Waters Upsets Kitchen
May 12, 2005, by WISPA
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[Complete Draw]

Sharon Wee struggles for a strategy against Abdel Kawy (photo © 2005 WISPA)

A pattern had been developing. Breezy start to the evening, calmer later. The same could be said of the matches. Hustle and bustle early on with Egyptian interest, singing and dancing crowds, live TV; then quieter later as fewer remained.

For quarter finals night of the Hurghada International the trend was maintained. Omneya Abdel Kawy, who had already admitted feeling the weight of public expectation the night before, was being willed to go past seventh seed Sharon Wee who had edged out the exciting burgeoning talent of 16 year old Raneem El Weleily. Would those five games take their toll?

The Malaysian is as solid as they come though. The fervour in the crowd clearly blocked out by the serious competitor who is so lively and smiling away from her place of work. She had lost to Abdel Kawy 3/0 in the British Open last year but the 27 year old who is now based in Antwerp to give the top twenty a shot normally proves difficult to put away.

Here though, the Malaysian was looking slightly sluggish, succumbing to the webs that Abdel Kawy was weaving at the front of the court. Working hard to stay in the rallies, too often she was left floundering having started motoring in the wrong direction

Rolling waves of applause greeted points that took the Egyptian star to the first two games, and all that Wee could hope for was that her opponent would go walkabout at the business end of the match as El Weleily had done the night before. Although a couple of volley boasts did go down the rest of her game was running smoothly as Wee only found a good line and length sporadically.

A final crescendo of noise and she was through.

As Wee commented afterwards, “To play Omneya and not be moving well, you are finished”. She was.

Alison Waters scored a big win over Shelley Kitchen Thursday night (photo © 2005 WISPA)

Rachael Grinham continued her comfortable cruise on the glass court on the promenade. She hasn't lost to a player outside the highest echelon for some years, and though her opponent had snatched a game from her in the first round of the Tournament of Champions in February, got little change tonight. In recent weeks Grinham, the holder of this title, has seemingly regained the confidence that had been slowly draining her as she carried the burden of being chased as world number one rather than one of the pack. Her Qatar Airways Challenge win only weeks ago is indicative of that.

Holding many shots, floating her trademark lobs that hung in the breeze, she won 3/0 despite Brind looking comfortable with her game on the glass court.

Brind has been as high as four in the world – for one heady month during 2001, but has found some of the younger pups passing her by recently.

Shelley Kitchen and Alison Waters are two of the emerging stars who have clawed their way past Brind. Both are in the ranking teens, both hoping to get into the single digits. Kitchen, a tall athletic New Zealander who tries to impose herself on her opponents with a hard hitting game. Waters is similar, but with a good line in boasts and drops to break up the rhythm. So far Kitchen has moved ahead in both ranking and results. The pair met in the first round of the Qatar Airways event last month and the Kiwi won 3/0.

Unexpectedly perhaps, Waters was wearing All Black black and Kitchen English white. Also unexpectedly perhaps, it was Waters who controlled the match playing steadily and with purpose, while Kitchen looked at odds with herself. Waters was able to despatch her to the back then neatly apply a coup de grace at the front. Had the English girl not lost her way in the third it would have been a particularly comprehensive victory for the player voted as WISPA’s most improved last year. Having regrouped in the fourth she reached the semi final to repeat he feat from last year.

Kitchen wandered back to the hotel unsure of why it went awry, saying “Alison played well but I didn't have much confidence tonight. I just don't know why really”. Waters meanwhile was happy to have reversed the last result. “I was trying to get a good length and mix it up at the front, and I am just happy that I got through”.

The last game of the evening was a very parochial encounter, a local affair between two players who come from the same English county of Lancashire. Internationally, they did play in Ottawa, Canada two years ago, a match won by Lengthorn - who is seeded four here so still has the form edge. They work together on fitness every week, sometimes play each other in local league games and not used to serious combat against each other on the WISPA Tour.

Botwright, imbued with the same distinctive mannerisms as her sister Vicky when jumping away from a drop, is very willing to work her way through difficult rallies, inspecting all areas of the court on the way. This was the story tonight as Lengthorn took control and simply drove her into submission. But this took a while as Botwright gamely battled, and took the second game during a period where she went short less often and reduced her error ratio.

The four semi finalists have a rest day before Waters has to take on Abdel Kawy and her support, while Lengthorn has Grinham blocking her way. Instead of squash the promenade and the whole town centre will be taken over for the evening by an Al Ahram arranged festival. Featured on the main stage will be Ahmed Barada, formerly to be seen on the court but now a major singing star in his home country. Whether he can be enticed down the road to hit a squash ball or two remains to be seen!

Hurghada International, Hurghada, Egypt
Results Wed 12 May 2005, [Complete draw]

Quarter finals
Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) (2) beat Sharon Wee (Mas) (7) 9/2 9/1 9/4 (27m)
Rachael Grinham (Aus) (1) beat Stephanie Brind (Eng) (6) 9/5 9/3 9/3 (32m)
Alison Waters (Eng) (5) beat Shelley Kitchen (NZL) (3) 9/4 9/3 2/9 9/2 (42m)Laura Lengthorn (Eng) (4) beat Rebecca Botwright (Eng) 9/5 6/9 9/6 9/0 (57m)

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