Hardly a stirring headline, it's true, but we had some stirring
matches tonight, as the top seeds - of four different
nationalities - won through to the semi-finals.
Jenny Duncalf started the ball rolling with a comfortable
enough win over compatriot Lauren Briggs, but after that we had
three genuine "could have gone either way" matches.
Omneya Abdel Kawy was Egypt's only victor on the night,
and she had to work hard to subdue Jaclyn Hawkes, who looked
likely to create an upset before she tired.
Top seed Rachael Grinham won three out of four delicately
poised games against Engy Kheirallah, and Madeline Perry
played very well to dominate most of her match with Raneem El
Weleily, but it still went to five games.
Second
seed Jenny Duncalf came safely through to the semis, winning
this all-English encounter in straight games.
Lauren Briggs got off to the worst possible start, quickly going
8-1 down to make the first game a lost cause. She settled from
the middle of the second, recovering from4-1 and 8-4 down to get
as close as 8-7, but Jenny reasserted, taking the next three
points to double her lead.
Lauren held her own for a good part of the third too, the
rallies were even, as was the score up to 6-all, but a couple of
errors and a couple of drives deep into the backhand corner took
Jenny to match ball, and she needed only one opportunity.
"The
court seemed quite a bit slower than yesterday, it wasn't coming
off the front wall as fast.
"I thought I played ok, I just had to make sure I stayed
focused, stay on top and try to get off in three, so I'm pleased
I did that, and pleased to be in the semis."
"I felt I played well in patches, once I got into the match. But
after I made the push to get on terms in the last two games I
let it slip, a few too many loose shots, and you just can't do
that against someone of Jenny's quality."
In many way this was, as Omneya Abdel Kawy admitted after the
match, an escape, but one that delighted the Egyptian fans in
Soho Square, and no doubt the audience watching live on Nile TV
too.
You somehow expect Omneya to go for her shots most of the time,
but she rallies well - "I play from the back when I'm losing" -
and a good job too, because Jaclyn Hawkes battled all the way
and made her rally.
Omneya moved ahead from 6-all in the first to 10-6, lost the
next five points, but managed to scramble the game 15/13. She
fell behind early in the second, 4-8, brought it all the way
back to 8-all, then had game ball at 10-9 but this time it was
Jaclyn's turn to win the endgame battle to level the match.
The Kiwi looked as though she was going to take the lead, 7-3 up
in the third, but once again Omneya battled away, eschewing the
fancy shots, levelling at 8-all and taking the next three points
and the lead.
That proved to be crucial ad Jaclyn's challenge faded in the
fourth - she'd done an awful lot of running - and Omneya's drops
and volley drops paid dividend time after time. A couple of
careless errors allowed Jaclyn back to 8-5 but that was as close
as she would get.
"It
seemed to be that every time someone got a good lead they would
lose the game! I was starting to play my game in the first, then
she woke up or something, and I only just managed to win it.
"I didn't want to lose the first, especially against someone
like Jackie, she runs a lot and if she's in the lead it's
advantage to her.
"In the second I started worrying about my shots, the court is
still very bouncy, and I was probably thinking about it too
much. In the third I told myself not to think about it, just
play squash. I think I won from the back more than the front.
"In the third I knew she couldn't keep running like that for the
whole match, so winning that game was very important, and I
think she did tire in the last.
"Thank God I got out of it, I didn't play my best, my head
wasn't really there today, so hopefully I can put it all
together tomorrow ..."
Another match that could have gone either way, but in this case
both players could have won any of the four games, and a
three-nil result either way would not have been unreasonable, it
was that close.
Rachael Grinham and Engy Kheirallah had a real battle out there,
and while both probably made a few more errors than they'd like,
both were going short whenever a suitable opportunity arose, so
that's only to be expected.
There was rarely more than a point or two in it throughout -
Engy had the best lead, 5-1 in the second, but that soon became
5-all and from then on it was point for point all the way to the
end of the match.
As it happened, Rachael took the first two, Engy the third, all
from 9-all, and the fourth was level all the way up to the same
mark. Rachael got to 10-9 first, Engy had two game balls to
level it, but it was Rachael who took the match on her second
chance.
[4] Madeline Perry (Irl) bt [6] Raneem El Weleily
(Egy)
11/13, 11/3, 11/7, 6/11, 11/3 (64m)
Madeline denies
Egyptian double
The night was to finish with just one Egyptian through to the
semis, although the way Raneem El Weleily played in patches of
her match against Madeline Perry, had she kept that level up for
longer it could easily have been two.
But it was the Irishwoman who better for longer spells. In fact
she enjoyed such periods of dominance that in many respects it's
a wonder that the match somehow managed to be a five-setter. It
wasn't that Madeline played poorly at any point though, just
that Raneem played sublime squash, in particular at the end of
the first, and then to come from 5-2 down to take the fourth.
She finished that game on a high - I wrote two of her shots down
as "soft crosscourt backhand volley drop nick" and "soft
backhand long dropshot nick" ... in other words, pretty good!
Trouble was, having played so well to take the first she let it
slip in the second, subsiding somewhat, and after that
marvellous finish to the fourth did the same in the fifth,
hitting tins seven tins and giving away two strokes as Madeline
eventually cruised home.
As Raneem said in her "3 questions", there's a few things to
work on. But if she manages to play consistently at her top
level she'll take some stopping ...
"The
weird thing is I thought I played pretty well, and I felt in
control for most of the match, but it ended up being 3-2!
"I don't think I played badly to lose those two games, she just
played very well. I'm happy with how I played, and looking
forward to a good semi-final with Jenny.
"I've never been to Sharm before, it's a tremendous setup and a
really good atmosphere."
"The
court seemed quite a bit slower than yesterday, it wasn't coming
off the front wall as fast.
"It
seemed to be that every time someone got a good lead they would
lose the game! I was starting to play my game in the first, then
she woke up or something, and I only just managed to win it.
