PLAYERS CUP Quarterfinals Day One; Tuesday April 4   2008
Martin Bronstein reporting from  Harvard University.

ANOTHER SPRAINED ANKLES SPOILS GREAT MATCH

Where was I yesterday? Ah yes, Julian Illingworth turning his ankle at match point and still able to win three great rallies to take the match and saying afterwards that if his ankle did not feel right he would withdraw. Which is exactly what he did resulting in   Hisham  Ashour (who lost to Illingworth) getting  a call at 2:30 this afternoon telling him he was back in the playoffs where he would play David Palmer.

Abbas was playing great squash until he slipped and sprained his ankle. (photo:©2008 Ron Beck)

Mohammed Abbas was not so lucky, he sprained his ankle at exactly the same spot on the court, just in front of the T, as Illingworth  and had to default.  That was a real shame because he and Thierry Lincou were putting on a fine display of squash with Abbas once again threatening to  cause an upset.  Abbas has been around a long time –he’s 27 years old – and plays the game beautifully. His movement is silky, he has all the time in the world, he hits the ball with authority  and  consistent accuracy. Lincou was also playing well and the two players have been around longe enough to avoid blocking and obstruction. It was not a slam-bang affair  not did it have the spectators who had crowded around the permanent McWil court in the Murr Gym in Harvard, jumping up and down in excitement.

Nevertheless it was engrossing as they both probed each other’s weaknesses while exploring all parts of the court.  Abbas proved last week in Richmond, in the Davenport tournament that he was Lincou’s equal in everything but self belief. He proved it again tonight when he  fought back from 2-5  to 9-9  and then went on to win the game 11-9 after 17 tense minutes. 

Hisham was hot and cold. (photo:©2008 Ron Beck)

Lincou was in a positive frame of mind in the second, constantly went short, mostly at the front left, where the they both enjoyed the finest of counter dropping duels, working to millimetres above the tin. Great stuff.  But Abbas made three errors at 5-7 which put Lincou at game ball and secured the game with a precise forehand drop to win 11-5.

And so to the unhappy third game. Lincou  was slipping and although the floor was wiped a number of times he twice lost his footing to lose points. The third time he went down  he flung his racket in frustration – along the floor hitting Abbas on the legs. Abbas reacted in good humour, showing mock horror, but the referee  issued a conduct warning for racket abuse and announced the score as 6-4 for Abbas.  But during the next rally, it was  Abbas who slipped  and fell. It was serious enough for him to take a 3-minute injury break before returning to play. He smacked Lincou’s serve for a dead nick to make the score 7-4  and perhaps  put out the message that he did not want to run. He played the next rally, but at the end he turned to Lincou and shook hands to announce the end of the match; like Illingworth he did not want to take any chances of causing further damage.

ASHOUR BLOWS HOT AND COLD AND OUT

I wish the first match of the evening had been half as compelling.  David Palmer and Hisham Ashour both played well in patches but Ashour  interrupts any rhythm and the result is a sort of scrappy game that never seems to get going. Palmer started in his usual accurate faultless fashion to lead 5-0 but as the game wore seemed to lose  determination.  Ashour can play sublime squash but not for very long. He does not keep the ball very tight and his length was less than threatening for Palmer. Nevertheless  Ashour  played his way back into the game, forced a tie-breaker and won 13-11. MMmmmmm! Interesting. But then Ashour is interesting; sometimes you wonder how he ever reached number 21 in the world and other times  you ask why he is not  ranked higher than he is. The first question certainly came after he lost the second game 11-2 in about four minutes. Why? I don’t know, just a stream of errors mostly coming from his love for boasting. Occasionally they work wonderfully; most of the time they hit the tin. Wael el Hindi was sitting next to me – and talking to Ashour between games. I suggested to Wael that he tell Ashour to stop boasting. “I’ve been telling him that for three years,” he retorted.

The Player's Cup is taking place at Harvard's McWil Tournament Court. (photo:©2008 Ron Beck)

 

The next two games followed the same scenario, some interesting rallies, but Ashour constantly adding to his opponent’s score. In the third game the score was tied at 7-all before Palmer won it 11-7. In the fourth Ashour was never really in it as Palmer smoothly led from the start and won  11-5. It had been a strange and less than exciting 42 minutes. Interestingly neither Palmer nor Ashour slipped once on the floor.

QUARTER FINAL RESULTS (Partial)
David Palmer (AUS) bt Hisham Ashour (EGY) 10-11(1-3), 11-2,11-7,11-5 (42mins)
Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Mohammed Abbas (EGY) 9-11, 11-5, 5-7 ret.

WEDNESDAY
James Willstrop vs Chris Gordon
Wael el Hindi  vs  Karim Darwish

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