By N.D. Prashant
Spain’s Borja Golan put up a strong performance before going down to top seed and World No 1 Amr Shabana in straight games 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11- 9 in the second round of the Qatar Classic Squash Tournament, yesterday.
Defending champion Shabana was stretched for the first time in the tournament and after the 56 minutes absorbing dual, he was all praise for his rival.
“He (Golan) played well today and it is a clear indication that he is keeping a close watch on the players at the top. Last time we met, I had beaten him convincingly 3-0. Future battles against him are going to get more interesting,” said a relieved Shabana soon after the match.
Golan was in an aggressive mode right from the start and matched his much superior opponent in everyway. He engaged Shabana in long rallies and went for the winners. After being on level terms at 9-9, the experienced Egyptian forced Golan into two rash shots and went 1-0 up.
The champion seemed to have got things under his control once he pocketed the second game cheaply at 11-5. The Spaniard was struggling to pick Shabana’s drop shots and once he countered that, he was up and going again.
The absorbing third game ended in Golan’s favour with Shabana finding the tin twice at the death.
“Golan made a good beginning in the third game and the pressure was on me. By the time I tried to get back into the game it was too late. I committed too many errors trying to go in for my shots. This is something that I have to cut down in the coming days,” revealed Shabana, who now meets Peter Barker of England in the quarterfinals.
The fourth game also saw a tooth-and-nail battle with the duo engaging in long rallies. Golan’s aggressive play allowed him to steal a 9-7 lead but few back-to-back errors sealed his chances.
“I had my chances but I lost my cool and made a mess of it. You have to forget that he is world No 1 and play, which I did in the third game. However, the four mistakes in a row after being 9-7 up proved costly,” said a dejected Golan.
“It is difficult to play him (Shabana) as he is a model of perfection when it comes to game and strategy. I achieved the goal that I had set before coming here. I wanted to reach the second round and managed to do so,” he added.
Others to make the last eight in the men’s section are current World Open Champion Ramy Ashour from Egypt, fifth seed Thierry Lincou from France, seventh seed Nick Mathew from England and fourth seed David Palmer from Australia.
Both Egyptian Tarek Momen and Mohammed El Shorbagy, who registered a stunning upset victory on day one, were silenced by Ashour and Mathew, respectively.
Alister Walker from England, who defeated ninth ranked Wael El Hindi from Egypt in a marathon battle lasting 97 minutes, went down to Barker 3-1.
Fifth seed Lincou had to sweat it out against 12th seed Adrian Grant of England for over an hour before winning the five-game contest 11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 8-11, 11-2.
In the women’s section, defending champion Nicol David of Malaysia stormed into the quarters with a 11-5, 11-5, 11-2 win over Engy Keirallah of Egypt.
“I played much better today. I’m now looking forward to playing on the glass court. Playing on the glass courts suits my style of game and it gives me a feeling that I’m in a competition,” said David, who meets Alison Waters of England.
Twelfth seed Madeline Perry of Ireland went on to upset New Zealand’s Shelley Kitchen 6-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 while ninth seed Omneya Abdel Kawy of Egypt sent fifth seed Jenny Duncalf of England packing 12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10.
Fourth seed and last year’s finalist Natalie Grainger, Grinham sisters Natalie and Rachael were the others to make it to the last eight.
Today’s quarterfinals matches start at 2.00pm onwards.
Results: Men’s second round: Amr Shabana (EGY *1) bt Borja Golan (ESP)11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9; Peter Barker (ENG *10) bt Alister Walker (ENG) 11-4, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8; Ramy Ashour (EGY *3) bt Tarek Momen (EGY) 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5; Thierry Lincou (FRA*5) bt Adrian Grant (ENG)11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 8-11, 11-2; Nick Mathew (ENG *7) bt Mohamed el Shorbagy (EGY) 11-7, 11-8, 11-9; David Palmer (AUS*4) bt Stewart Boswell (AUS *15) 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-9; Olli Tuomien (FIN*14) bt Karim Darwish (EGY) 11-8, 11-8, 11-5; Gregory Gaultier (FRA *2) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-7, 3-11, 11-4, 11-4
Ladies second round: Nicol David (MAS *1) bt Engy Kheirallah (EGY *15) 11-5, 11-5, 11-2; Alison Waters (ENG *7) bt Kasey Brown (AUS*10) 11-4, 11-7, 11-6; Natalie Grainger (USA *4) bt Annelize Naude (NED)13-11, 13-11, 12-10; Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt Jenny Duncalf (ENG *5) 12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10; Laura Lenghthorn (ENG *8) bt Aisling Blake (IRL) 11-5, 11-3, 11-4; Natalie Grinham (NED*3) bt Isabelle Stoehr (CAN) 11-7, 11-8, 11-0; Madeline Perry (IRL*12) bt Shelley Kitchen (NZL *6) 6-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-7; Rachael Grinham (AUS*2) bt Rebecca Chiu (HKG)11-4, 11-4, 11-8 |
