Semi Finals:
Egyptian Breakthrough

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

Dec 20, 2003, Lahore, Pakistan --- [HH Semi final report; complete results]

Amr Shabana in World Open Final photo © Deb Tessier 2003

Karim Darwish versus Amr Shabana
This match was played while Joe and I were getting ready for our match (eating and stretching.) I saw some of it on the hotel television — Shabana was playing great attacking squash. He has been so fired up for this tournament. Especially going into this semi final he was playing against his countryman and a player he hates losing to, so he was particularly hungry for the victory.

Darwish won able to level the game scores to 1-1 before Shabana stamped his authority. He was more eager to chase each ball down, more willing to play an attacking shot and more versatile in his game. Darwish sometimes may block a lot during matches, but what I saw today was well refereed and the game flowed nicely.

MORE THEATRICS
Shabana doesn’t seem able to play this tournament without adding some scoring theatrics. Against Palmer he was up 2-1 and 14-9 in the fourth, but blew his chances, only to make up for it in the 5th. Against Ricketts he was down 14-10 in the 4th, saved four match balls, then dramatically won the match 17-16 in the fifth with a cross court nick winner off the serve. Things didn’t change much in the semis. He did manage to win in four games, but not until dramatically slotting a cross court nick at 14-14 in the fourth. No one can accuse him of being timid with his shots.

It is appropriate that Shabana won this encounter. To get to the final of the 2003 World Open he has had to win five matches, including victories over 2002 World Champion David Palmer (currently ranked 3) and then Anthony Ricketts (currently ranked 6). Prior to the semis Darwish didn’t even play against an opponent ranked inside the top 20! That obviously comes down to the luck of the draw, nonetheless Shabana has had to play three guys inside the top 7 and has earned his place in the final.

[9]Amr Shabana (Egy) bt [7]Karim Darwish (Egy) 15-11 11-15 15-8 15-14

Thierry Lincou (Fra) versus Joe Kneipp (Aus)
Lincou has been handed a similarly fortunate draw to Darwish (I’m not blaming the players, you obviously work with the hand you are dealt). The draw suggested he would play Beng Hee in the quarters, then White in the semis, but both players were upset by lower ranked players in earlier rounds. This meant that prior to the semi finals Lincou had played two players ranked outside of the top 20. Berden is the 30s and Matthew is in the 20s (although about to take a jump to the low teens). Nevertheless this is a very different draw than the placement Joe had – playing Alex Gough in the 2nd round, a player ranked higher than any of Lincou’s opponent’s. Then he played John White, the #2 and runner up at this tournament last year. Following that he had to play Lee Beachill – the winner of the last Super Series event and the hottest player at the moment.

JOE HITS THE WALL
I don’t need to go into much detail about this match. Joe felt sore, but good going onto court, but hit the wall ridiculously early. The last three matches had left him too drained to run as much as he needed to against Lincou. You can’t play the Frenchman and not expect to do lots of running.

Thierry plays text book squash. I don’t watch many of Lincou’s matches because I don’t enjoy watching him play as much as some other players. The only reason for this is because of his type of play. He doesn’t hit many dramatic winners and there isn’t a ‘wow’ factor like you get with players like McWhitey or Shabana. But Lincou plays squash as it is supposed to be played - tight, conservative, intense, consistent. That’s why every tournament this year he has made at least the semis. His consistency and solid play is ridiculously hard to beat. It was certainly too much for Joe who whose tired body wasn’t able to run and lunge, and whose fatigue meant his shots weren’t as effective as in previous rounds.

The main disappointment for Joe after this loss was not missing out on a place in the final of the World Open. It was that he played his worst squash of the tournament in front of Jansher and Jahangir Khan. He has an incredible amount of respect for these two legends and wanted to play a good game of squash, indicative of what had gotten him so far in the tournament. He couldn’t.

Lincou versus Shabana in the final should be a great match. The World Open and the recent Qatar Classic couldn’t be a better indicator of the strength of the top 20 at the moment and the changing of the guard.

[4]Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt [11]Joe Kneipp (Aus) 15-10 15-10 15-7