Martin Bronstein's Exclusive reports from Egypt Al-Ahram women's second report, quarter final round FROM MARTIN BRONSTEIN AT CAIRO STADIUM WORLD OPEN, Sept 15, Wed AM 1999, Cairo Second ROUND KING CANUTE COULDN'T STOP MICHELLE EITHER AL AHRAM WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL TUESDAY SEP 14 1999 Linda Charman was much better than the final 3/1 scoreline in her quarterfinal match against world number one Michelle Martin. The English player who has been overshadowed by Cassie Jackman and Sue Wright, showed that she has the brains and the strokes to give Martin a fight. "They all think that the way to beat Michelle is cross courts, but she's miles better at that than anybody," commented Rodney Martin after the match. Linda didn't fall in that trap; she used tight lobs down the wall to limit the Australian's game and knew exactly the right time to put in the drop or boast. Martin is the complete player; her constant use of high cross courts to work her opponent before putting in the boast amounts to cruelty. Her drop shots at front left bring to mind the way former champ Susan Devoy used to win matches in that corner. The big difference between Martin and Charman -and the rest- is that she never lets up, rarely makes errors and just keeps coming on like the tide - there seems to be no stopping her. But when Charman improves her fitness and eliminates the patchiness of her game plan, she will be a force to reckon with. CARRY ON CAMPION Cassie Campion (Jackman) proved me wrong by whipping Suzanne Horner easily in three games. Yesterday's sloppiness on court was due to stomach problems; faced with the former England number one, Cassie upped her game considerably and was in command from the word go. She strikes the ball beautifully and mixed her drives and boasts with enough pace to keep Horner on the move. It was good squash but Horner was never going to win and Cassie will move confidently on to the semi-finals in front of the Pyramids on Wednesday night. OWENS BEATS JOYCE The delightful Leilani Joyce, a slight, perfectly made New Zealander, was sadly off her game and all those super drops that worked yesterday were hitting the tin today. Aussie Carol Owens is a mobile player with good consistency and moved Joyce around enough, I feel, to make her rush her shots. Joyce won the first game 9-6 and then lost the second 0-9. The third was closer but Joyce in addition to missing her drops was giving Owens too much space to choose her shots. Worse, Owens was reading Joyce's game and was on her short shots even before the ball left the racket. Owens won 9-6 and led 7-4 in the fourth when Joyce tried another tactic - high lobs and turned the game around. She pulled right back to tie the game at 8-8 and was unlucky to lose the game - and the match on a stroke 8-10. Owens will meet Campion in the semi-finals and I don't think she'll get a game. SCHOENE NIXES NITCH In another untidy, formless match Sabine Schoene showed that she was over her injuries and fit enough to go five games. She bet Caire Nitch of South Africa to earn a semi-final place against Michelle Martin. Schoene has yet to demonstrate she has the accuracy to be in the same class as Martin. AL AHRAM WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL QUARTER FINAL RESULTS Michelle Martin bt Linda Charman 9-4, 3-9, 9-5, 9-4. Sabine Schoene bt Claire Nitch 7-9, 10-9, 9-3, 3-9, 9-7. Cassie Campion bt Suzanne Horner 9-3, 9-5, 9-4. Carol Owens bt Leilani Joyce 6-9 9-0, 9-6, 10-8. [Back to Egypt-99 Main Page] advertisement advertisement By Martin Bronstein for Squashtalk, © 1999 For further information: Email to Martin 14 September 1999