AL-AHRAM INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
QUARTERFINAL SESSION

CAIRO EXCLUSIVE TO SQUASHTALK From Martin Bronstein at the Pyramids

SQUASHTALK
AL AHRAM INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2000

Aug 23 2000

Martin Bronstein reporting from the Pyramids at Giza.

WARM-UP ACT
Carol Owens and Suzanne Horner kicked off the second group of quarter-finals in a near empty stadium which was now dark. The sun goes down like a lead balloon here, from light to dark in three blinks. With no disrespect to either of these players - both in WISPA's top ten, they were the warm up act for the main bout of the evening featuring, you guessed it, local hero Ahmed Barada. As they played the trickle of incoming spectators grew to a stream and by the end of their 28 minute match the stadium had a buzz of expectancy. Local hero, did I say? Local idol.

WHY I CHOOSE MY WORDS CAREFULLY
The match between the third seeded Australian and the seventh seeded Englishwoman never had a chance to take off. I have to choose my words carefully here. The last time I wrote about Owens playing here, saying she didn't play well, brought an e-mail from her that had smoke coming out from all ports AND the PMCIA slot. Earlier in the week after her second round match victory I suggested, with enormous deference, that her backhand cross court lobs needed attention. She agreed that I had a point but the stadium court was so hot and bouncy she was frightened of hitting them out of court. "But wait until I get on the nice cold Pyramid court," she promised. Still not that good ,Carol, sorry. (And don't bother to email me, I've thrown out all my computers and am back to using Western Union).

FASTER THAN A SPEEDING EMAIL.
But she does move extremely well -her legs are faster than her tongue (She is a very witty woman). And we should remember that Horner is the reigning World Masters Over 35 champion; that she still manages to retain a world ranking of seven is quite remarkable. Owens was never going to lose this and while she never showed the incisive finishing that she will need if she is to win this tournament, maybe she felt she never had to. Owens won 9-5, 9-5, 9-5 quite comfortably and will meet Natalie Grainger, formerly of South Africa, now of England in the semi-final.

SOCCER STYLE CHANTS, NO THUGGERY
The crowd was now ready and wound up to breaking point by the MC using quaintly old fashion showbiz methods (shouting). There were national flags being wave and soccer-style chants and hand-clapping - all in the best of humor. Del Harris was given the job of beating Barada and a thousand near-delirious Egyptians. If Harris, one of the best squash talents ever to come out of Britain, kept his head together, he could do it. He has the athleticism, his own very effective technique and some kills shots that others would die for.

The first game was a testing time with neither player wanting to get too fancy. Barada was nervous at first allowing Harris to build to a 5-2 lead a couple of strokes and an error from Harris and it was 6-all, the game still played mostly in the back court. Harris cleverly kept the ball out of the front right corner, Barada's favourite hunting ground but a couple of errors gave Barada impetus and Harris lost his way a bit to let Barada take the 18 ½ minute game 15-9.

ANYTHING YOU CAN DO
Harris can still try to outdo his opponent's kill shots and it leads him into all sorts of trouble. It was this any-shot-you-can-do-I-can-do-better urge that was the start of his undoing in the second game. A couple calls he didn't like and Barada starting to hit winners brought a quick end to the 10 minute game, 15-2 in Barada's favor. He got his mind back in the right place in the third, came back from 1-3, to run to an ll-5 lead, just by persisting and getting Barada to make errors. Barada knew at 5-12 he had no chance and gave the last points away. Did we have a fight on our hands?

ALMOST A FIGHT
Yes and no. The fourth game lasted over 22 minutes, the longest of the match, Harris never lead and Barada was beginning to mind the front right corner with regularity. Even if Harris picked the ball up, he was in all kinds of trouble. Trailing 8-10 he hit Barada's serve straight into the nick to get to 9-10 and there was still the possibility of Harris taking the game. Barada hit a superb backhand drive and then was awarded a stroke. Now he led 12-9; Harris got another point with a forehand tight down the wall for 12-10 but another forehand drive and a diving forehand volley put Barada at match ball, Harris got one more point before Barada was awarded a hotly disputed stroke to give him the match after 72 minutes.

A SLOW WALTZ ON A COOL NIGHT
Paul Johnson and Jonathon Power played a three game match that did nothing at all to warm up the cooling sands. The crowd had mostly gone home and Johnson never seemed to have the belief that he could win. He's an awfully nice guy, but I do wish for once he came out spitting razor blades and left the court with blood oozing from his shoes. You want him to take hold the match by the neck and wring a victory. The only interruption to the evening breeze was Power's occasional howls of rage at a ref's decision. Sorry folks there wasn't much else to report. Natalie Grainger beat Natalie Grinham in under thirty minutes which was no surprise. I am quite sure that the semi-finals will change all that and that the players will help me set this screen alight.

RESULTS QUARTER FINALS
WOMEN
WEDNESDAY
Carol Owens bt Suzanne Horner 9-3, 9-5, 9-5
Natalie Grainger bt Natalie Grinham 9-3, 9-3, 9-2
TUESDAY
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
WEDNESDAY
Ahmed Barada def Del Harris 15-9, 15-2, 7-15, 15-11
Jonathon Power bt Paul Johnson 15-7, 15-13, 15-6
TUESDAY
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.

• 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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