Shabana Survives the Fireworks    

Egyptian magicians Amr Shabana and Ramy Ashour . (photo © Debra Tessier )

After the first semi-final had finished I felt as though someone had opened the door of the court, thrown in a million fireworks and tossed in a lighted match. The eyes were still bedazzled and the brain is still questioning the events that had passed before those eyes.

What else can you expect when you put two Egyptian magicians on the same court and ask them to play each other – for real?   What we got was 56 minutes of all-out attack, some of which was played at such a pace as to require slo-mo replays to analyze  what exactly had happened. This was astonishing squash especially when you think that one of the players was 19 years old and he was playing the world number one.

The squash world already know all about Ramy Ashour, the reigning world junior champion, but he is advancing so fast in the senior ranks, the other senior professionals will soon be dreading  him.  Amr Shabana  has now managed to combine his marvelous talent with real consistency and the last time he played Ashour  (in Hong Kong) he won in straight games fairly easily.

Tonight  Ashour was bolder, more courageous  and totally without fear of hitting the tin.  Shabana can more than hold his own with any shotmaker in the world – and so they did battle with a common aim – make the ball disappear down the nick.

So many miraculous pickups (photo © Debra Tessier )

I cannot recall seeing so many near winners in such a short space of time – nor so many miraculous pickups. To call this squash scintillating is to understate the case. There was one rally that went to 30 shots but it was a rare occurrence. For the rest of the time it was a case of  ‘Fifteen shots and I’m out of here.”

Ashour started strongly, led 4-2,  Shabana  fought back  to lead 8-6  but at game ball it was Ashour’s turn to catch up to force a tie break. He got his eleventh point with a stroke and then won the game when Shabana made a horrible mis-hit and crashed the ball off the floor onto the front wall.   So, the kid’s got gall as well as shots.  It was 13 minutes of breathtaking squash, but that was just the start.

In the second game Shabana knew he had to put the upstart in his place  and although he trailed 1-3  he was soon in overdrive and put his opponent under severe strain with his drives and drops on both side of the court. He led 9-5  and during the next rally he had seemingly won the point three times before he finally, really did win it. Ashour made astonishing gets and dug out balls that we all thought were long gone. It was the sort of rally that can take the heart of any player, but Shabana had won it  and then earned the game when he sent Ashour the wrong way on a forehand drive to win 11-5 and get on even terms.

Ashour was far from finished: his single-mindedness in looking for winners constantly put pressure on Shabana and the third game was absolutely even until 8-8. There were times when there was clear frustration on Shabana’s face, but pride was at stake and regardless of his opponent’s winners or his owunforced errors (I counted six in the third game) he stayed on full alert and returned pressure with more pressure.  Shabana reached  9-8 when Ashour was denied a let and this was the first indication that  the work he had put was beginning to take effect. Shabana hit another dead nick with a crosscourt smash to get to game ball and then a forehand cross court sent Ashour the wrong way to end the game.

The fourth game was out of the comic books:  Shabana sensed his young opponent was tiring and switched on his turbocharger to scoot imperiously to a 10-1 lead and match ball. We got ready to stretch our legs but instead events stretched our incredulity.  Ashour hit a fine backhand drop to get a point and then did it again to score another point.  The score was 10-3. And then Shabana had one of his very rare brainstorms and hit five silly errors in six rallies in a futile effort to end the game quickly.  A backwall boast gave  Ashour an easy drop shot to make it  eight points in a row. And then the referee awarded a penalty stroke against Shabana to make the score 10-10. Shabana had squandered nine match balls. Fortunately  Shabana steadied himself to win the next point with a rocket like forehand drop and finally, oh, relief!  Shabana hit another winning forehand drop  to end this incredible match.

These two players had roused the spectators to gasps, screams and cheers like no other match this week. They went off to prolonged applause.  When the DVD comes out, buy it immediately.

GAULTIER  HAS ARRIVED. (PALMER DEPARTS, FUMING)

Gregory Gaultier  kept up his upsetting ways with a well-deserved win over number two seed, David Palmer (photo © Debra Tessier )

Gregory Gaultier  kept up his upsetting ways by  following his defeat of  Thierry Lincou in the quarters with a well-deserved win over number two seed, David Palmer  in four games.

This lean small Frenchman has improved constantly over the years since I first clapped eyes on him at the world junior championship in Princeton in 1998. Then he was tough and didn’t know how to give up.  In the intervening years he has allied the toughness to finesse, skill and guile.  Tonight Palmer found out just how good Gaultier is:  standing at 10-7 in the first game, he was powerless as  Gaultier took five points in a row to steal the game 12-10.

While the play wasn’t as dynamic as the first semi-final, it was still pretty fast and they both attacked with accuracy.   While Palmer came back to win the second game 11-8, he was just slightly off  the standard he set yesterday in dismissing Lee Beachill. He was  mis-hitting – something he rarely does – and his drops were not quite as precise. The third game was  all Gaultier, brimming with confidence and hitting drops with a real purpose, but more importantly picking up everything that Palmer threw at him.  He lead 10-5 and wobbled as  Palmer  made a determined effort to claw the game back. He almost did too, getting  to  9-10  before he was scuppered by a forehand straight nick  from Gaultier to win 11-9 and lead 2/1

While the play wasn't as dynamic as the first semi-final, it was still pretty fast and they both attacked with accuracy.  (photo © Debra Tessier )

The fourth and final game was Gaulter’s from the outset  when he led 8-5 he had notched up five winners and committed three errors. He reached match ball with a very tight forehand that Palmer could not scrape off (he would have done yesterday) and his tenth point when  Palmer was denied a let. That was the first questionable decision. Palmer was now as alert as ever I have seen him and was reacting like a rabbit to each Gaultier shot. He won the next two points with backhand winners and then came a very bad decision; Gaultier was given a let when  Palmer’s shot had nicked – that should have been Palmer’s eighth point and he was on a roll. The final point was a stroke to Gaultier  - totally wrong.  Palmer clutched his head in disbelief,  controlled his temper and shook Gaultier’s hand before leaving the court.  But once out of view and backstage, he was absolutely fuming. He had every right – three bad decisions at that stage had destroyed his chances.

I don’t blame the referee – he was sitting directly in front of the back wall his eyes level with the floor.  Had he been sitting with me, by the side wall three feet in front of the front wall, he would have seen  the ball nick; he would have had a different angle on the players when he awarded that stroke, and he would have seen a whole lot more than he obviously did sitting at eye level with the floor.

What I do blame the referees for, collectively, is their outdated views on the officiating position. Only two referees  out of dozens I have spoken to feel that a front wall position would be preferable to sitting 30 feet behind the back wall surrounded by spectators. Go Figure.

US Open 2006, Quarterfinal RESULTS:
Back Bay Events Center:[Complete draw]
[[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) def [[11] Ramy Ashour (EGY) 10-11(0-2) 11-5 11-8 11-10(2-0) 56min
[6] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) def [2] David Palmer (AUS) 11-10(2-0) 8-11 11-9 11-7    68min

Semifinal action at the 2006 US Open. (photo © Debra Tessier )