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Thu 16th, Day SIX:
Last 16, part two:
Women's Top half & Men's Bottom half
Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) bt [4]
Natalie Grainger (Usa)
11/5, 5/11, 11/8, 6/11, 11/8 (41m)
[14] Madeline Perry (Irl) bt
[6] Shelley Kitchen (Nzl)
11/5, 11/6, 11/2 (34m)
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [13]
Rebecca Chiu (Hkg)
11/3, 11/8, 11/7 (24m)
[9] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy)
bt [8] Laura L-Massaro (Eng)
21/23, 19/17, 12/14, 11/6, 11/7 (85m)
[5] David Palmer (Aus) bt Daryl
Selby (Eng)
11/5, 11/13, 11/3, 12/10 (83m)
[3] James Willstrop
(Eng) bt Davide Bianchetti (Ita)
11/7, 13/11, 11/8 (48m)
[14] Adrian Grant (Eng) bt [2]
Gregory Gaultier (Fra)
9/11, 12/10, 14/12, 1/11, 13/11 (98m)
[7] Karim Darwish (Egy) bt Alister Walker (Eng)
9/11, 11/8, 11/5, 11/8 (61m)
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Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) bt [4]
Natalie Grainger (Usa)
11/5, 5/11, 11/8, 6/11, 11/8 (41m)
Jaclyn jumps for Joy
A stunning upset to start day six, as Jaclyn Hawked turned the
form book and her own expectations on their heads to beat former
world number one Natalie Grainger in five.
The Kiwi started well, taking a 4-1 lead and converted that to
finish off the first game, keeping Grainger on the move
constantly and forcing several errors out of the American.
In the second game the tables were turned though, and it was
Jaclyn hitting the tin as Natalie levelled.
The third and fourth were shared too, with the same pattern of
play, Hawkes generally keeping Grainger out of the middle court
she so loves to dominate, forcing her to go for risky shots and
forcing the errors. No-one can do that for too long though, and
Grainger enjoyed brief spells of dominance throughout those
middle games.
Natalie appeared to have weather the storm as she pulled away
from 4-all in the fifth to lead 7-5, the 8-5 with one of her
trademark crashing drives that had thus far been so absent. But
then it all went wrong for Natalie, and so right for Jaclyn. A
stroke, four casual tins and suddenly it was match ball to the
Kiwi. An inviting ball at the front, caressed into the tin for a
fifth error in a row and it was all over ...
That's a former world champion and a former world number one on
Jaclyn's hit list ... can it get any better ?
 "I
can't believe it, I wasn't going on there expecting to win
today, every time I've played her in the past I've been
absolutely chopped, that's definitely my best win ever.
"I didn't write myself out of it but you can't go on there
expecting to beat the world number four, and I've only played 10
or 12 times on a glass court so I was a bit nervous about that,
but this is definitely the best glass court I've played on, I
love it!
"I was hitting the ball well in the first game though, and I
thought to myself I had a chance, I never stopped thinking that
throughout the match.
"Anthony has been a great help, he knows how to play these big
events and he gave me a game plan which I kept to and it worked!
I knew I needed to keep it off her volley, she's so dangerous. I
was trying to keep the ball tight on the side walls, but she was
still trying to volley them and making the errors."
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 "I
felt a little off today, I've not been 100% all week.
"I just made too many errors, I was struggling with the lighting
on the court too.
Jaclyn played well though, she fought hard, all credit to her."
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[5] David Palmer (Aus) bt
Daryl Selby (Eng)
11/5, 11/13, 11/3, 12/10 (83m)
Daryl pushes Palmer again
Malcolm Willstrop reports
The last time I saw David Palmer play Daryl Selby was in
Edgbaston when Selby gave the Australian all sorts of bother in
a 3/2 loss. Not only that, he had impresses here in Manchester
to reach the last 16.
He began confidently enough, but midway through the first half
Palmer took control as he can, accurate and error free, and he
cleared away to win the game 11/5.
The second began similarly and aided by some uncharacteristic
Palmer errors Selby led 5/1. As players of this quality do,
Palmer tightened up and levelled at 9-all. From then on there
were all sorts of incidents and questionable decisions. Much to
his delight, knowing that 2-0 down is the kiss of death, Selby
won the game 13/11.
He was unable to sustain his efforts, though, and Palmer was
hardly challenged, let alone threatened in the third, which he
won with ease.
That might have been it, but to his credit the man of Essex came
again, took an early lead and then battled all the way to go to
another tiebreak. Not much seemed to go his way in the later
stages of the game and it was Palmer, using all his vast
experience at the highest levels, who clinched the match 12/10.
Palmer will be relieved and Selby just a little disappointed not
to have extended the match to the fifth. |
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[14] Madeline Perry (Irl) bt
[6] Shelley Kitchen (Nzl)
11/5, 11/6, 11/2 (34m)
Madeline's back ...
A second successive upset in the women's draw, although Madeline
Perry's seeding is misleading as she makes her way back up the
rankings after a traumatic year.
The Irishwoman got off to a fast start, picked up confidence as
Shelley Kitchen's waned, and never looked back. Madeline was
playing solid squash, nothing special, but it was putting
Shelley on the back foot constantly, and the Kiwi wasn't helping
her own cause with a series of errors and mishits.
Madeline led from the word go - 4-1 in the first, Shelley got to
3-4 but that was as close as she would get. The first was
converted, as were leads of 8-0 in the second and 9-0 in the
third.
By the end the confidence was oozing out of Madeline as she
played some gorgeous winners, in particular a low volley drop to
go 6-0 in the third and a crisp volley kill to go to 9-0.
It just wasn't Shelley's day, but for Madeline, who reached the
quarters two years ago in Belfast - her last world open - it was
a welcome return to the top table.
 "I'm
happy with that! I started pretty well and put her under
pressure and it felt like I got better as the match went on.
"She made a few errors and that hit her confidence, maybe also
because I beat her 3/0 in Singapore, but I was feeling pretty
good at the end and my shots were all coming off.
"I had big leads, but you can't afford to relax at all in this
scoring, you can soon find yourself back at 8/4, 8/5 and then
the pressure starts to show.
"I'm feeling great physically, but it's taken almost a year to
get over what happened, it
was more about sorting out my head than my fitness. It's harder
getting back up there than it was getting there in the first
place.
I just wanted to go on there and do myself justice and I think I
did that."
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[3] James Willstrop (Eng)
bt Davide Bianchetti (Ita)
11/7, 13/11, 11/8 (48m)
Willstrop sets up
Palmer re-meet ...
James Willstrop is through to a quarter-final against David
Palmer - a repeat of their epic British Open final earlier this
year - with a hard-fought straight games win over Davide
Bianchetti.
The Italian had chances in all three games, leading early in the
first, holding a game ball in the second, and leading 8/5 in the
third, but couldn't capitalise on any of those chances as James
dug in, as ever.
Davide received a conduct warning off court after the second,
another for racket abuse in the middle of the third, and a
conduct stroke for hitting the ball in anger to take James to
match ball, but apart from that was generally subdued by his
standards.
A mishit into the floor finished the match and James was on his
way ... |
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[9] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy)
bt [8] Laura L-Massaro (Eng)
21/23, 19/17, 12/14, 11/6, 11/7 (85m)
Phew, what a thriller ...
There can't have been many matches like this since the women's
game converted to Pro scoring, but by the end of it the only
surprise was that the last game didn't go to extra points!
I suppose a close match was to be expected, eighth seed versus
ninth, but it seemed that the odds might favour the home girl
this time given her intimate knowledge of the court and the
support of the local crowd.
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the first game it looked like that was the case as Laura took a
9/4 lead. But Omneya battled back, taking six points to get a
game ball. As the game headed into extended extra points, it was
the Egyptian who had the early opportunities, six game balls up
to 16-15, but thereafter it was Laura who had most chances,
finally taking one to win it 23-21.
The second game was a mirror-image - Omneya 9-4 up, Laura
reaching 10-9 but eventually losing it. Uncanny. Even uncannier
that Laura should go 9-4 up in the third, then 10-6. You just
knew it was coming, and sure enough Omneya saved four game balls
before finally succumbing in extra points.
The remarkable thing about those three games was the virtual
absence of unforced errors. They have different games, Laura
playing a more powerful game, keeping the ball tight, Omneya
looking for opportunities to display her racket skills and
flashing winners. Both were playing their games well, and each
point had to be won, nothing was given away.
 Laura
paid the price for errors in the fourth though, five tins
contributing to her downfall as the Egyptian levelled, but
regrouped to take 4-1 and 5-3 leads in the decider.
Cue another turnaround as Omneya recovered to 6-all.
Laura didn't do anything wrong from there, but Omneya chose that
moment to throw in some stunning winners, particularly the
nonchalant crosscourt volley drop that took her to 9-7. Another
volley drop set up match ball and a short punch sent the ball to
die in the back corner for the match. Phew ...
Irrelevant for sure, but under standard scoring it would have
been:
9/10, 9/9, 4/6, 7/3, 6/2. |
 "Oh
my God, I'm relieved now!
"That's probably the longest match I've ever played in my life,
I'm so relieved it's finished!
"I was ready to shake hands after the first, but you have to
concentrate and go on, it's the world open.
"We were both playing well, the points had to be won. I kept
telling myself to focus until the end, but I wasn't expecting
those long rallies or long games.
"We always have hard games when we play, but Laura's improved a
lot, especially her short game, so I had to change my game and
play to the back more which is unusual for me, I normally like
going to the front a lot, but it worked.
"I kept telling myself to concentrate point by point, to be
focused to the end, but it's difficult to concentrate for the
whole match.
"It wasn't until the last point that I was expecting to win it.
I heard 'match ball' and that rang a bell in my head, I knew I
had to focus then and not let it slip like in the other games.
"I'm so pleased, and relieved, to reach the quarters for the
first time ..."
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[14] Adrian Grant (Eng) bt [2]
Gregory Gaultier (Fra)
9/11, 12/10, 14/12, 1/11, 13/11 (98m)
Grant denies Gaultier
It was the longest match of the tournament, and the most
dramatic, with the crowd getting involved as Adrian Grant
derailed Gregory Gaultier's attempt to reach a third successive
World Open final.
It started well enough for the Frenchman, as he came from 7-9
down to take the first, but he saw a 7/4 lead disappear in the
second as Grant levelled.
Greg led for most of the third too, had game balls at 10-9,
11-10 and 12-11, but lost out again.
Sensing danger he came out firing in the fourth, racing to 9-0
before levelling, and led 5-1 in the decider too.
But now it was the Englishman's turn to regroup, levelling at
5-all. There was many a let as they traded points, but Greg held
it together to get two match balls at 10-8. He thought he might
have won it on one of them, only to hear the referees award a
let rather than the stroke he wanted.
One more chance was to come and go for the Frenchman, but on
Adrian's first opportunity he tinned a dropshot as Adrian
completed "my best ever win, by far."
So no hat-trick for Greg, but a best yet for Adrian, although
he's not getting carried away yet, "it's a good win, but there's
another match tomorrow ..." |
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[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [13]
Rebecca Chiu (Hkg)
11/3, 11/8, 11/7 (24m)
Nicol getting in the mood
You would have got long odds on Rebecca Chiu repeating her 2002
upset win over Nicol David in the Asian Games final. Since then
the world number one has beaten Rebecca 13 times, and tonight
she made it 14 with some ease.
Dominant at the start, with Rebecca struggling to come to terms
with the glass court, the Malaysian raced to a 7-1 lead in both
of the first two games. The first was consolidated quickly, the
second after a spirited comeback from the Hong Kong number one.
Finding her shots at last, Rebecca took a 4-1 lead in the third,
but Nicol was in no mood to let the schedule get any later than
it already was as she upped the pace to level at 7-all before
finishing it off.
 "I
was pleased with my game today, I did what I had to do. Rebecca
was getting used to the court and was getting better each game,
so I'm glad I got the first two and I was pleased to finish off
the third.
"It's a matter of getting used to the court, but it always gets
the adrenalin going playing on the glass. The corners are deader
than the side courts so you have to take advantage of that.
"You always get the hype of a big event here in Manchester,
whether it's the British Open or now the World Open. I'm up to
win it, but then so is everyone else, so you just have to be on
form from the word go because on their day anyone can come out
here and do it ..."
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[7] Karim Darwish (Egy) bt Alister Walker (Eng)
9/11, 11/8, 11/5, 11/8 (61m)
Darwish keeps his nerve
The large crowd as Sportcity thought an all-English
quarter-final was on the cards when Alister Walker took the
first game against Karim Darwish, and at 8-all in the second yet
another upset on this day of upsets looked on the cards.
But the Egyptian former world junior champion is a tough cookie,
and he held it together to take the second and ease through the
third.
Alister wasn't finished though, and in a fourth game that became
increasingly physical, he took a 5-2 advantage. Again the
Egyptian responded.
At 10-9 match ball Karim's shot from the back wall hit Alister's
racket on the way to the front wall. A disappointing way to
finish - for which Karim apologised - but another World Open
quarter-final for Darwish.
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