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Fri 17th, Day Seven, Quarters:
An English finalist is guaranteed after Duncalf defeats Grinham
... Vicky's home hopes continue ... Perry comeback seals date
with David ...
[5] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt [3]
Natalie Grinham (Ned)
11/8, 10/12, 5/11, 11/6,
11/7 (65m)
[11] Vicky Botwright (Eng) bt
[7] Alison Waters (Eng)
13/11, 5/11, 13/11, 11/9
(51m)
[14] Madeline Perry (Irl) bt
Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl)
6/11, 5/11, 11/9,
12/10, 11/9 (66m)
[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [9]
Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy)
11/8, 11/1,
11/9 (30m)
All-Egyptian semi for Ramy and Shabana ... Palmer dashes
James' hopes again ... Darwish makes it three for Egypt ...
[4] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [8] Nick
Matthew (Eng)
2/11, 11/8, 11/9, 11/7
(58m)
[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [Q]
Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy)
11/2, 11/3, 11/6 (20m)
[5] David Palmer (Aus) bt [3]
James Willstrop (Eng)
5/11, 11/5,
9/11, 11/4, 11/5 (78m)
[7] Karim Darwish (Egy) bt [14]
Adrian Grant (Eng)
12/10, 11/7,
11/7 (47m)
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[5] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt
[3] Natalie Grinham (Ned)
11/8, 10/12, 5/11, 11/6, 11/7 (65m)
Lucky 13 for Jenny
It can't be easy going into a match against someone who's beaten
you a dozen times - every time you've played. But if you're
going to break that sequence, at home in the World Open
quarter-finals is a good place to do it, and that's exactly what
Jenny Duncalf did today.
It wasn't fantastic squash in the early stages, but the
Englishwoman got the better of the first game, and had a game
ball to double that lead.
Natalie is nothing if not a fighter though, and she battled back
to take the second, and the third too, despite being clearly not
happy with her form.
Jenny pulled away from 6-all in the fourth, and Natalie's
discomfiture was apparent when she walked off court after
tinning a long drop to go 10-6 down. "What's the matter, Miss
Grinham?" enquired the referee. She only needed to go back on
for one more point as Jenny levelled.
The start of the fifth saw Jenny playing with real confidence
and purpose, moving her opponent round, firing in volley and
drop winners, and in complete control up to 7/1. There's often a
jittery period in Jenny's matches, and it came now as she put in
three consecutive edgy tins.
But Natalie wasn't playing well enough to take advantage. They
traded a few more points, and on her first match ball Jenny
fired one in short, to her utter delight, and relief ...
 "I'm
so pleased, it's the first time I've beaten her in a lot of
attempts, what better time to do it!
"I thought I played ok in the first, but she was a bit scrappy,
she wasn't timing the ball well.
"The second and third got a bit messy, but then I played my best
squash to go 7/1 up in the fifth.
"I've lost to her 3/2 a few times, so I just wanted to stay calm
and finish it, I knew she would think she should be beating me
and she could easily come back.
"Then I just got these tingles, hit a few in the tin. Then I hit
a volley drop to go 8/5 and thought finish it, finish it.
"I'm so pleased right now, especially because we're guaranteed
an English finalist. Happy with that, but you can't leave it at
the semis, I want to go further …"
Jenny Duncalf |
"That was
terrible!
"For the first couple of games we were both just hitting it into
the middle, mishitting it and it was all very loose. It's a very
different glass court, there are some strange bounces, sometimes
I'd get to the front, think I was there and suddenly it would
bounce differently.
"I was trying to hit the ball to anywhere but where I was
hitting it, to be honest - I wanted to play more length, but it
was going into the middle, so I ended up going short more than I
wanted to.
"Only in the last two did Jenny start to play better - she
deserved it, she played better than me."
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[4] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [8]
Nick Matthew (Eng)
2/11, 11/8, 11/9, 11/7
(58m)
Ramy plays safe ...
From the point of view of most observers this was, after Ramy
had woken up from a slow start where he was outplayed in the
first by a fired up Englishman, a feat of fast-paced attacking
squash with much to admire from both players.
Ramy claimed he was playing basic up and down the wall squash,
not his old attacking style which he believes other players have
learnt to deal with.
You could have fooled us, Ramy, but it was a pretty impressive
show from the Egyptian nevertheless. Nick played well to,
but on the day Ramy was just that little bit better.
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[11] Vicky Botwright (Eng)
bt [7] Alison Waters (Eng)
13/11, 5/11, 13/11, 11/9
(51m)
Vicky marches on
An English finalist was already assured after Jenny Duncalf's
win, but would it be the National Champion Alison Waters, or
local heroine Vicky Botwright who faced her in the semis ...
Waters made the better start, pulling away from mid-game to go
10-6 up, but Vicky won seven of the next eight points to seeal
it 13-11. Alison didn't let it slip in the second though, again
pulling away, from 3-all to 10-3, and she quickly levelled.
 The
third went point for point, the same patter of Alison always
looking for the volley, Vicky trying to keep it tight. 10-8 to
the Mancunian but Alison put in two unreturnable drops and
earned a game ball of her own. Vicky responded with three
winners of her own to take the game and the lead.
The fourth was a nervous affair for both of them. Vicky took the
early lead, 4-1, but after that one good shot was followed by a
tin. It was the same for Alison, she'd peg a point back then
lose the advantage with an error.
It came to 10-8, matchball, as Alison tinned a long drop. She
saved one with a delicate crosscourt drop, but then gave Vicky
an open court into which she powered the winner ... and boy was
she pleased ...
 "It's
unbelievable, to be in a world open semi-final, here in
Manchester! It's hard enough to get to this stage, the players
you have to beat, even if you're in the top four.
"To be honest I really didn't feel any pressure, before the
match I was just delighted that after Jenny's win we had a
guaranteed English finalist, I think that was the coach coming
out in me.
"It was a bit nervous towards the end - I got a lead in the last
game, she kept chipping away at it, and in the end I was very
relieved to get it over without needing a fifth.
"The scoring change came just in time for me, I'm not sure I
would have won my last two matches under the old scoring!
(this one would have been 7/6, 2/8, 7/6, 5/4)
"It's the first time I've played here that I've enjoyed it, I
didn't handle the pressure well before, but today I played like
I would have done in a tournament somewhere else in the world. I
just want to play alright tomorrow now ..."
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[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt
[Q] Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) 11/2, 11/3, 11/6 (20m)
One too far for Shorbagy
As presenter Andy Nickeas said to Shabana after his victory
today, "the world junior champion met the world senior champion
today, didn't he."
He sure did, and after coming through qualifying and scoring two
upset five game victories on the glass court, the youngster,
even if he had had much left in the tank it probably wouldn't
have been enough against a world number one in good form.
Shabana demolished him in the first two games, made a few errors
in a more competitive third, but the result was never in doubt
as Shabana went through to another showdown with Ramy.
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[14] Madeline Perry (Irl) bt
Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl)
6/11, 5/11, 11/9,
12/10, 11/9 (66m)
Comeback queen Madeline
Playing like a drain for two games, two points from defeat in
the third, 10-5 down in the fourth, two points from defeat in
the fifth and still she wins ...
 Madeline
Perry reached the semi-finals of the World Open with an
astonishing comeback against Jaclyn Hawkes, who must be
wondering how on earth she lost this match.
Quickly 5-0 up in the first with the Irishwoman misfiring badly,
Jaclyn took the first with some ease and the second with even
greater ease.
The Kiwi was doing the right thing with an opponent clearly hit
by nerves - keep it going and wait for the inevitable mistakes.
At 10-1 in the second it looked all over, but Madeline finally
started to put some rallies together, clawing five points back
... and then she served out.
Those rallies seemed to settle her though, and from then on we
had a real contest. Jaclyn was still playing the better though,
playing very patiently, and from 7-all she took two points to
move within two of the semi-final. Madeline took the next four
though, which included two monster rallies.
You might have though that having been so close, the pressure
would now tell on Jaclyn. Not a bit of it - from 4-all she
pressurised Madeline, running everything down and glueing
several drives to the wall, one of which took her to 10-5.
 This
time it was seven points in a row for Madeline, and she won six
of them, only one was an error from Jaclyn. Two-all.
And still neither of them were finished. Hell for leather they
went in the fifth, 2-all, 4-all, 7-all. 8-7 to Madeline and she
hits two service returns down the middle, two strokes and Jaclyn
is two points away again.
A low drive from Madeline levels it, a drop gives her match ball
and when Jaclyn tins yesterday's headline of "Jaclyn jumps for
joy" becomes redundant, because Madeline really did jump for joy
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"It certainly wasn't my easiest win!
"The pressure of it being a world open quarter and having what I
though was a good chance of getting through got to me. I felt
fine before, but as soon as I hit the ball I felt terrible, as
soon as I started to run I felt terrible.
"When I was down in the second I though 'at least get a few
rallies going, get yourself into it' = and then I served out!
She was playing well, but I just wasn't there.
"At 7-10 down [it was 5-10, Madeline] I knew I'd been rubbish
and I just wanted to do myself justice, so I just dug in and in
the end it was sheer determination that got me through, very
little to do with my squash.
"What I went through last year,
I almost died, got me through that. They told me I might never
be able to concentrate enough to play again, so I'm glad to have
proved the doctors wrong, and to have justified all the help
everyone gave me - I'm a better player now because of it, more
determined.
"I'm really pleased to come through in the end, but I think I
was a bit lucky there ..."
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[5] David Palmer (Aus) bt [3]
James Willstrop (Eng)
5/11, 11/5,
9/11, 11/4, 11/5 (78m)
Palmer denies Willstrop again
It was a repeat of their epic British Open final, ands as David
Palmer said at the end, "it felt like a final."
Palmer ended James' hopes last May in Liverpool and he did it
again here, again in five hard games.
James took the first with a run of nine unanswered points but
the Australian hit back with a strong opening to the second and
held on to level. The third was the most competitive game, James
held the edge at 9-6, David levelled but James took the last two
points to take the lead.
It was at no point easy, the rallies were brutal, the stoppages
frequent, but David was generally in control for the final two
games, taking the fourth relatively comfortably and pulling away
from 4-all in the decider.
As David said, "James will definitely win this title in the
future," but for now it's David who has the chance for a
hat-trick ...
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[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [9]
Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy)
11/8, 11/1,
11/9 (30m)
Nicol on course
Winner of an epic battle yesterday, Omneya Abdel Kawy was always
facing an uphill task against the undisputed world number one
who is looking to claim the World Open title for a third time.
She started well, did the Egyptian, but couldn't hold on to a
5-1 lead in the first as Nicol found her rhythm and started
moving better.
The second went quickly, and the third looked like doing so too,
but some uncharacteristic errors from the world number one kept
Omneya interested, but she could never quite get back on terms,
finally tinning an attempted dropshot to send Nicol into the
semis ...
 "Omneya
had a hard game yesterday and she was maybe feeling it, so was
going short a bit too often, but she played well and I had to
step up my game to finish it off.
"It feels better every round you play on the glass court,
hopefully I can bring my game up more for tomorrow ..."
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[7] Karim Darwish (Egy) bt
[14] Adrian Grant (Eng)
12/10, 11/7,
11/7 (47m)
Darwish makes it three
While most of the attention has been focused on defending
champion Amr Shabana and wunderkid Ramy Ashour, Karim Darwish
has, as he often does, progressed to the final stages almost
un-noticed.
Tonight the former world junior champion met yesterday's English
giantkiller Adrian Grant, who was unable to repeat the intensity
of performance in the crucial stages that he showed to defeat
Gregory Gaultier last night
Adrian led 10-7 in the first, but five in a row from Karim took
the game. The Englishman was always a step behind after that,
and when he slid into the front corner and collapsed in agony at
4-7 in the third it looked over.
To his credit he returned to complete the match, but the end was
nigh as Karim made it three Egyptians in the semi-finals ...
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Yes, it's the
real Premiership Trophy - Shabana & Ramy with Zaki & Mido shirts
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