Shabana Earns First Egyptian World Crown

by Dan Kneipp, Team Kneipp report index
All content © 2003 Squashtalk

Dec 21, 2003, Lahore, Pakistan --- [HH Final report; complete results]

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf (left) presents trophies along with Lahore’s Lieutenant General Zarrar Azeem. photo © Dan Kneipp 2003

MUSHARRAF SEES SHABANA WIN
Can you tell me any country in the world aside from Pakistan that could get the nation’s President to attend a game of squash? Could you see George W. clapping a great cross court nick? Would Chirac, Blair or Howard know a tickle boast from a skid boast? This country’s history of champions means the sport deserves, and gets support at the highest level, with President General Pervez Musharraf, an avid squash player and fan, attending today’s final.

On the day of Joe’s first round match there was an assassination attempt on Pakistan’s President. His motorcade was crossing a bridge in Rawalpindi when a bomb went off on the bridge just after he crossed. He wasn’t harmed. Throughout the whole tournament the security has been ridiculously thorough, but it reached ludicrous proportions for the President’s attendance at the final. We arrived at the venue amid a swarm of armed guards and army personnel. Everyone was being corralled through metal detectors and frisked. It’s strange the perks that being a player and coach provides. Joe and I waltzed through security and despite him beeping through the metal detector (his mobile phone) we were letf to go through to watch the final without being checked. As we watched the impressive entrance of the nation’s top dog I couldn’t help thinking that we could have had any form of weapon – knife, gun, water balloon - on us and no one would have known.

A parade of former squash champions were present at the match including Jansher Khan, Jahangir Khan, Gogi Alauddin and Qamar Zaman along with 1200 spectators, a head of state and national television. Squash deserves this attention.

Thierry Lincou (France) versus Amr Shabana (Egypt)

Amr Shabana joins Jahangir and Jansher as a World Open winner. photo © Debra Tessier

It was going to be interesting to see who was the more nervous of these two players on such a momentous occasion. Surprisingly both of them started with impeccable length and width. You hope for the final of the World Open to be great squash, and from the first rally it was excellent.. Lincou went to a comfortable 8-3 lead by playing his typical tight, conservative, relentless squash. Neither players was playing any loose shots, something that is easy to do at the start of a big match, but once Shabana attempted his normal cross court nicks it became obvious that he was nervous and tentative. He missed one cross court nick attempt off the serve by so much that the ball bounced for a second time near his feet giving a easy stroke away. He wasn’t to be deterred, realising he had to stick with his natural and successful game. He went for another nick off the next serve, hitting a roller from his backhand (he’s left handed, Lincou's right handed). Better play by Shabana and some uncharacteristic errors from Lincou allowed the Egyptian to get the score back to 8-9. Lincou pulled away to 12-9 but increasing confidence from Shabana who began going for his shots saw the scores tied again at 12-12. Shabana got to 14 first with a backhand from the back of the court that was a disguised, held, crosscourt flick drop shot nick. Lincou hit a drop shot winner to tie the score and naturally the Egyptian called Set 1. The most surprising part of the next point was that Shabana didn’t go for a nick. Everyone was looking for it, including Lincou. Instead Shabana hit a great volley off the serve down the line hugging the wall. Lincou lunged and returned it, but it sprayed off the side wall giving a stroke away and the first game to Shabana. 15-14 in a lengthy 26 minutes.

Shabana has been more concentrated and intense on court during this tournament than any time I have seen him play. Yet he has still allowed his good nature and humour to come through. In the first game he was about to serve and a strange groan emitted from the crowd. He deadpanned “Who is dying here?’. At the start of the 2nd he hit a tight backhand drive that hugged the wall, but there was considerable contact, with Shabana not clearing the area well. If his ball hadn’t been tight it would have been a simple stroke, but his ball was on the wall. The ref made a bad decision in giving a stroke. Shabana was very unhappy. The front row of seating included the President, the Lieutenant General of Lahore, Jansher and Jahangir Khan. Shabana was livid at the pathetic stoke he just received and was trying to portray to the ref that there was no way a winner could be hit from where the ball was. He yelled out, gesticulating, “Not even the great Jahangir could hit a winner from there”. He then blew a kiss to Jahangir. The crowd cracked up laughing and clapping. Shabana is a very nice fellow, and if you know him at all you realise he would only blow a kiss in a nice manner and not in a mocking way. He seemed to realise it could be misinterpreted and as he went to receive serve he bowed to Jahangir. The crowd was loving it.

Lincou took an early lead in the 2nd and Shabana’s intensity and willingness to track each ball down and not be too impatient with his shot selection began to wane. Lincou led 8-7, and a mixutre of winners and an increasing error rate from his opponent helped close the game out 15-9 in just 15 minutes, considerably shorter than the first game.

Shabana didn’t look any fresher in the third and quickly fell to a 6-3 deficit. More points were being decided by lets and strokes by two tiring players that were happy to get an easier point if possible. At 6-5 Shabana began controlling more of the rallies, doing a great job of volleying the ball straight to length, then going short once Lincou was at the back. The Egyptian got a bad call from the ref and called out “I’m sorry for anything I ever did to you”.

Even though Shabana was playing great squash – good length, high intensity, great volleying, he wasn’t attacking much and was playing a similar game to Lincou. It’s not the smartest thing to try to beat Lincou at his own game. Shabana realised this and started going for more winners which paid off immediately and took him to a 11-6 lead. I wrote yesterday that Lincou plays text book squash with consistent length, constant volleys and relentless intensity. Joe and I were talking to Jansher Khan after dinner. He hadn’t seen Lincou play before, but was very impressed with his style of play. Lincou realised he couldn’t wait for Shabana to put the ball away and began to go for more himself, hitting four winners on the way to leveling the score at 11-11. At such a crucial junction in the match both players gave everything. Obviously the player that could win the next game would have a huge advantage, particularly considering how much running and lunging both guys had done. Winners off Shabana’s racquet was the difference at the end of this game. He prevented Lincou from taking another point winning 15-11. The game had lasted 23 minutes, the total match time already at 70 minutes.

How ever much running you imagine these two had done, it was more. The rallies were long, the length was tight, they were both volleying well and there was a lot of scrambling points at the front with plenty of attacking shots and gut-wrenching snaps and volleys. Shabana is the more attacking of the two and he had made Lincou do more work. I was wondering if he could maintain his intensity for one more game, or if he would tighten up. Remembering that although Lincou has been the most consistent player throughout 2003, he still hadn’t won a decent sized tournament that had a significant number of top players present. Shabana this year won the Spanish Open that had Peter Nicol, Ong Beng Hee and Anthony Ricketts participating.

It didn’t seem to matter who had won which tournament and how nerves would hold up. What mattered was who had done more running. Lincou began looking like Joe did yesterday – drained, heavy footed, tired and worn out. He started the first point with a cross court lob off the serve that went out. This set the mood for the game. Lincou pushed really hard, but Shabana sniffed success and started volleying more. He also lobbed more. None of his lobs were outright winners, but they caused Lincou a lot of grief and helped Shabana’s deception. Lincou couldn’t tell if he was about to lob, drive or drop. He started doing tickle boasts on his forehand that were continually leaving the Frenchman flat footed. Shabana raced to a 10-3 lead which he extended to 14-7. He only needed one match ball, winning from a tired backhand drop of Lincou’s that hit the tin. Shabana was extremely emotional once he won, becoming the first Egyptian to win the World Open. He hugged his opponent, his coaches and Jahangir. I was worried he was going to try to hug the President and security would jump on him.

This was a brilliant game of squash, befitting of a World Championship. Shabana deserved this title. Not just because he played better squash on the day, but because to reach the final and take the trophy he has had victories over David Palmer (#3), Anthony Ricketts (#6 - including saving five match balls), Karim Darwish (#7) and Thierry Lincou (#4). Lincou didn’t play a single player inside the top 10, and theoreticaly had an easier ride. If you’re going to win a World Championship it’s fitting that you have to beat the best players including the reigning champ.

MOTIVATING THE PAKISTANI PLAYERS
Pakistan Squash Federation put on an impressive dinner and show after the final, with talk of next year’s Pakistan Open, and the President offering one million rupees to any local player that could lift the World Open crown. Watch out for the next generation of Pakistani players who have some extra motivation.

[9] Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [4] Thierry Lincou (Fra) 15-14, 9-15, 15-11, 15-7 (73m)