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Howard's Roundup

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[8] Laura Massaro bt [12] Annie Au
                   8/11, 11/9, 11/7, 11/9 (45m)

Laura battles through to quarters

At a game and 8-3 to Annie Au, it looked as though we had an upset on the cards in today's first match.

The diminutive Hong Kong player was causing Laura Massaro all sorts of problems with her left-handed deceptions, and flicks and boasts at the front to the court.

Annie kept hold onto a slender lead throughout the first, and sped to a 5-0 and 8-3 lead in the second with the Englishwoman struggling to find an answer.

But working hard, as ever, Laura started to find her way into the match, managed to stop giving Annie the opportunities to play her shots, and started to take some measure of control.

It was never comfortable, but having pegged back that lead in the second, Laura stayed marginally on top iin the third and fourth games, although when Annie levelled at 9-all with one of those crosscourt flicks we hadn't seen for a while, the match was very much in the balance.

But a drive that refused to budge from the back corner gave Laura match ball, and when Annie's boast barely clipped the tin the look on her face made it clear that she knew she's just lost a great opportunity to become Hong Kong's first World Open quarter-finalist. And the look on Laura's told us that she was happy and relieved to escape this one ...

"I've played Annie a few times, so I know what to expect, not that it did me much good in the first game and a half!

"She's tricky being a left-hander and she plays differently from the other girls, and she's putting in shots all the time, you have to work hard to counter it. She doesn't let you get any rhythm, you have to up the pace and you find yourself forcing your own game, and anything short will be killed so you have to be on your toes all the time.

"I don't feel like I played great, but if I ever beat her this is how it will probably feel. I was a bit lucky to come back in the second, so just happy to be through.

"If I play Natalie tomorrow I won't be seeded to win so there's no pressure on me. I beat her the last two times we played, but she won a few before that, I'll just go on to play as well as I can ..."

"I got a chance at 8-3 in the second game, but lost my concentration and gave away some easy points.

"In the third and fourth perhaps I was attacking too much - but I made too many mistakes and she was more consistent. I had another chance at nine-all in the fourth game.

"I'm disappointed, but I think I'm getting closer to her - I hope I'll get the chance to beat her next time.

"Yes, I knew I would be the first Hong Kong player to get to the quarter-finals ..."

"I started well, but she started hitting harder and I was struggling to see the ball a little on this court, I was always a little delayed onto the ball and kept putting it in the middle, she's too good from there.

"In the fourth I got my length back and it worked, but then I was a bit too undisciplined at the end. But I enjoyed playing her, everything's an experience.

"I'm going to work harder, I really want to be in the top ten. I'm in the process of learning some new things, but I still have so much to learn ..."

[6] Omneya Abdel Kawy bt [15] Samantha Teran
                   8/11, 11/5, 11/4, 11/7 (33m)

Omneya weathers
Samantha's storm ...

You always knew this would be a clash of styles, one player looking to hammer the ball hard and low all day, the other looking to take the pace off and mix it up a little.

And so it proved. From the start Samantha Teran's pace and hitting held sway, but as the match wore on Omneya Abdel Kawy began to deal with it, and became able to make her opponent move in circles rather than straight lines - corner to corner rather than up and down the walls.

The second and third games went the Egyptian's way fairly comfortably, Samantha made the fourth a battle again, but Omneya was able to draw clear at the end to claim a fifth successive World Open quarter-final place.

"It's good to be in the quarter-finals of the World Open for the fifth time - but I hope it will be my first time in the semis, so I'm looking forward to my match tomorrow.

"I've always had a tough draw in the worlds - I've lost three times to Nicol - so I'm glad if I play Rachael as our results are closer. Whoever I play, I'll chill out for the rest of the day, then work out a plan with my coach tomorrow.

"I feel I'm still improving - I'm still young, you know! I'm working on some stuff and hopefully it will work. I feel I am consistent. I've been around the lower half of the top ten for a long time now - but I need one more step. I need a change ...

[7] Madeline Perry bt [13] Rebecca Chiu
                   11/8, 11/4, 11/5 (24m)

Madeline ends HK hopes

In-form Madeline Perry came comfortably through to the quarter-finals, always ahead and always looking in control against Rebecca Chiu.

A confident performance from last year's World Open semi-finalist and finalist in last week's British Open, spelling the end of the road for both Hong Kong players in quick succession.

"I've beaten Rebecca a few times but the fact she won last time out was on my mind before this match, and I've been a bit nervous about this week, having done so well last week I wanted to make sure I came out and performed again.

"I took confidence from last week's performances but it also brings the pressure of expectation ... I'm just hoping the confidence side of it will be more important.

"I'm happier with today's performance that I was with yesterday's, I was more concentrated and focused, today was more about playing good squash rather than trying to look good ...

"There was some good coverage in Ireland about last week, live radio shows and all that. It's nice to get a bit of recognition for your achievements, but I've sort of given up by now on becoming famous !"

[5] Jenny Duncalf bt Engy Kheirallah
                   11/9, 11/9, 11/8 (52m)

Jenny comes through at the end

That's two straight-game wins for Jenny Duncalf, but in rather contrasting styles. Whereas yesterday she wasn't really tested, today Engy Kheirallah gave her a test of an entirely different nature.

Long rallies, rare excursions to the front, and lots of lets was the order of the day, but it was the Englishwoman who managed to come out on top in all three games.

From 6-3 down in the first she recovered to 7-all, and from 9-all two tins from Engy gave Jenny the lead. From 5-all in the second she moved clear to 10-6 and although Engy saved three game balls a final dying drive from Jenny and her lead was doubled.

The third was just as close, just as tough as the preceding games, but this time from 8-all Jenny took the last three points - the final one a monster rally ending in a tinned drop from Engy - for a gratefully-accepted three-nil win.

"I'm happy to win it in three, it's difficult to play flowing squash against Engy, there's usually a lot of traffic.

"I'm thrilled to be in the quarters, but it will be another tough match tomorrow whoever I play.

"The court's lovely, we played on it for the Euro Teams, and the venue's looking really good, it's such a great setup inside Frans Otten where we've already played a lot ..."

 

[2] Natalie Grinham bt [10] Kasey Brown
                    11/4, 11/8, 11/8 (26m)

NATALIE, TOUGH TO BE HOME ?
Framboise reports

Kasey was today as lethal with her volley drop shot as she always is. Playing fast, taking the ball, early, she really put Natalie under a lot of pressure, in the second in particular.

The Dutch lady has two reasons to be nervous. One, the fear of disappointing her home crowd, but also, not easy to be married to the “Big Man” of the event, hey Natalie… Everything that goes wrong, you feel responsible for it. I know, when the French organised the Internationaux de France last year, I kept apologising in the name of my country for the whole of the event every time something was going wrong…!!!

Well, if she was nervous today, it certainly didn’t show in the first game, taking an excellent start 5/0 to finally take the game 11/4. But if Kasey was playing a bit in the middle of the court to start with, she really found her “service volley” as I call it - you know the drill, serve, return, zoom, volley drop shot winner – in the second.

Natalie felt danger, and made her opponent run and run, hoping that a bit of tiredness would make her a little less precise and dangerous at the front. And it worked fine, although the Australian never said die, at 8/8 in the third, everything was still possible.

But the Trim Lady, Nat does look good, she must have been training hard for the event, she looks bleeping good, found some lovely deceptions and takes it in three, 11/8 in the third…

"Physically I feel really good, the fittest is I've ever been was Belfast 2006, and I feel now that I am back at that level.

Of course, a bit of pressure of being home, also being married to the Man in charge also makes me feel responsible for that side of things too, but I don’t mind a bit of pressure, it’s good for my game, as long as I can stay focused of course.

"I didn’t really panic when she started to step up the pace and volley everything, but I thought I had to be careful.

"I’m happy to play Laura tomorrow, last time we played was a long time ago, when I was not feeling right physically, and she was on the way up already. Since, she’s improved as well, so, tomorrow should be an interesting game…"

"Vanessa was moving really well. In the first two I was playing what I thought were pretty good shots to the front, but she was just picking them up and hitting good shots back. I felt I was playing alright, she was just outplaying me.

"I knew I needed to get her to the back, and just hang in there. I was lucky to win that in the end, but coming back from 2-0 down like that is good for my confidence ..."

[3] Rachael Grinham bt [11] Vanessa Atkinson
                    7/11, 8/11, 11/6, 11/6, 11/3 (50m)

Rachael back from the brink

She may have just won her fourth British Open title, and she may have won her World Open title (2007) more recently than Vanessa Atkinson won hers (2004) but Rachael Grinham was on the brink of a second round exit here tonight.

For two games the Australian's slow, unorthodox, trick shots, weren't working. Not that she was playing them badly, just that Vanessa was anticipating well, moving superbly, running those shots down and returning them with interest.

Yes, the Dutch favourite was having to work hard, but it was definitely working. She worked her way to a winning lead in the first, and continued to confound Rachael well into the second, leading 7-4 and 9-6. Rachael wasn't going to give in of course, and worked her way back to 8-9 when Vanessa scraped a lucky winner off the wall and capitalised on the next point to go two games up.

From the start of the third Rachael was trying to lengthen the rallies, and it was working, Vanessa was doing more retrieving than attacking now, and when Rachael found an opportunity to put it in short, as often as not Vanessa was struggling to get there.

Rachael led throughout the third, although never by much, the closest Vanessa got was 8-6, and maybe that was the time to really go for those five points she needed. But the pattern continued, Rachael controlling things, and she took the third, then the fourth, then the fifth, with increasing authority.

It was apparent early in the fifth that Rachael was going to complete the comeback, 3-1, 6-1, 8-1, and although Vanessa never stopped trying, far from it, it was in an increasingly desperate cause, and soon enough Rachael was joining her sister in the quarters.

"Towards the end, the legs were gone, but I shouldn’t have let it get to that point.

"In the first and second, she was making a lot of unforced errors, she was not confident, she must have felt a bit flat from the British, and in the third, I should have finished it off. Instead of that, I let her back in, I gave her a sniff, and let her get away from me.

"Against Rachael, you nearly have to sprint and make it very fast before she can start moving you around and take you to the four corners. My breathing was fine there, but she makes you work so hard, lunges, going down on your quads. And in the end, my legs were just jelly…

"I’m happy for most of my game, apart from that third game, that’s the best I’ve played against her for a long long time. But I’ve done that several times in my career, being up 2/0 and lose the match. So she knew that if she kept hanging in, I may start making errors, which I did in the third, and in the fourth and fifth I never felt I could take it back, I let her get away from me…

[4] Alison Waters bt [16] Raneem El Weleily
                    10/12, 11/7, 11/5, 11/13, 11/7 (58m)

ALISON POWERS RANEEM OUT…
Framboise reports

So close. Soooo close. The former World Junior Champion came extremely close to a big upset. She was playing so well, so intelligently, dispatching shots all around, and Ali seemed a bit subdued to start with.

But in the second, the Englishwoman started hitting very hard, re-establishing her position at the front, greatly helped by Raneem who went a bit too short, playing again her high percentage game she seemed to have gone out of in the first game.

When Alison went up 2/1, honestly, I thought that was it for the Egyptian, but that's when she found her brain again, and her length, and her magic again, forcing a decider and saving three match balls in the process.

But Alison has the power, the experience, but most of all the belief she can win those matches, and played her best squash to go 6-1 ahead in the fifth, never lost her head, and got herself out of a dangerous zone there.

"She is such a talented player, and she played very well tonight. She gets a lot of balls back, and she plays great shots all around the court.

"I had to keep the momentum with me, because in the first, she had complete control, and it’s very difficult to get it back away from her.

"I really enjoyed the match tonight, it was a good fair match all around.."



"The problem is that I just don’t believe. I don’t believe that I can win against those girls, they have all beaten me before, and for some reason, it just sticks in my mind."

[1] Nicol David bt Camille Serme
                     11/3, 11/5, 11/0 (23m)

OH BOY…
Framboise reports

I’m going to blame everything on Madeline now. God, Nicol had the racquet between the teeth today, and didn’t take any prisoners, as if she didn’t want to take any risks anymore to see anybody put her under pressure every again.

It’s not that Camille didn’t try, she had a good positive attitude, well, until the middle of the third, when it became obvious she was receiving a squash lesson, not aimed at the Frenchwoman I felt, but there to shout to the world, “I’m back people, I’m even more dangerous than before!”.

But Camille just didn’t measure up today, especially in the length department, where Nicol soared, burying her opponent so many times in the back corners, frustrating her so much as she wasn’t able to get those length out…

I know Camille enough to know that she will learn a heck of a lot today, and she will transform this ordeal into hard work for it never to happen again. Positive will come of it, I put my name on it.

Nicol is relaxed, she’s got the support of her friends, her parents, her coach, her support group. She will be very, very, very hard to beat this week.