MARTIN BRONSTEIN REPORTING FROM THE JOHN BASSETT THEATRE TORONTO

ASHOUR  SHARP – SHABANA RUSTY. GUESS WHO WON?

Amr Shabana has been lucky over the last year, having opponents retiring in the finals to give him easy victory.  Tonight he was not lucky – in fact in the first game it seemed as though he was still in bed as Ashour rolled over him in four minutes and ten seconds (exactly as I had the stop watch going). It wasn’t that Ashour was that good it was just that Shabana really didn’t seem to care and he gave as many points away by lack of effort as by unforced errors. So, 11-2  in 250 seconds. Mmmm…

 I began to feel for those people who had paid big money for this final.

But things got better in the second game as  Shabana  started well took a 5-1 lead and decided not to let Ashour humiliate.  But then Ashour went up a gear and  was still surprising Shabana with his short game.  Shabana had feet of lead and I couldn’t help wondering whether there was an injury niggling at some part of his body.

Shabana surged again, using that wonderful forehand cross court cut and suprise boasts to lead 8-6. But another lapse and  three errors in four rallies  was all Ashour needed  to take the game 11-8  and lead 2-0 with suggestions of a clean sweep.

Shabana got up to full speed in the third game, fast on to the drops, hitting disguised cross court slams that left Ashour flat-footed  and showing for the first time, why he was world number one. There was no lapse this time  and he won the game 11-8 in 10 minutes.

The squash was of a very high order; at times the pace was incredible, sometimes it felt as though somebody had speed up the film. Both players are capable of inhumanly fast reactions, and their speed around the court it times  was unreal.

Make no mistake about it, the Egyptians have taken the sport up to a new level.

So now we had a 2-1 match and anything was possible. Shabana, however was really not too worried about winning. Later he was to say he was just happy to be playing injury free, which is not quite the mental attiude needed for victory. He started off the fourth and final game  with four errors in six rallies, and from then on it was Ashour on a straight line to victory. At 10-5  Shabana hit a short shot, stayed at the back of the court as  Ashour went forward to play the winning drop.  But Ashour hit the tin and so Shabana was forced to play on and delay the handshake. He picked up a few more points, nonchalantly, but after a wonderful rally, Shabana hit the tin, as we knew he should, and it was all over  11-8. The final had last 38 minutes which was not exactly the dream final we had all anticipated.

Shabana  said he was playing without pressure – just happy to be playing without injury.

“I felt out of it which is what happens when you have  not played competitively.. I was too comfortable to start with.  There is no strategy when the top two play. We can both adapt and play fast or slow.  Whoever plays best on the night wins, it’s that simple,” he explained.

Ashour’s victory puts him at the top of the Players’ Cup standings by a big margin. 

David Palmer retains second spot and James Willstrop is still in third.  Kaarim Darwish moves up to fourth followed by  Thierry Lincou,   Mohammed Abbas, Wael el Hindi and  Hisham Ashour.

FINAL RESULT
 Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt  Amr Shabana (EGY) 11-2, 11-9 8-11, 11-8  (38mins)

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