Willstrop Advances over Shabana
Feb 7, 2004 © 2004 John Milton for Actipro

Jonathon Power cruises ahead

Swedish Open Underway in Linköping Sweden

Willstrop wins the battle of world champions.

James Willstrop, junior world champion continued his good run of form tonight at the Catella Swedish Squash Open by knocking out the current men’s world champion, Amr Shabana from Egypt. Admittedly he was helped by a knee injury incapacitating the exciting Egyptian sufficiently to make it reasonably comfortable for the Englishman. The first game was a one sided affair with Willstrop taking it 15-3 in 13 minutes. The expectant crowd was confused – was this really the new world champion they had so excitedly looked forward to seeing? It seemed more likely that Shabana was really making an effort to make it the kind of match everyone had hoped for when he raced to a 7-1 lead in the second game only to see Willstrop come back at him and level the score at 9-9. Willstrop then again proved stronger as he won 7 of the next 9 points to take the game 15-11 and go 2-0 up. There did not seem to be any way back now for Shabana but he defied all odds by going 4-0 up in the next game. But with Willstrop coming back again to take a commanding 10-5 lead, the packed crowd had more or less given up on their hoped for comeback from Shabana. It was increasingly difficult for him to cope with the movement around court Willstrop was forcing him to do and he finished the rest of the match making only a token effort. Willstrop cruised to a win that added another impressive name to a growing list of victims.

Earlier Karim Darwish had started well in the first quarter final of the day at the Linkoping Sports Centre. He comfortably took the first game 15-10 against Adrian Grant, the young Englishman who had scored the only upset of the first round yesterday when he beat 5-8 seed Gregory Gaultier 3-1. After most breakthrough wins for a young player, there tends to be either a surge that takes them to even greater heights or more commonly, a slight slump in form as they automatically expect to play to the same standard that created the original opportunity. It’s as much a mental tiredness as anything physical. This is probably what happened to Grant as he rather meekly fell to the talented former world junior champion from Cairo. The second game was as comfortable for Darwish as the first as he capitalised on the unforced errors from Grant. At the beginning of the third game Grant suddenly sprung to life, going up 3-0. It was a temporary challenge though and Darwish responded by lifting the pace of his own game. He won the next 9 points to effectively kill off the match. Grant only managed to win another 4 points before Darwish closed out the match in straight games in exactly 40 minutes.

The next match threw together two players of contrasting styles. Australian Joe Kneipp is a talented shot player whilst Englishman Nick Matthew grinds his opponent down with relentlessly hard rallies. It has taken the 30 year old Kneipp, now living in Amsterdam, longer than his talent would suggest to break through as a world top 10 player. As a junior he would consistently be the best in Australia, beating present world stars John White and David Palmer with relative ease. But it has taken him a long time to realise that talent as a senior player is not enough. There has to be an extraordinary work ethic that goes with it. That is something that Nick Matthew has in abundance. That is one reason why, in their last meeting, Matthew was able to beat Kneipp. Here in Sweden, Kneipp got off to an ideal start by winning the first game 15-8, showing a patient discipline to rally with Matthew at the beginning of the game before becoming more extravagant with his shot play. Matthew responded by bringing more variety into his play in the second game and racing to a 7-2 lead. Kneipp started to make a few mistakes as the young Englishman grew in confidence. Now it was Kneipp who was chasing the ball. At 12-3 down he started to look as if he would save his energy for the next game. He won only one more point – courtesy of an error from his opponent – as Matthew cruised through to even the score on the half hour mark. Kneipp responded positively. Reading his opponent’s game better, he was quick to get onto Matthew’s shots and deliver rapier sharp counter attacks. Suddenly he was 7-2 up. Matthew did not give up though and at 4-11 down he told himself to work and proceeded to keep the ball in play as long as possible. He cut the lead to just 2 points before Kneipp won another point. The spell had been broken though and Kneipp was allowed to go through to win the game in one hand, 15-9. With Kneipp 6-4 up in the next game, Matthew suddenly had to have an ‘equipment’ break when one of his shoe laces broke. Would Kneipp’s concentration survive or would it also break? Three unforced errors in the next four points from Kneipp levelled the score at 7-7 and suggested that the break had indeed been detrimental to the Australian. A more patient approach, keeping the ball deep until he was presented with an open opportunity to take the ball short, opened another 2 point lead for Kneipp. Matthew hit back, forcing a mistake from Kneipp. Increasingly, it was becoming a battle to see whose nerve would hold the longest. An uncharacteristic but brilliant crosscourt forehand short kill from Matthew levelled the scores at 10 all. Kneipp’s confidence was shaken as Matthew raced to a 13-10 lead but he hit back, playing inspirational squash to get within one point at 12-13. A rash backhand from behind his opponent that hit the tin proved an expensive mistake for Kneipp, taking Matthew to game ball. He secured the fourth game on another mistake from the Australian which resulted in a point awarded against him to take the match into a fifth and final game. Matthew started well, picking off some loose shots from Kneipp to go 5-2 up. For a short while both players traded punch for punch. The usually conservative Linkoping crowd suddenly came alive as they sensed the match was reaching its climax. Matthew opened up a lead with some attacking volleys and pushed hard for the finishing line. At 13-6 down Kneipp looked lost for ideas. Matthew turned the screw and took the next two points to follow up his win against Kneipp in the recent Kuwait Open. This was a hard fought and typical Nick Matthew victory.

The next match was probably the one that the Linkoping crowd wanted to see the most, or perhaps it was one player – Jonathon Power. The biggest draw in squash had charmed last night’s crowd not just with his play but also in his interview immediately afterwards. Would he be as charming tonight against Ong Beng Hee who was obviously going to put him under more pressure than last night’s match? In a close first game, there were several contentious decisions made by the referee with slightly more going in favour of the Canadian. Maybe some of those decisions just tipped the balance Power’s way as he took the first game 15-12 after 18 minutes. It was just as close at the start of the second game, with both players showing great touch at the front and disguising mid court shots to send each other the wrong way. Then Power opened a lead that the young Malaysian could not close. Power took the game 15/7 and then kept control during the third game although Beng Hee stayed close throughout. The Canadian managed to stay calm though and finished it in 3, taking the final game 15-13.

Tomorrow’s semi finals show the changing face of the top of world squash. Only Jon Power is in his late twenties, the others being comfortably under 25. Two young Englishmen, James Willstrop and Nick Matthew will battle it out in the top half of the draw whilst the bottom half pits the developing talents of Karim Darwish against the proven talents of Jonathon Power. Another sell out crowd will be fascinated by both matches!
CATELLA SWEDISH SQUASH OPEN 2004

DAY 2
Quarter finals

3-4 seed Karim Darwish (Egypt) v Adrian Grant (Eng) 3-0, 15/10 15/9 15/7 (40 mins).
3-4 seed Joe Kneipp (Aus) v Nick Matthew, 5-8 seed (Eng) 2-3, 15/8 4/15 15/9 12/15 6/15 (89 mins)
2 seed Jonathon Power (Can) v Ong Beng Hee, 5-8 seed (Mal) 3-0, 15/12 15/7 15/12 (58 mins).
1 seed Amr Shabana(Egypt) v James Willstrop, 5-8 seed (Eng) 0-3, 15/3 15/11 15/5 (42 mins). (10-5)

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