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2001 World Junior Women's Championships:

Quarterfinals: Nicol, Chuah sail through

Martin Bronstein, Squashtalk reporter on the scene in Penang's Squash Centre.
[also: Press report]

All content © 2001 Squashtalk

by Martin Bronstein, Penang, 19 July 2001
All content © 2001 Squashtalk. Photos © 2001 : Ho Kah Yeow for SquashTalk

Two minutes and thirty eight seconds You can't do too much in that time. One hundred and fifty eight seconds is not enough time to boil an egg. But it was enough time for Nicol David to win the first game against Kathrin Rorhmuller of Germany in the quarter-finals of the world junior championship. It was both sad and a joy to watch this. Sadness for the 15 year old German (who is ranked in the top eight in the world) and a joy to watch the skill, application and concentration of Nicol David

at work.

It's like watching a razor sharp knife in a bowl of jello; everything she does is incisive and absolutely right which allows her to cut her way through the opposition in minutes. She won 3/0 in about 28 minutes and I am sure Rohrmuller was glad to escape the court and the David fan club.

There is not a lot more to say about this match, it was so one-sided. Not a lot of fireworks In fact there wasn't a lot to say about any of the matches which were probably the dullest set of quarter-finals I've seen. The most exciting thing of the day when Michelle Quibell, on behalf of the US team, gave me US shirt for my birthday, despite my orders for no cards or presents. (I now consider myself an honory American. Does that mean I can get a green card?)

Come to think of it Quibell was responsible for the only frisson excitement of the day when she made a terrific come back from 4-8 down against Omneya Abdel Kawy to tie that first game at 8-8. This could have been the upset that some had predicted: keep the ball away from Kawy and she is toast. Quibell looked as though she had found the answer. But then Kawy got the serve back on a stroke, hit a superb forehand drive for a winner and then as cool as you can imagine, languidly reached overhead to slam the ball into the nick to win the game 10-8.

WHY WHAT WHERE???
This gave the American camp a huge boost and it was expected that Quibell would come back for the second breathing fire. But for no accountable reason, it all fell apart. Kawy did not suddenly grow another pair of arms holding extra rackets; Quibell just lost the plot (and most of the cast) to give that second game away 9-0 in four minutes (which is enough time to boil an egg).

Kawy just stuck the balls down the nick with her eyes closed and walked off court breathing a little easier. Quibell managed to get stuck in just a little in the third, but she was off form and any loose ball was put away with the confidence that Egyptians seem to be born with.

"Michelle lost her tightness and you can't do that with Kawy," commented Aidan Harrison, the US manager. "She certainly didn't do herself justice but remember, she is the first American girl to get to the quarters of a world championship and that's pretty good." Michelle managed to smile after the match and when I asked her what happened in the second game she shook her head and said she had no idea.

TRICIA FINALLY LIKES THE CROWDS
The second Malaysian in the semis is Tricia Chuah, who had started nervously all week, because, she admitted today, the home town crowds unsettled her. Today, with probably the biggest crowd of all, she felt a little more comfortable and started wonderfully well with the help of a very nervous 15 year old, Kasey Brown, the Aussie number three who beat the number one yesterday. Chuah chopped and chased her way to a 7-0 lead before Brown got a point with a backhand drop. Considering such a dreadful start Brown did well to make the game go for 13 minutes. It had taken Chuah just seven rallies to get to 7-0, but another 18 before she got the first game 9-3.

DOES HISTORY HAVE TO REPEAT ITSELF?
You would have though Brown would have been played in by now, but blow me! She does exactly the same thing again, 0-7 and another mountain to climb. Then she was 8-1 down and once more found some fight (too late) to save five game balls before losing 9-3. And then in the third 6-1 down before fighting back to 6-4 only to see Chuah unleash a string of winners to win 9-4 for her semi-final berth against Kawy.

Of his player Jamshed Gul, the Malysian coach said "She played well, never allowing her opponent to get into the game." His Australian counterpart, Dean Landy said that you can't give a player like Chuah 7-0 and expect to win.

"But Kasey's 15 years old and has bags of prospects. She is set on being a pro squash player and has been a pro since she was 12 years, the way she treats her training and diet."

TWO OFF-DAYS ON THE SAME DAY?
The final match was easily the longest with the two English girls showing that it is possible for two players to be off the rails at exactly the same time on exactly the same day. I wish I could write something positive about this dull, unimaginative contest but that would be misleading. There were more strokes in this match than I have seen all week, more sloppy errors and loose balls than you can rightly expect from two of the world's top juniors.

Maybe it's because these two have a history: Jenny Duncalf won the European under 19 title this year but lost to Lauran Lengthorn in the British Open under 19 tournament.There weren't too many smiles -if any- between them on court, and the stroke hunting was not conducive to good squash. Duncalf won in four despite hitting every second ball down the centre of the court. I would hate to count how many boasts went into the tin; because neither of them can put the ball away with the sureness of David, Kawy or Chuah, the boast is their winning shot. Today it was their losing shot. Maybe that was Duncalf's bad day at the office. Good that she's got it out the way because if she plays like that against David, she will be humiliated.

WHERE'S THE MAPLE LEAF THEN?
If you have detected a certain amount of angst in my writing it is because all the Canadian players got knocked out early and so I could not wave my Canadian passport in your noses. Well, thank you Ruchika Kumar for giving me the opportunity to wave the Maple Leaf. She will contest the final of the Plate against Lauren Siddall of England. (That's a name to remember; coach Malcolm Willstrop tells me she is great prospect). But back to my fellow Canadian, Mlle Kumar. She knocked out four players, including Alexandra Pearson of the US on the way to the final which is played tomorrow. I shall report on it, you can be sure.

AND ONE FOR THE STATES
Kate Rapisarda kept the Stars and Stripes flying in the Consolation Plate, getting to the semifinals, I'll keep my eyes on that one too. But tomorrow action shifts to the sport arena where they have erected the four wall glass court in the middle of a 20,000 seat auditorium. Yards and yards away from all the seats. Normally in a place that big, they put the court to one side to give 3-4000 people good close sighting. Maybe they will supply us with binoculars.

QUARTER FINAL RESULTS.
Nicol David (Mal) bt Kathrin Rohrmuller (Ger) 9-0,9-0, 9-3
Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt Laura Lengthorn (Eng) 10-8, 9-4, 8-10, 9-3.
Tricia Chuah (Mal) bt Kasey Brown (Aus) 9-3, 9-3, 9-4.
Omney Abdul Kawy (Egy) bt Michelle Quibell (US) 19-8, 9-0,9-2.

-- All quarterfinals and plates posted on draw pages --

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