happy to beat him today…
Honest to God, I don’t mind the result anymore when I play. I
just want to make sure that I play well, that I give everything
I have, that I let out all the squash I have in me. I know that
one day, I’ll play a game, and all my squash will come out, I
just wait for that day. No matter the result now, I just want to
play my best.
I’m physically stronger, mentally, I just need to make sure that
I’m relaxed, completely relaxed. My arm is still shaking at the
moment when I play, I just need to find a way to let go, to
enjoy it. I have to admit that my girlfriend, Farida, is really
helping me settling down…
One day, one match, my squash will come out. I’m just waiting
for that day…"
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[12] Wael
El Hindi (Egy) bt
Farhan Mehboob (Pak)
11/8, 11/7, 11/8 (47m)
WELL DONE GUYS
I had trouble believing my eyes today, when I saw Wael and
Farhan. Not a word from Wael, who finally zipped it, bless him,
and no wasting 4, 5 rallies in a row for Farhan… What’s going on
there??? What happened???
We were blessed with a great match between those two rebels.
They played patient, mid pace/fast pace squash, stunning and
very long rallies, intensity without the drama, what a pleasure
that was…
Honestly, each game could have gone either way. A few errors
from both, with unfortunately for him, a bit more from Farhan,
and that makes the difference. But such a slight one, really
impressive match…
"I realise that I
play better both tactically and physically when I’m relaxed, and
the fact I’m much fitter helps me to be confident in my game
too. Farhan played very well, it was good squash, great
movement. I’m happy with my concentration level today.
"And win or lose, I’m looking forward to playing Ramy tomorrow."
"I’ve decided to change myself on court now, I stay more
focused…
"I played well, but he played really well too. I think I played
my best, and I hope I’ll play even better for my next tournament
in Saudi…"
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 "Beng
Hee surprised me terribly today, he picked up all my shots, and
sent it back with a lot of speed too, which he doesn’t normally
do, and that put me under a lot of pressure, that made me
nervous and forced a few errors too many out of me.
"I’m so happy with the result, it was a fantastic match I
thought…
"Tomorrow, I’m so glad I’m playing the World number 1. Last time
we played, it was in Macao last year, in the semis actually, but
I was really tired from the win against Nick the day before.
Greg is such a great player, I’ll try and do my best against
him…"
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Aamir
Atlas Khan (Pak) bt Ong Beng
Hee (Mas)
11/5, 11/6, 9/11, 11/8
A FIRST FOR BENG HEE
I’ve seen the Malaysian play so many times, in difficult and
good times, I never ever EVER saw/hear him argue. I won’t be
able to say that anymore.
The fact that he got a pretty bad blood injury on the right eye
at the start of the 2nd, has maybe something to do with it….
After a 10m/15m interruption to get his eye sorted, he came back
on court, and at the end of the following rally, he thought that
the ball was clearly down. A ball then confirmed good by the 3
refs.
 Beng
Hee got out of court, and really challenged the centre ref. That
my friend, was a world first for me. He was not happy, Beng Hee
was, and made it pretty clear, still with extreme good manners
and smile, but he got his point across. In vain…
He still lost the game, not really surprising, a combination of
the blood delay, the tin/no tin upset, plus an Aamir playing at
his best, but he took the third, on guts really.
It was a strange match. The Malaysian seemed tired from the
second game, he didn’t put much weigh in the ball too often, and
as his opponent, also know as Speedy Gonzales for a darn good
reason, was close to the front, and a step away from the ball… A
bit like if Beng Hee’s tactical brain was not totally connected.
Still, the Malaysian did an awful lot of running, up and down,
he retrieved an awful lot, and never ever gave up. But Aamir was
that more strong today, both physically and tactically. A
logical ranking wise, but I thought, after Beng Hee's great
performance against James in HK, that the Malaysian could create
an upset here…
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[7] James
Willstrop (Eng) bt
[Q] Saurav Ghosal (Ind)
12/10, 12/10, 11/4 (44m)
 "I
played well, but I went a bit defensive on the game balls.
James, well, you know James, he just dug in, he kept going, and
unless you get a roll, it was impossible to get pass him.
And I think I didn’t attack aggressively enough.
The first two games was a excellent quality squash, that the
good thing I can take out of this defeat, although I’m really
disappointed I didn’t take either of those first two games.
To be positive, James is playing so well at the moment – I hope
he’ll do really well here and then in India and Saudi, he
deserves it – and if I can do what I did today against somebody
of James’ calibre, getting so close, in the first round of the
Qatar Classic, I can do it anywhere and against anybody.
I’m sad I couldn’t win either game today, but I’m just dead now,
I gave everything I could…"
 "Well,
today was just a Tuesday morning in Pontefract really, playing
Saurav, with Mick [Todd, James’ manager and Ponte’s owner] and
Lee [Beachill] watching at the back. It just needed Malcolm to
make it all complete!!!!
It was the first time ever Saurav and myself played
competitively, we avoided carefully up to now, but it had to
happen sometime…
When you play somebody that regularly, you are able to get the
feel of the other, it’s a bit of a telegraphic squash, but
strangely enough, it doesn’t make any better, I still had to be
on my toes the whole match…
Saurav played extremely well today, he is playing well enough to
worry the top guys, he just doesn’t realise it yet. But the day
he does, he’ll be a great danger to everybody out there.
He just needs to believe he can do it. Because he is that good
now…"
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