by Martin Bronstein reporting from Egypt, Aug 20 2000 18:00 hours © 2000 squashtalk

AL AHRAM INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2000 FIRST ROUND AFTERNOON MATCHES

CAIRO EXCLUSIVE TO SQUASHTALK From Martin Bronstein in Cairo

Martin Bronstein reporting on first round matches at the National Stadium In Cairo Sunday Aug 20 1800hrs

MARSHALL MASHED
They said it would happen and it has, upset results in the first big tournament of the season. Peter Marshall, the current British Champion and ranked nine in the world on the back of some very impressive results after a very long layoff due to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, was knocked out by Peter Genever, a journeyman squash player who had to qualify due to a ranking of 42 - that's 31 places behind the player who was once known as the hardest man in British squash. You have to hand Genever, who comes from Chichester where his father runs a squash club, all sorts of credit for not only coming through a two hard qualifying rounds - he beat Dan Jenson in five yesterday, but having enough energy to outlast Marshall. One look at the score will tell you how hard it was: 15-13, 15-17,16-17, 15-7, 15-10.

A LITTLE ADVICE FROM THE TOP NEVER HURTS
Genever has been around a long time, one of those journeymen players in the 25-50 rankings who spend a lot of time in the qualifying draws, but these last two days have shown a player who has moved up a plateau. The last time he played Marshall, in the British nationals, he got thumped 3/0. Today was different; Genever had had a word with Peter Nicol and followed his advice, which was to not get into a hitting match - nobody beats Marshall at that game - vary the pace down the walls and hit wide to make Marshall stretch - an uncomfortable exercise for a two handed player. Genever played it perfectly and also used the front right corner for drops because Marshall doesn't do much with the ball when he gets there.

DID IT COME DOWN TO FITNESS AFTER ALL?
Genever griped later that he had game balls in both the second and third games and could have done it in straight sets rather than being 2/1 down, but the fact was that in the fourth and fifth games Marshall was tiring and going for the sort of shots - and making errors - that he never goes for. In the last games he would hunch over his racket while waiting for service and you felt he would never get up. The match was timed at over 100 minutes. How well can Genever recover when he plays Simon Parke in the second round?

SHABANA LOOKING GOOD
The next big upset was wild card Amr Shabana who took out 15th seed Mark Chaloner in four games - well, it was actually one game, the first, which Shabana lost 13-15. The next three games were almost an exhibition for the brash Shabana, ranked 29, who tends to remind me of a young James Cagney playing a hood. But he does have talent and uses the front corner like a miser uses his mattress. His drops are impeccable and his straight drive nicks are breathtaking.

Chaloner has been as high as eight in the world, is still coming back from injuries, but he doesn't face players like Shabana very often -there are not that many around - and he simply had no answer to the Shabana 'attack at all costs' strategy. Shabana lost the first game 13-15 and then won the next three 15-5, 15-8, 15-5. Tomorrow he plays Martin Heath and that should be enormous fun. I'll count the nicks.

HILL GOES DOWN TO JUNIOR CHAMP
The other wild card, Karim Darwish, the reigning world junior champion, played in front of a packed centre court crowd that applauded every point. Anthony Hill was complaining about decisions inside four rallies and the result was predictable. He came up with a new one….accused Darwish of serving a wet ball. No, don't ask me. Darwish kept his composure -always impeccably behaved - did not rise to Hill's bait, just kept on shooting, to win15-8, 15-3, 15-4. It was a walk-through performance by Hill that will badly affect his ranking and, together with his other antic performances, will see him drop rapidly from the top 20 unless he can pull himself together for Hong Kong and the British Open.

SO WHAT IS A GLASS COURT?
I've got a feeling Mark Cairns tried to pull a fast one in his match against Canada's Graham Ryding on the stadium's centre court. At the end of one game he asked for the ball to be changed. The referee said the rule only applied to white balls. "No it doesn't," shot back Cairns, "the rule doesn't mention colour, I know because I put the rule in!" He walked to his corner for the break with a smug grin. Graham Ryding said he didn't want to change the ball when the game restarted and the referee told him the ball could be changed at the request of one player in a glass court match. Quick as a hockey puck going into the net from a slapshot, Ryding pointed out that it wasn't a glass court - only three sides were glass - the front being solid. And they were using a black ball. The referee gladly picked up Ryding's point and told Cairns they had to use the old ball. Cairns conceded like the gentleman he is and Ryding went on to win in four.

CASSIE IN FORM
The women' s first round went according to form with world champion Cassie Campion winning her first round match against Amr's sister, Salma Shabana, inside 17 minutes for the loss of five points. She wasn't too worried about not getting a work out because it was a 32 draw and she was glad to conserve energy because the women don't have too many draws this big, they are usually 16 draws. Tania Bailey went one better and won 27/0 but it took her 18 minutes. As I said in my preview, the women's race gets interesting tomorrow when Leilani Joyce plays Sarah Fitz-Gerald. I'll have it on squash court as soon as it's over.

RESULTS MEN First round
Nick Taylor (Eng) bt John White (Sco) 17-16, 13-15, 15-7 ret.
Martin Heath (Sco) bt Lee Beachill (Eng) 15-11, 15-11, 15-6.
Amr Shabana (Egy) bt Mark Cahloner (Eng) 13-15, 15-5, 15-8, 15-5.
Simon Parke (Eng) bt Derek Ryan (Ire) 15-6. 15-10, 15-8.
Karim Darwish (Egy) bt Anthony Hill (Aus) 15-8, 15-3, 15-4.
Peter Genever (Eng) bt Peter Marshall (Eng)15-13, 15-17, 16-17, 15-7, 15-10.
Billy Haddrell (Aus) bt David Evans (Wales) 15-10, 15-5, 15-9.
Del Harris (Eng) bt Joseph Kneipp (Aus)15-13, 10-15, 15-9, 15-8
Graham Ryding (Can) bt Mark Cairns (Eng) 17-15. 13-15, 15-9, 15-4.

RESULTS WOMEN First round
Cassie Campion (Eng) bt Salma Shabana (Egy) 9-0, 9-4, 9-1.
Natalie Grainger (Eng) bt Eman El Amir (Egy) 9-1, 9-0, 9-5.
Natalie Grinham (Aus) bt Claire Nitch RSA) 9-4, 9-3, 9-7
Jennie Tranfield (Eng) bt Agnes Muller (Swi) 9-10, 9-3, 9-2, 9-2.
Carol Owens (Aus) bt Vicky Botwright (Eng) 9-1, 9-1, 9-0.
Stephanie Brind (Eng) bt Senga Mcfie (Sco) 10-8, 9-1, 9-4.
Katline Cauwels (Bel) bt Vanessa Atkinson (Neth) 9-2, 9-0, 9-5.
Rebeccas Mcree (Eng) bt Engy Kheirallah (Egy) 10-8, 10-8, 9-5.
Fiona Geaves (Eng) bt Latasha Khan (USA) 9-3, 9-4, 9-3.
Tania Bailey (Eng) bt Corrine Castets (France) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0.
Leilani Joyce (NZ) bt Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) 9-0, 9-3, 9-2

REMAINING FIRST ROUND MAIN DRAW'
Nicol vs Abbas;
David Palmer vs. Olli Tuominen;
Omar Elborolossy vs. Thierry Lincou;
Stefan Casteleyn vs vs. Ahmed Barada;
Ahmed Faizy vs Paul Johnson;
Nick Matthew vs Jonathon Power.

• Golestan Radwan: Egypt
• Tomas Barva, Czech Republic
• David Blick, Alaska USA
• Kim Tunney: Midwest USA
• Andre Maur: Atlanta USA
• Paul Ansdell: Massachusetts USA
  

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