AL-AHRAM INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
QUARTERFINAL SESSION

CAIRO EXCLUSIVE TO SQUASHTALK From Martin Bronstein at the Pyramids

SQUASHTALK
AL AHRAM INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2000

Aug 22 2000

Martin Bronstein reporting from the Pyramids at Giza.


MCREE GETS REFFED OUT
The quarter-finals are all being played at the Pyramids which means we haves to wait for the sun to go down and Egyptian television to give its blessings on the schedule, and so it was all started a half hour later as sport once more bowed to the one-eyed monster. So it was almost 2000 hours before the two lithe English girls - Rebecca Mcree and Tania Bailey -took to the court to fight for a semi-final place and another day by the pool of the Meridian hotel.

Referee Tony Parker had obviously availed himself of copious amounts of sun and it had gone to his head, causing a stream of quite remarkable calls that he was interpreting the rules in a very personal and unique way. Unfortunately, most of these "unique" calls were made against Rebecca Mcree and there is a good argument to be made that with a different referee she would have been a semi-finalist.

HOW DO YOU SAY "MAKE MORE EFFORT" WITH SIGN
The officials are situated 30 yards behind the back wall and are almost invisible to the players. This makes life particularly difficult for Mcree who is deaf. Under normal situations with the marker by the back wall she can lip read the score and decisions. But now she had to look to Paul Carter, England coach - who was actually sitting in Bailey's corner - to pass on the decisions to Macree, some of which were so bad that she responded with a screech of frustration. They started playing tough, good length squash hitting the ball with far more beef than their bodies suggested. Macree was really flying and took advantage of Bailey's introduction to this unique court to outplay her and take the first game 9-0.

MORE CALLS THAN A T &T
But the subsequent games degenerated into scrappy squash as both players called let after let. Some consistency and firmness from the ref might have helped matters. But the inconsistency meant the players could not guess the outcome of a let appeal and so they were not forced to play the ball. Bailey finally got over her nerves and took the next two games and Mcree came back from a deficit in the fourth to tie it up and force a fifth game.

Bailey got to match ball at 8-7 but Mcree forced extra points with the help of a rare stroke - she really did get the rough end of the stick - and once more Bailey served for the match at 9-8. Mcree tied it and served for the match and lost the serve on another highly disputed decision. Bailey took the final point on her fourth match ball with a winner and Mcree readily shook hands and left the court shaking her head towards the officials after trying her damnedest for 86 minutes. I don?t know the answer to let-filled squash, but there must be one.

Bailey's semi-final opponent is British Open champion Leilani Joyce who had a fairly straightforward win over Australia's Rachel Grinham in three.

SHABANA A ONE GAME HERO
Peter Nicol must have felt a little uneasy after losing the first game to Amr Shabana in 11 minutes. The brash young Egyptian faced the world champ with bravado and a basketful of winners. It was all Shabana, either winners or errors and Nicol was forced for the most part into a reactive roll. He couldn't read Shabana's forehand boast or backhand straight nick. Perhaps it is because Shabana , like Nicol, is a lefty. (I always get a perverse kick out of watching two left-handers play. Now they know what it's like for us right-handers when confronted with someone whose backhand is on the wrong side).

GLORY THEN BUST
Shabana led the entire game and when the score was 12-5 it was doubtful whether even the world champion could climb back. Shabana was in the groove hitting nicks with ease and even hitting nicks when he wasn't aiming for them. He won that first game 15-9 and his supporters were on their feet waving their hands in the air. But as in his match against Heath, it all turned to dust in the following game as Nicol took charge to win it 15-5 in ten minutes. We waited for Shabana to settle down in the third but Nicol had now got his measure and knew how to keep out of trouble. He took the third and fourth in under 20 minutes to finish out the 46 minute match and move on to a semi-final meeting with Simon Parke. For his part Shabana will be more than pleased to reach the quarters and will wait for the September rankings to come out to see how far he has jumped from his present position of 29.

PARKE LOOKING FOR REVENGE?
Simon Parke has looked pretty good all week, but like Nicol, dropped a game on his way to beating David Palmer the 12th seed. It took him a little longer, but their semi-final match on Thursday will be closely watched to see if Parke can summon up the form he found in the Super Series when he lost so narrowly in one of the best finals of the year.

RESULTS QUARTER FINALS
WOMEN
Tania Bailey (Eng)bt Rebecca Mcree (Eng) 0-9, 9-5, 9-4, 5-9, 10-9.
Leilani Joyce (NZ) bt Rachael Grinham (Eng) 9-7, 9-4, 9-1.

MEN
Peter Nicol (Sco) bt Amr Shabana (Egy) 9-15, 15-5, 15-8, 15-7.
Simon Parke (Eng) bt David Palmer (Aus) 15-7, 15-11, 11-15, 15-9.

The four remaining quarter finals will be played on Wednesday : Del Harris vs Ahmed Barada, Jonathon Power vs Paul Johnson. Natalie Grinham vs Natalie Grainger and Carol Owens vs Suzanne Horner.

• 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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