Word Open.
Amr Shabana. 4 World Open titles to his name. I saw him play Hindi in the Quarters and he was in absolutely stunning form. I thought, he's either peaked too early or he'll go on to win the event. It was the latter and he wrote his name into the history books with a 3-0 win over compatriot Ramy Ashour in the final.
For myself, I made the last 16 in the tournament before losing out to Nick Matthew 3-0. That's the best he's played against me for a long time and he was sharp, taking the ball in short very well. I managed a 3-0 win over Joe Lee in the first round then came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Mohammed El Shorbagy in 5 games in the second round. I was really pleased with how I changed my game after the 2nd and then went on to dominate him in the last 3 games (3,4,3). The first 2 games were a bit scrappy. Both of us were taking it short and opening up the court for the other guy. Even though they were close (9,8) he won them both. I straightened up, gave him nothing to hit, and shut him down.
Training.
I have roughly 10 days to prepare for Qatar. It's a big event and I want to consolidate my new Top 16 ranking (15) by putting in a strong performance. It's good to be injury free again (touch wood) and I'll be going back to basics in my training in the next period of time. I'll be playing no more than 3 practice matches, instead training with my coach on structure in my play and trying to back up day after day from hard training.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Update
It's been good to have about 2 weeks between tournaments, seeing as though the next 6 weeks is going to be ridiculous! I've been getting back to basics in training and also trying to get my hip right. It's been in pretty bad shape since half way through the World Teams so I've been attempting to get that sorted out.
It's a shame most of the major events of our season is packed into about 2 months but that's the way it is. If someone is unfortuate enough to be injured as the most important 2 months of the year is about to kick off - ala Borja Golan - it can destroy their ranking in the blink of an eye. Obviously people get injured all the time and it's just a matter of trying to recover as best they can, but it's sad that we don't have a proper season where major events are spread out over the course of the year.
The biggest, most important event of the year starts next week and all players involved will be gunning for the title of World Champion. Kuwait is the host this year and it promises to produce some entertaining matches. Hong Kong finished a week ago so everyone has at least had a few days to repair their bodies and head to Kuwait refreshed and ready to roll! Bring it.
It's a shame most of the major events of our season is packed into about 2 months but that's the way it is. If someone is unfortuate enough to be injured as the most important 2 months of the year is about to kick off - ala Borja Golan - it can destroy their ranking in the blink of an eye. Obviously people get injured all the time and it's just a matter of trying to recover as best they can, but it's sad that we don't have a proper season where major events are spread out over the course of the year.
The biggest, most important event of the year starts next week and all players involved will be gunning for the title of World Champion. Kuwait is the host this year and it promises to produce some entertaining matches. Hong Kong finished a week ago so everyone has at least had a few days to repair their bodies and head to Kuwait refreshed and ready to roll! Bring it.
Monday, October 5, 2009
World Team Championships
Australia just finished 3rd at the World Team Champs held in Odense, Denmark last week. Seeded 4th at the start of the event, we managed to better our seeding again (2007 - seeded 4, finished 2nd) after defeating England in the 3rd/4th playoff. Egypt won the event to claim the title for the 2nd time. Their team consisted of 3 of the world's top 4 players, not a bad line up really.
Our team consisted of David Palmer (World rank 6), Stewart Boswell (16) myself (17) and Aaron Frankcomb (39). We finished 1st in our pool by defeating Wales and The Netherlands. We had a close call against the Dutch but managed to pull through. In the round of 16 we beat Ireland with relative ease then dominated Pakistan in the Quarter finals. In the semis we faced the No.1 seeds Egypt. Two years ago in the same event we caused a major upset by beating them 2-1 so we knew we were capable of another upset this time. I was up first for Australia against current World Champ Ramy Ashour. Ramy took the first after I had 2 game balls then I squared it up taking the 2nd. He killed me in the 3rd with some ridiculous squash and he got the 4th 11-9 in a tight game. Next up was Palmer against Current World No.1 Karim Darwish. It was a great game of squash which had everything. Dave is the most passionate player I have seen play for his country. Up until this event, Palmer had never lost a match in the World Team Championships. An awesome record. In a gruelling match Darwish came out on top with a tough 3-1 win.
We got back to our hotel after our semi at 12:30am with the 3/4 playoff scheduled for 10:30am. Interesting. Everyone involved with the Aussie team knows what it means to play for our country and how important every single match is. After such a dissappointment in losing to Egypt, there was no way in the world we would roll over easily for a 3rd/4th playoff - especially to England! Palmer - feeling the effects of his match about 12 hours earlier - put up a strong fight against Willstrop but went down 3-1. I managed to steady the ship with a big 5 set win against Ali Walker. We always seem to go the distance. It came down to Bozza against Pete Barker. The big Bozman came through with the goods to win it for Australia and it felt like we had just won the tournament!
All the boys were stoked and it was such a good team spirit during the whole week. Rod Eyles brought an incredible amount of experience to the table and it was great to have him involved with the team. He has been there and done it so many times before he can easily relate to how the players are feeling and what they're going through. I hope he is involved for many years to come.
Next event is the Hong Kong Open next week.
Our team consisted of David Palmer (World rank 6), Stewart Boswell (16) myself (17) and Aaron Frankcomb (39). We finished 1st in our pool by defeating Wales and The Netherlands. We had a close call against the Dutch but managed to pull through. In the round of 16 we beat Ireland with relative ease then dominated Pakistan in the Quarter finals. In the semis we faced the No.1 seeds Egypt. Two years ago in the same event we caused a major upset by beating them 2-1 so we knew we were capable of another upset this time. I was up first for Australia against current World Champ Ramy Ashour. Ramy took the first after I had 2 game balls then I squared it up taking the 2nd. He killed me in the 3rd with some ridiculous squash and he got the 4th 11-9 in a tight game. Next up was Palmer against Current World No.1 Karim Darwish. It was a great game of squash which had everything. Dave is the most passionate player I have seen play for his country. Up until this event, Palmer had never lost a match in the World Team Championships. An awesome record. In a gruelling match Darwish came out on top with a tough 3-1 win.
We got back to our hotel after our semi at 12:30am with the 3/4 playoff scheduled for 10:30am. Interesting. Everyone involved with the Aussie team knows what it means to play for our country and how important every single match is. After such a dissappointment in losing to Egypt, there was no way in the world we would roll over easily for a 3rd/4th playoff - especially to England! Palmer - feeling the effects of his match about 12 hours earlier - put up a strong fight against Willstrop but went down 3-1. I managed to steady the ship with a big 5 set win against Ali Walker. We always seem to go the distance. It came down to Bozza against Pete Barker. The big Bozman came through with the goods to win it for Australia and it felt like we had just won the tournament!
All the boys were stoked and it was such a good team spirit during the whole week. Rod Eyles brought an incredible amount of experience to the table and it was great to have him involved with the team. He has been there and done it so many times before he can easily relate to how the players are feeling and what they're going through. I hope he is involved for many years to come.
Next event is the Hong Kong Open next week.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Quarter Final day
Yesterday I managed to get past World No.5 Nick Matthew, 3-1, to earn a place in the Quarter Finals. The 90 minute match was kind of played in two parts. I feel I dominated the match until I was 2-0 and 10-6 match ball up. Yep, 4 match balls... Then Nick played some great squash from 10-6 down and managed to force the tie break and sneak the game. He had a 3 point lead at 7-4 up in the 4th, and at this point I just had to hang in there, make it tough, and play each rally as it came. There was no thinking about winning the match, it was literally point by point.
It's so pleasing when you can see the hard work you've done in training, pays off. As I can suffer from cramps from time to time, it was also a great feeling to feel quite strong at the end of the match.
I found it funny to read in the press that maybe the reason Nick lost was that a) he played the wild card in the first round (had no rhythm and no feel for he court); and b) he was 'still flat' from the British Open. Does that mean he was 'flat' during the British Open? I would love to see him not flat then! Correct me if I'm wrong but if you've just won the British Open, or any big tournament for that matter, you have a fair bit of momentum and confidence going into your next event. And playing the wildcard, surely that's a nice way to ease into the tournament.
I play Karim Darwish tonight in the Quarters and as the glass court is in absolute shambles, the matches will be played on the traditional glass back courts in the club. It's a massive challenge playing the World No.1 in his home country and I can't wait to test him out.
It's so pleasing when you can see the hard work you've done in training, pays off. As I can suffer from cramps from time to time, it was also a great feeling to feel quite strong at the end of the match.
I found it funny to read in the press that maybe the reason Nick lost was that a) he played the wild card in the first round (had no rhythm and no feel for he court); and b) he was 'still flat' from the British Open. Does that mean he was 'flat' during the British Open? I would love to see him not flat then! Correct me if I'm wrong but if you've just won the British Open, or any big tournament for that matter, you have a fair bit of momentum and confidence going into your next event. And playing the wildcard, surely that's a nice way to ease into the tournament.
I play Karim Darwish tonight in the Quarters and as the glass court is in absolute shambles, the matches will be played on the traditional glass back courts in the club. It's a massive challenge playing the World No.1 in his home country and I can't wait to test him out.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Petrosport Open - EGYPT!
Well I am now in Cairo playing the Petrosport Open. It's a pretty big event with a total prize pool of $135,000 USD - significantly more than the 'prestigious' British Open last week ($75,000). The first round was played today and there was only one upset really with Reda defeating Bozza 3-1. I managed to beat Ong Beng Hee 3-1. I played quite well actually. Hitting the ball nicely and surprisingly moving very well!
I'm playing Nick Matthew tomorrow at 12pm in a re-match of the British Open. Hopefully this time my ankle will pull up ok in the morning. Last week in Manchester was pretty embarrassing and I possibly shouldn't have played with my ankle that bad. But I've never retired before or during a match so I thought, 'what the hell, give it a go..'
Looking forward to tomorrow's match for a place in the Quarter finals of a Super Series Platinum event.
I'm playing Nick Matthew tomorrow at 12pm in a re-match of the British Open. Hopefully this time my ankle will pull up ok in the morning. Last week in Manchester was pretty embarrassing and I possibly shouldn't have played with my ankle that bad. But I've never retired before or during a match so I thought, 'what the hell, give it a go..'
Looking forward to tomorrow's match for a place in the Quarter finals of a Super Series Platinum event.
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