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Wed 15th, Day FIVE:
Last 16, part one:
Women's Bottom Half:
[5]
Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt [12]
Kasey Brown (Aus)
11/8, 11/2, 13/11 (33m)
[3] Natalie Grinham (Ned) bt
[Q] Annie Au (Hkg)
11/6, 11/7, 11/4 (27m)
[7] Alison Waters (Eng) bt [15]
Isabelle Stoehr (Fra)
11/3, 11/1, 11/7 (25m)
[11] Vicky Botwright (Eng) bt
[2] Rachael Grinham (Aus)
5/11, 13/11, 11/8, 11/8 (47m)
Men's Top Half:
[8] Nick Matthew
(Eng) bt [15] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned)
11/7, 11/6, 11/13, 11/4 (60m)
[4] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [12]
Peter Barker (Eng)
11/8, 11/13, 11/8, 11/6 (60m)
[Q] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy)
bt Hisham Ashour (Egy)
11/4, 6/11, 11/8, 10/12, 13/11 (45m)
[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [9] Wael
El Hindi (Egy)
11/9, 2/11, 11/4, 12/14, 11/6 (84m)
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Photo Galleries
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[5]
Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt [12]
Kasey Brown (Aus)
11/8, 11/2, 13/11 (33m)
Up and down for Jenny
A slightly strange match, with Jenny Duncalf well in control for
the most part, then ending up relieved to finish it off in
three.
The Englishwoman, seeded five, took an early lead and the
ever-battling Aussie Kasey Brown couldn't close it. The second
was a no-contest, Jenny didn't do much special but nothing was
going right for Kasey as she tinned easy balls and was left
stranded time and again.
But from the outset of the third, Kasey was back to her usual
self, hustling and bustling and making the game very
competitive. Level to 5-all, Jenny took a 7-5 lead but was
pegged back by some determined play from Kasey. At 9-all Jenny
tinned a dropshot to give Kasey game ball, then saved it with a
volley drop, a shot that won her a lot of points today.
One more gameball needed to be saved, but on her first match
ball Jenny was relieved to see Kasey's drop hit the tin, you got
the feeling she really didn't fancy another game, whereas Kasey
felt shortchanged.
 "I
thought I played ok in the first two, but I was a bit edgy in
the third when she pushed up the court and made it much tougher
for me.
"I couldn't believe I tinned that drop to give her game ball, so
I was relieved to get off in three in the end.
"This is pretty much my home court, all the English girls are
used to it. It feels strange, I just go to where I normally go
to do my warmup and so on, but it's the World Open!"
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[8]
Nick Matthew (Eng) bt [15] Laurens
Jan Anjema (Ned)
11/7, 11/6, 11/13, 11/4 (60m)
Matthew impressive
An impressive enough opening for Nick Matthew on the court he
won the British Nationals on in 2006. After a decent opening
which saw him lead 4-1, LJ Anjema struggled to find a way to
seriously trouble the Englishman in the remainder of the first
two games.
The third was much closer, level up to 6-all, but when Matthew
went 9-6 ahead the end looked near. LJ fought back, saved a
match ball at 11-10 before reducing the deficit.
Nick was back on top in the fourth though, and was soon enough
advancing into the quarter-finals.
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[3]
Natalie Grinham (Ned) bt [Q]
Annie Au (Hkg)
11/6, 11/7, 11/4 (27m)
End of the road for Annie
It was a great run, coming through qualifying with two upset
results, but taking on the world number two was always likely to
be a tall order for Hong Kong's Annie Au, just out of juniors.
So it proved, as Natalie Grinham held sway for most of the
match, keeping Annie on the move. The youngster showed some good
skills and some lovely touch shots, and she'll be even more
dangerous next year ...
 "The
first match on the glass court is always a bit scary, but I've
played on them more than Annie so that was to my advantage.
"She's quite a talent and has some good shots and nothing to
lose. I had some nerves at the beginning so I'm pleased to get
off in three. That's not to say I won't be nervous before the
next match, you always get different nerves for different
reasons.
"I felt I moved better today than yesterday, so hopefully I'll
get faster again for the next match!
"I was sick for a few days before coming here, but I was
training hard before that. It's my first World Open under the
Dutch flag, but it's not the same feeling as when I played the
Dutch Open in front of a home crowd, here it's a foreign country
so I'll just be trying my hardest, as ever.
"Rachel and I might meet in the semis - I seem to have more of a
problem playing each other than she does, but we've both got
matches to play before then so we're not thinking of that at
all, we'll deal with it if it happens.
"I'm pleased that Rachael's moving to Amsterdam, we were always
together when we were growing up and I missed her when she went
to Cairo, it feels like I'm getting my best friend back. We do
different types of training from most people, so we'll be able
to do that together and not look weird!
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[4]
Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [12] Peter
Barker (Eng)
11/8, 11/13, 11/8, 11/6 (60m)
Barker one step behind
Ramy Ashour moved into the quarter-finals with a win over Peter
Barker that was never easy, even though the Egyptian held the
lead for the greater part of the match.
The Englishmen's best spell came in the second as he clawed back
a 9-6 deficit to take the game on extra points. For the rest of
the match though he was fighting a rearguard action, always
trailing in the score, always fighting to contain the Egyptian's
shots, one of which was liable to explode at any point, undoing
much of Barker's hard work.
Peter made a few unforced errors at crucial times, much to his
own annoyance, as Ramy became the first of, probably, several
Egyptians to reach the quarters.
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[7]
Alison Waters (Eng) bt [15]
Isabelle Stoehr (Fra)
11/3, 11/1, 11/7 (25m)
Waters cruises into quarters
Isabelle Stoehr has been in fine form this year, giving some of
the top players a real fright and recording some impressive wins
along the way.
Tonight in Manchester though she couldn't find the way to
seriously trouble Alison Waters, who won the British Nationals
on this very court earlier this year.
The French champion contributed to her own downfall in the first
two games, too many careless errors cost her dearly, especially
in the second.
The third was more of a contest, but with Alison patrolling the
court, volleying wherever she could, it was still tough for
Isabelle to get really into the match, which finished with the
Englishwoman putting in a drop with Isabelle nowhere to be seen.
 "We've
had a few squad sessions here over the last few weeks, so we've
all had a lot of practice on the court, which I quite like!
"She's so skilful with great racket skills so you have to keep
it off her racket, I was trying to keep it wide and deep and it
worked quite well.
"I felt I was playing well, was quite comfortable out there and
hopefully that should give me some confidence for the next round
..."
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[Q]
Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy)
bt Hisham Ashour (Egy)
11/4, 6/11, 11/8, 10/12, 13/11 (45m)
No stopping Shorbagy
A qualifier in the World Open quarter-finals - for the first
time in 22 years - and not just any qualifier, but the World
Junior Champion.
Mohamed El Shorbagy continued his amazing run with a thrilling
victory over another of of Egypt's array of talented
players, Hisham Ashour.
The early stages were relatively quiet, many fast exchanges with
the youngster generally getting the better of them.
When Shorbagy took a 10/5 lead in the fourth the match seemed to
be progressing to a quiet finish, but Ashour was far from
finished.
Three match balls saved, then Shorbagy thought he'd won it as
one of Hisham's shots went close to the tin. Shorbagy was
holding out his hand, but the refs declared the ball good, and
before we knew it it was 10-all.
On the next rally Hisham looks for all the world as if he's
stopping to ask for a let ... Shorbagy stops, Hisham flashes his
racket for a dropshot, and to Shorbagy's amazement he's game
ball down.
The youngster's head is spinning, it's soon two-all, and not
long after he's facing two match balls as Hisham leads 10/8 in
the decider.
There's no better time to get your head together, and that's
what Shorbagy did - saving both and converting his own at the
second attempt as Hisham hit the tin.
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[11]
Vicky Botwright (Eng) bt [2]
Rachael Grinham (Aus)
5/11, 13/11, 11/8, 11/8 (47m)
It's Vicky ... at last !
This venue and this court have never been kind to Vicky
Botwright.
"In the Nationals I've been not seeded and seeded 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
and 8 and I've lost in the quarter-finals every time, I've never
had a good win on this court," she said after deposing the
reigning World Champion Rachael Grinham here tonight.
 Well,
she's had her good win now, and what a time to do it - in her
last event before retiring, and before her own crowd.
It didn't start well, as Rachael took a quick 4/1 lead and
consolidated to take the first game.
Vicky started to find her feet in the second, saw a game ball
disappear but took it on extra points. When Vicky took a lead in
the third she, and the crowd, started believing.
9/5 in the third was converted, and Vicky maintained the
ascendency in the fourth, with Rachael looking decidedly edgy.
6-all, 7-all. Vicky's drop took it to 8-7, Rachael returned into
the tin for 9-7. A drop too tight for Vicky, 9-8, a drop from
Vicky and it was match ball. "C'mon," she exclaimed, as did the
crowd.
A few shots, Rachael had an open court. missed horribly and
Vicky had her big win, and didn't she enjoy it ...
"I like playing Rachael out of all the top players, I think it's
because I play slow and it doesn't give her anything to feed
off. And she knows I like playing her so that, and that I think
I can beat her, so that gets to her a bit too, I think.
"I was getting a bit of cramp at the end, so I was glad to
finish it off in that fourth.
"I never feel under pressure playing here, but I just never seem
to play very well, so it's great to get a good win at last, I've
been waiting ten years to get a good result here.
"I'm just thinking that it's great to have two English girls in
the quarters and a guaranteed semi-finalist. It's pretty even
between Alison myself, so it should be a good game ...
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 "I
just don't know what happened out there, I felt in control at
times, but at others couldn't settle at all. At match ball down
I had an open court and put it into the floor, almost, I was
just feeling shaky all through the match.
"I knew Vicky was one of the tougher draws in the last 16, she's
been number 5 and in front of her own crowd.
"She played better than me, that's for sure, but I could have
done better, I think Iafter five minutes, but now it's 9-all and
suddenly you're into panic mode. just choked and fell apart.
"I'm still struggling with the scoring, it's so quick. You used
to be able to play yourself into a game, it would be one-all.
"I'm happy with my form and fitness, that had nothing to do with
losing, I was just mentally unstable out there tonight ..."
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[1]
Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [9] Wael El
Hindi (Egy)
11/9, 2/11, 11/4, 12/14, 11/6 (84m)
Shabana Survives
To lose one world champion in the last sixteen was bad enough,
to lose two would be unthinkable, surely.
In the end Amr Shabana won the fifth game comfortably enough,
but it was a rollercoaster ride before then.
The defending champion looked good in the second, out of sorts
in the third, good again in the third, and came out the wrong
end of a fourth game that became a bit of a wrestling match - in
total the referees were called on to make 69 decisions.
But he's still there, and now meets young Shorbagy for a place
in the semis ...
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