Junior Womens World BE Squash 2005

CHARLIE GETS "BADRED"

There was a time when Charlie deRycke, the third seed and hometown favourite, seemed certain to go through to the semi-finals. After losing the first game she came storming back to overrun Sara Badr, who seemed to fall apart under the pressure. Rycke took the second and third games for the loss of just two points and Badr seemed destined to oblivion. And then against all the betting – at least my betting, the Egyptian girl cut out the errors, started hitting to superb length again and turned the match on its head until in the fifth game it was de Rycke who was falling apart as the tension stopped her playing her normal game.

But to start at the beginning, it was Badr who started off a little nervously and allowed de Rycke to run up a quick 6-l lead. Then Badr settled, down starting hitting good length and perfect width put together a fine run to lead 8-6. This rattled de Rycke – who, I am told is prone to nervousness – who hit the last serve out of court and Baddr had the game 9-7.

Shawn Moxham must have said the right things to de Rycke because after Badr had won the first point of the second game, de Rycke almost blanked her. She is a very sophisticated player and not only strikes the ball beautifully but reads the game well and takes the ball so early its almost tomorrow morning. Badr crumbled, hit some errors, got one more point before de Rycke took the game 9-2.

Full of confidence and making exquisite shot selection de Rycke raced through the third game 9-0 in six minutes with Badr almost resigning – reminiscent of a young Omneya Abdel Kawy who used to give up when things did not go her way.

De Rycke started the fourth in the same groove to take the first two points (this made 13 points in a row) and it looked all over for Badr who had given the first point of this game away on a forehand boast that hit the tin. Ahmed Tahier, the Egyptian coach had told her to keep the game to one side and no go cross court because de Rycke was too good at cutting the ball off for winners. Finally Badr got back on course after a stroke gave her the serve and from then on she gradually turned the match around and from 5-3 she was in control as the tension got to the hometown favourite. As is usual when the nerves get the upper hand, she could do no right and instead of the smooth perfectionist of the previous two games we had a player scrambling for the ball and never quite getting hold of it to put her opponent under pressure. Badr won the game 9-4 to tie the match.

Could Moxham settle de Rycke down? No, she made more errors in the fifth than all the others put together and was behind the eight ball dragging a tank from the word go. At 0-3 she played like a tiger to save the point but then lost the dropping duel on the next rally to lose the serve. Badr was hitting superb length now and she never gave up domination of the game. As the score inexorably crawled towards nine de Rycke’s tension was palpable….this was simply not the same player who of the middle period.

She did stage a slight comeback to get to 3-7 but Badr’s drop shots were now too good for her to handle. She sliced a backhand cross court for her eighth point and then drove a shot into the front corner to take the final point, to win the 58 minute game. This was a huge disappointment for the Belgian crowd and for Charlie herself who is too old now to try for the junior world title again.

Strange bird, this Joshna Chinappa; has refused a place at Harvard in order to concentrate on squash, so her mother told me, but sometimes plays as though it is just an amusing hobby. I was sitting next to Liz Irving, her coach in Amsterdam and she was in wonderment that Chinappa had reached her present position in the squash world with almost no coaching. Chinappa finished one rally reaching up over her left shoulder and sending the ball across court into the nick. “You can’t teach that,” Liz said drily.

Her opponent Joey Chan of Hong Kong is a small-boned slip of a girl who hits wonderful length and width. She is typical of the Hong Kong organization that has made such great strides in the last few years. (they are seeded second for the team championship).

AS yesterday this was not organized rhythmic squash but a series of short rallies with neither player looking like a champion. Chinappa led the first game 6-3, made some bad shot selections and in general brought sighs from Miss Irving. “If she hit some decent length, that would be a start,” said Liz, frustration evident in her tone.

Chan kept playing percentage squash and pulled all the way back to 5-7 and threatened to take the first game. Chinappa saw the threat and bang, bang bang took the final points to win. Her last shots was a marvelous backhand cross court slam that her opponent didn’t even see. Why doesn’t she do this all the time. “She needs a challenge,” Liz Iriving said knowingly. And how true those words were.

In the second game Chan led 6-3 which is when Chinappa decided to try first gear. And ran away to win 9-3 in seven minutes. Wait: that wasn’t a big enough challenge for Miss Chinappa. Gimme a real challenge, she seemed to imply.

So in the third game Chan took a 6-1 lead which is when Chinappa moved into second gear to level the game and then third gear to show us all how she can really play the game when she needs to. She won it 9-7 to win the match in 32 minutes. If she had engaged top gear from the beginning it could have been over in half that time.

SWARTZ IN TOP FORM
Next up was Tenille Swartz from South Africa and she showed how it should be done. She took the game by the scruff of the neck and never really allowed Nehal Yehia to settle down. Swartz is Miss Perpetual Motion and she never lets her feet stop moving. You never find her on the back of her heels and this gives her a great start in getting to the ball. Coaches are always telling players to keep on their toes and Swartz demonstrates the advantages.

Yehia demonstrates the perils of the boast. It is 50 percent of her game and while she hits some really beauties to win the point she also hit a lot of tin. Her first reaction to any fast shot is to boast it. Swartz had little trouble with this and took the fist game 9-2 in eight minutes, threatened to take the second to love but Yehia hit two forehand drops to get the serve and a point and was gifted a second point when Swartz snatched at a volley. But it was a false dawn and the South African won the game in five minutes and then the third 9-3 to go through to the semis where she will play Raneem El Weleily, a different kettle of fish entirely.

RANEEM DROPS AND DROPS AND DROPS. AND THEN DROPS SOME MORE.
I have seen Raneem El Weleily play for years and years. As an 11 year old hardly bigger than her racket, playing the sort of squash like I would like to play for just one minute.

She has now matured into what must be a nightmare for her opponents; a player who can drop the ball from anywhere on the court with confidence and accuracy.

It sounds so easy – and she makes it look so easy – but so few players can achieve that state of grace that you have to be born with it.

Lily Lorentzen plays a solid intelligent game and she played well against Raneem, but it was like fighting a rising tide. There was simply no stopping the flood of drops which constantly drew Lorentzen to the front of the court.

The first game was the best I have seen so far – and probably the longest. Lorentzen started very well and took advantage of Raneem’s errors to stretch her lead to 5-2 – and that was after twenty rallies. Not short shotmaker rallies but good constructive squash with both players knowing that the short and long games have to be used in equal measure. The serve changed hands five times at 5-2 and then El Weleily hit a tight forehand drive, then did it again and then got a stroke to event the score. Lorentzen as denied a let – most unfairly I thought, on a ball that she could have easily got to – and suddenly she was trailing. But she never stopped fighting and she got to the drops and drove them back but El Weleily was supremely confident and kept the rhythm – drop, drop, drive – going and got to game point 8-6 and then needed another three game points to win 9-7 after an engrossing 18 minute battle.

The second game was not good for Lorentzen, her opponent was in control as her own game fell apart slightly. At 7-1 the outcome seemed obvious but Lorentzen is a fighter and she kept running and getting and driving and finally got back to 5-7, once more a tenable position but she was tiring and a bad shot gave her opponent a stroke to get to game ball when she then hit a backhand drop from the back of the court to take the game 9-5

In the third game El Weleily ran to a 6-1 lead and Lorentzen was beginning to look tired, she had been doing all the running. Trailing 1-6 Lorentzen was given a ray of hope as El Weleily hit three errors in a row; the score was now a 6-4 again a more realistic position for Lorentzen to launch a comeback but El Weleily contained the American, held her to four points and took the game.

So the Egyptian strength shines through again with two players in the semi-finals. Tomorrow should be very interesting.

QUARTER FINALS.
Joshna Chinappa (IND) bt Joey Chan (HKG) 9-6, 9-6, 9-7 (32 mins)
Sara Badr (EGY) bt Charlie de Rycke (BEL) 9-7,2-9, 0-9, 9-4, 9-3 (58 mins)
Tenille Swartz (RSA) bt Nehal Yehia (EGY) 9-2, 9-2, 9-3 (25 mins)
Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt Lily Lorentzen (US) 9-7, 9-5, 9-4 (39 m ins)

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