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Saudi Squash International, Al Khobar,
Saudi Arabia
Final:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY)
bt [2] Ramy Ashour (EGY) 11-5, 11-5, 1-11, 11-9 (50m)
Shabana Shines In Saudi Showdown
 Amr Shabana
conquered Egyptian compatriot Ramy Ashour in the final
of the Saudi International to not only win the biggest
cheque in the history of squash but also ensure that he
extends his grip on the world number one ranking into a 20th
successive month.
The climax of the
PSA Super Series Platinum event in the Saudi Arabian
city of Al-Khobar provided the dream finale between top
seed Shabana, one of the sport's most skilful racquet
'technicians', and second seed Ramy Ashour, the 20-year-old
'new kid on the block' who has already picked up five PSA Tour
titles this year - and for whom victory would have led to his
attaining the world number one ranking for the first time!
Shabana, in his
first Tour final since March, romped to a two-game lead - the
pressure appearing to affect Ashour more than his experienced
opponent.
But Ramy took
heart in the third after Shabana hit two unnecessary tins.
Ramy led 5-0 and 7-1, by which time Shabana let the game go to
focus on the fourth.
The top seed was
back on court early for the fourth, keen to get back on top.
But Ramy too was up for it now. Level up to five-all, Shabana
pulled ahead 7-5 - but then Ramy took over the lead 8-7.
 At match-ball,
Shabana is about to celebrate after hitting a winner, when the
referee shouts 'let'. At the second time of asking, it's a
'no let' - and the defending champion raises his arms in
delight.
"Oh man, what a
big match, so much at stake," Shabana told the official
website
www.atcosquash.com
after collecting his record cheque for $31,172.
"You have to keep
it simple as you can against Ramy, or he's going to eat you
up. The first two games were good, I played simple, steady
squash and contained him. I could see in his eyes as he came
out he was up for the third, but I mixed it up too much and he
played too good.
"It meant a lot
when I got to match ball. I've been thinking a lot about
getting to match ball in a big tournament, thinking about it
for some time, it's been a long time for me. I knew I had to
push, really push then, it might not come again," explained
Shabana, who now boasts 17 PSA Tour titles.
"It's going to be
so hard playing Ramy over the next few years, but I'm really
pleased to win this one again, it's massive. I'm not thinking
about three for now, two is enough!"
 Ramy responded:
"He played much better than me. I played well, but he was
better. I was a bit loose in the first and second, I couldn't
feel the shots, but I came back well in the third.
"In the fourth he
had that mental toughness. I got close but he forced me to
push myself as hard as I could and in the end he was that bit
tougher and he played better than me."
Event promoter
Ziad Al-Turki expressed his delight at the success of the
tournament: "Amr Shabana won it again, he's a deserving
champion - and for the second time in three years the final
decided who would be number one.
"Overall it was a
great event. It would have been nice to see Ramy win, but the
future is his."
Full
coverage:
www.AtcoSquash.com
SEMI-FINALS:
[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [3] David
Palmer (Aus) 11-10 (3-1),
11-8, 11-4 (54m)
[2] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [4] Gregory Gaultier (Fra)
10-11 (0-2), 11-2, 8-11, 11-2, 11-8 (68m)
All-Egyptian final at Sunset Beach
 The
crowd at the Sunset Beach resort in the Saudi Arabian city of
Al-Khobar went wild tonight, not once, but twice,
as their favourite Egyptians won through to the final of the
richest event in squash history.
 They did it in contrasting styles, as defending champion
Amr Shabana beat
world champion David Palmer in straight games having saved game
balls in the first, while Ramy Ashour eventually got the better of
France's Gregory Gaultier in a five-game thriller that kept the
crowd on the edge of its seats as the momentum swung one way,
then the other, before finally resting in the world junior
champion's favour.
Full
coverage:
www.AtcoSquash.com
QUARTER-FINALS:
[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [5] Thierry Lincou (Fra)
11/7, 12/10, 11/5 (50m)
[3] David Palmer (Aus) bt [7] Nick Matthew (Eng)
11/5, 10/12, 11/3, 11/3 (71m)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) bt [6] James Willstrop (Eng)
11/2, 2/11, 11/7, 11/9 (65m)
[2] Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt [15] Olli Tuominen (Fin)
11/6, 11/6, 11/7 (31m)
Top Seeds Through In Saudi
The world's top
four players will contest the semi-finals of the Saudi
International after surviving contrasting quarter-final
clashes in the PSA Super Series Platinum squash event
in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
Egypt's top seed
Amr Shabana was in no mood for another five-game
thriller, and once he had saved a pair of game balls in the
second he eased through to an 11-7, 11-10 (2-0), 11-5 victory
over fifth seed Thierry Lincou. The Frenchman needed
brief treatment following an accidental clash in the third -
after which he failed to gain a further point.
"It was one of
those matches that was more on the physical side, it's not the
best technical squash I've ever played, but every one of
Thierry's shots is technically perfect so it makes it very
hard for you – if I don't play a good shot I'm in trouble,"
Shabana explained to the official website
www.atcosquash.com
"I knew at 3-5 in
the third that was the time, because he's the king of the
comeback and if he had got back to 2/1 I was not likely to
win. Even though I wasn't happy with my game, I am pleased to
be through to the semi-finals. This is such a big tournament
for us, and with all the fans here we want to do well for
them."
The defending
champion will meet David Palmer for a place in the
final after the Australian world champion turned in "one of my
best performances of the year" to see off the challenge of
England's US Open Nick Matthew - who, by his own
admission, had only one brief good spell during the match
which enabled him to take the second game.
"I knew it was
going to be a tough match, that I'd have to be at 110% to win
this one - but the schedule suited me this week, I was fresh
and well-prepared and that was probably one of the best
matches I've played this year," said Palmer.
Another Egyptian
who improved massively on his previous performance was Ramy
Ashour, the 20-year-old No2 seed who, in the words of his
opponent Olli Tuominen, "really ruled the game" with a
very impressive performance.
"Olli is such a
fast player, my target when I play him is to make him as tired
as I can," said the world No2 from Cairo after his 11-6, 11-6,
11-7 victory over the 15th seed from Finland.
Ashour will meet
France's Gregory Gaultier, who got the better of a
topsy-turvy encounter with Englishman James Willstrop,
winning 11-2, 2-11, 11-7, 11-9 in 65 minutes to set up a
repeat of their Super Series Finals meeting in August.
"It's tough to
keep the pace up for the whole match, and it was a little up
and down for both of us," said fourth seed Gaultier. "The
third and fourth games were very hard, he was very sharp today
and came back very strongly towards the end."
Full
coverage:
www.AtcoSquash.com
2nd round (bottom half):
[6] James
Willstrop (ENG) bt [11] Lee Beachill (ENG) 11-4, 11-6,
11-4 (38m)
[4] Gregory
Gaultier (FRA) bt [14] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-7, 11-4,
11-7 (49m)
[15] Olli
Tuominen (FIN) bt [8] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-7,
11-6, 11-10 (3-1) (61m)
[2] Ramy Ashour (EGY)
bt [16] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-9, 10-11 (0-2), 11-6,
11-5 (63m)
Olli Ousts El Hindi In Saudi
Olli Tuominen
produced the only shock on the second day of second round
Saudi International action when he upset eighth seed
Wael El Hindi to reach the quarter-finals of the PSA
Super Series Platinum squash event in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
The determined
No15 seed from Finland battled for 61 minutes to overcome El
Hindi 11-7, 11-6, 11-10 (3-1) to reach his fourth PSA Tour
event quarter-final this year.
Tuominen, 28,
from Helsinki, will now face Egypt's latest squash star
Ramy Ashour, the 20-year-old world number two who was
taken to four games by Ong Beng Hee before beating the
16th seed from Malaysia 11-9, 10-11 (0-2), 11-6,
11-5 in 63 minutes.
"That was very
tough - I expected him to play faster than me but he slowed it
down and slowed it down. I wasn't expecting that at all,"
Ashour told the official website
www.atcosquash.com
"I had to just
keep playing my way and learn to cope with what he was doing.
I learned a lot from that game today, a lot," added the winner
of five Tour titles already this year.
In the
all-English clash which opened the day's play, Yorkshireman
James Willstrop beat his club, county and national
team-mate Lee Beachill 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 in 38 minutes.
"It's not the
easiest or most enjoyable matches to play, although it's
always fair game, but you just have to get on with it," said
Willstrop - who only earlier this year secured the first ever
win over his close friend in years of competition on an off
the Tour.
"Lee wasn't
moving so fluently, you could see it wasn't there - but he
hung in well and made it hard for two games before he dropped
off in the third," said the 24-year-old sixth seed.
"I performed as
well as I had to and played some pretty decent squash. He's
done that to me so many times, so I'm not going to get
embarrassed to get one back!"
Willstrop will
face Frenchman Gregory Gaultier in the quarter-finals
for the third time in three months. The 24-year-old fourth
seed, winner of the British Open title in September,
defeated Willstrop's England team-mate Peter Barker,
the 14th seed, 11-7, 11-4, 11-7.
"I've played him
twice this year, he fights for all the points and is a good
defender so you have to make your shots count and that worked
for me today," explained Gaultier, the world No3.
"Winning the
British Open was a huge thing for me, it's one of my main
targets. With Thierry already having won the world
championship and been number one, it was nice to be the first
to get something for France. But you can't afford to dwell on
it too long, now I try to stay focussed on my upcoming matches
and events."
Quarter-final line-up:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY)
v [5] Thierry Lincou (FRA)
[3] David Palmer
(AUS) v [7] Nick Matthew (ENG)
[4] Gregory
Gaultier (FRA) v [6] James Willstrop (ENG)
[2] Ramy Ashour (EGY)
v [15] Olli Tuominen (FIN)
Full
coverage:
www.AtcoSquash.com
2nd round (top half):
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY)
bt [9] Karim Darwish (EGY) 10-11 (0-2), 4-11, 11-4,
11-6, 11-4 (67m)
[5] Thierry
Lincou (FRA) bt [10] Stewart Boswell (AUS) 11-10 (2-0),
11-6, 11-8 (52m)
[3] David Palmer
(AUS) bt [13] Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 (47m)
[7] Nick Matthew
(ENG) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-10 (2-0), 8-11, 11-6,
11-3 (60m)
Shabana Tested By Darwish In Saudi
Egypt's world
number Amr Shabana was taken the full distance by
fellow countryman Karim Darwish in the second round of
the Saudi International before surviving to claim his
anticipated place in the quarter-finals of the PSA Super Series Platinum squash event in Al Khobar,
Saudi Arabia.
 Shabana,
looking for his first Tour title win since March, dropped the
first two games - but staged a mighty fight-back to beat his
Egyptian rival 10-11 (0-2), 4-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 in 67
minutes.
"I had to give
100% - and the rest - to win that one," Shabana told the
official website
www.atcosquash.com.
"I was out of breath in the first two. I wasn't sure what
shape I was in coming into this tournament after an injury in
the British and losing early in New York. He just outplayed
me in the first two though - he was too good.
"It's a fine line
between winning and losing and I could easily have lost
tonight," added the 28-year-old from Cairo.
Shabana will face
France's Thierry Lincou in Friday's quarter-finals
after the fifth-seeded Frenchman defeated Australian
Stewart Boswell, the tenth seed, 11-10 (2-0), 11-6, 11-8.
"It's not like it
used to be - all the players are very close to each other and
there are battles right from the first round," Lincou
explained. "Normally Stewart and I go to four or five games, so I'm really
pleased with that.
"I've changed my
preparation, especially the mental side of it to try not to
give games away, and I'm trying to enjoy myself more."
 The
other quarter-final resolved on the first day of second round
action will see Australia's World Open champion
David Palmer face England's US Open champion
Nick Matthew for the fourth time this year.
Third seed Palmer
defeated Adrian Grant, the 13th seed, 11-7,
11-9, 11-7, while seventh seed Matthew needed exactly one hour
to end the run of unseeded Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema,
winning 11-10 (2-0), 8-11, 11-6, 11-3.
"Adrian plays a
very slow game, it's hard to build up a rhythm," said Palmer
after his win. "My game was to try to step forward and take
the volley, a counter-punching game. It was more a
concentration thing in keeping it up, and it was only at 10/6
in the second that I relaxed at all."
Matthew
acknowledged that Anjema should have won the first game:
"Things evened out – he deserved to win the first, and once
I snuck that I relaxed a little, but I still should have
closed out the second.
"I'd never played
him before in PSA so it was very different to yesterday - “new
court, new opponent, you're not on autopilot, you have find
out their game and adapt to the conditions at the same time."
Full
coverage:
www.AtcoSquash.com
23-Oct-07, Round One:
Anjema Ousts Abbas In Sole Saudi Upset
Unseeded Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema scored the sole upset
on the opening day's play in the Saudi International
when he defeated No12 seed Mohammed Abbas in the first
round of the PSA Super Series Platinum squash event in
Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
"It's the win
I've been looking for for two years," said the delighted
24-year-old from The Hague after his 11-10 (2-0), 10-11 (1-3),
11-2, 11-9 victory over the Egyptian in 52 minutes.
 The
Dutchman's first big win in a major event takes Anjema through
to a second round meeting with England's Nick Matthew,
the No7 seed from Sheffield who beat training partner and good
friend Alister Walker, a qualifier from Leeds, 11-6,
11-6, 10-11 (0-2), 11-6 in 61 minutes.
Elsewhere it was
a good day for the English with Matthew joined by James
Willstrop, Lee Beachill, Peter Barker and
Adrian Grant - though Grant needed 92 minutes to overcome
compatriot Joey Barrington 3-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9,
11-10 (3-1).
But the longest
battle was an Egyptian/Spaniard clash between Wael El Hindi
and Borja Golan, in which the No8 seed from Cairo
prevailed 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5 in 96 minutes. El
Hindi had been elevated to eighth seed after the last-minute
withdrawal of Scotland's John White through injury.
The quickest win
of the day belonged to Olli Tuominen, who lived up to
the 'Flying Finn' tag as he swept Italy's Davide Bianchetti
aside in just 20 minutes.
"I got a good
start that lasted for two and a half games," said Olli after
his 11-1, 11-2, 11-7 victory. "That just about sums it up,"
agreed the Italian qualifier
 The
battle between second seed Ramy Ashour and English
qualifier Jonathan Kemp started off on the glass court
- but after a quick-fire first game, where rallies over four
shots were a rarity, it was decided to move the match to the
inside courts, where the Egyptian completed his 11-10 (3-1),
10-11 (1-3), 11-3, 11-7 win.
"It wasn't
slippery as such," said Kemp, "but neither of us could push
off. If you knew where the ball was going you were ok,"
explained the Englishman.
Ramy was so
nearly joined by elder brother Hisham, who lost out in a tense
five games to Ong Beng Hee, the newly-promoted 16th
seed.
After the Opening Ceremony, local wildcard Mohammed Al-Saif
found Australian Stewart Boswell too much of a handful
- both players struggling a little with footing.
Egyptians Amr
Shabana, the world No1 and defending champion, and
Omar Mosaad rounded off the day back on the inside
courts with Shabana coming through 11-7, 11-6, 10-11 (2-4),
11-7 to set up another all-Egyptian clash with ninth seed
Karim Darwish.
Full
coverage:
www.AtcoSquash.com
1st round:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [Q] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-7, 11-6,
10-11 (2-4), 11-7 (57m)
[9] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-10 (4-2),
8-11, 11-4, 11-6 (52m)
[5] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 11-10
(3-1), 8-11, 11-9, 11-8 (71m)
[10] Stewart Boswell (AUS) bt Mohammed Taher Al-Saif (KSA)
11-6, 11-4, 11-2 (25m)
[3] David Palmer (AUS) bt Chris Ryder (ENG) 11-3, 11-5, 11-6
(30m)
[13] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [Q] Joey Barrington (ENG) 3-11,
7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-10 (3-1) (92m)
[7] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Alister Walker (ENG) 11-6, 11-6,
10-11 (0-2), 11-6 (61m)
Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [12] Mohammed Abbas (EGY)
11-10(2-0), 10-11(1-3), 11-2, 11-9 (52m)
[11] Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Alex Gough (WAL) 7-11, 11-7, 11-7,
7-11, 11-5 (71m)
[6] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Daryl Selby (ENG) 11-6, 11-7,
11-5 (35m)
[14] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [Q] Chris Simpson (ENG) 11-2, 11-3,
11-3 (30m)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Jonathan Harford (ENG) 11-0,
11-7, 11-8 (29m)
[15] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [Q] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 11-1,
11-2, 11-7 (20m)
[8] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt Borja Golan (ESP) 7-11, 11-7, 9-11,
11-5, 11-5 (96m)
[16] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [Q] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 11-8,
7-11, 11-1, 10-11(0-2), 11-8 (61m)
[2] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-10 (3-1),
10-11 (1-3), 11-3, 11-7 (31m)
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