USA Reaches the Top Eight
Sept 29, 2004, Martin Bronstein; SquashTalk Independent News Service © 2004;

MARTIN BRONSTEIN REPORTING FROM THE FRANS OTTEN STADION IN THE SUBURBS OF AMSTERDAM      [pools draw]    [pools detailed results]

Wednesday Final Pools Report    [Tuesday report 2]

Louisa Hall Scores the Deciding Win over Hong Kong for the USA photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

THE LOUISA HALL OF FAME

Louisa Hall may have big victories in future, but none more important than the come-from-behind victory she produced today when the USA beat Hong Kong 2/1 in the final pool match to take second spot behind England in Pool B.

Poor Louisa had it all on her shoulders as she took to the court with the teams tied at 1/1 and that’s a helluva weight to carry. Meredith Quick had started off superbly for the USA overwhelming the Hong Kong number two Annie Au for the loss of just eight points.

“I felt good and my confidence was up. I played my drop shots well and got rid of my nerves quickly,” she told me later. She also got rid of her opponent quickly - the match lasted just 28 minutes.

Latasha Khan had an off day, unable to find her length or match Rebeccas Chiu’s precision. “Rebecca’s too good at the front so you have to keep her in the back when she starts making mistakes. But I never did that,” Latasha said later.

Meredeth Quick (with coach Demer Holleran) had a quick win for the USA photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

Louisa Hall started her match even worse. Nerves, she admitted later, wrecked her normal form and she went two down to Joey Chan in very quick time. She was making some bad errors and going for no percentage shots, allowing her opponent to take an easy lead. But with Demer Holleran, the US coach, calming her down, Hall brought about a remarkable reversal of fortunes and almost as quickly took the next two games to tie the match. She continued her push into the fifth and led all the way, hitting some super volley drops on the forehand that left her opponent standing. She worked her way from 5-4 to 9-4 to the constant whoops of her team-mates. The finish was another drop that her opponent failed to pick up and suddenly the USA camp were cheering and laughing- the biggest smile of all belonging to Hall herself.

“I was really nervous,” Hall told me, the smile still plastered on her face. “The pressure of the situation got to me and that tends to affect me. In the first games she was hitting the ball hard and I was playing her game, which was silly because she is much better at it than me. Demer was great in calming me down and told me to stick in there. So I started mixing it up and slowing the pace down and turned it around.”

The second place finish in the pool guarantees the US at least an eighth place finish. As the opponents for the playoff stage will not be known until all the matches are finished later this evening, they don’t know who their opponents will be. One thing is certain: whoever they face, there will be no nerves, as this will be a bonus finish over their seeding of ten. The last time they finished in 8th spot was ten years ago. Two years ago they finished in 15th position after being beaten by Hong Kong in the pools stage. So in her first year in charge Demer Holleran gets a result that will look wonderful on her c.v.

USA 2 HONG KONG 1
Latasha Khan lost to Rebecca Chiu 4-9, 1-9, 6-9 (32 mins)
Meredith Quick bt Annie Au 9-2, 9-0, 9-6 (28 mins)
Louisa Hall bt Joey Chan 2-9, 5-9, 9-3, 9-5, 9-4 (44 mins)

OMNEYA GIVES UP BUT EGYPT WIN

Strapped-up Kheirallah came through photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

Egypt and Malaysia are seeded four and five and that’s the way they finished with Egypt edging Malaysia 2/1 to win Pool D. The second strings took the plaudits after a terrific battle with Sharon Wee saving a total of seven match balls before losing to Engy Kheirallah in a 77 minute five game struggle.

Kheirallah was playing with a strapped right hand trying to support a tendon pulled in training before the championships. Although she lost the first game, Kheirallah soon took control with her range of shots and easy movement to take the next two games and the lead the fourth 8-5. Wee pulled back as Kheirallah tried to end the match with winners and paid for it with errors. Three match points later Wee was tied at 8-8 and then went on to take the game 10-8.

Kheirallah kept her composure and led the fifth all the way to get to match ball; but she had to serve three times before finally taking the point that gave her the 9-6 victory to give Egypt the first blood.

NICOL WINS ON SPEED AND DETERMINATION

Nicol David Out-pointed Omneya Abdel Kawy photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

Then came the match we were all waiting for Omneya Abdel Kawy and Nicole David, the first strings. And for one game we were not disappointed: these are gifted players and if David does not have the shots of the Egyptian player she makes up for it with incredibly fast – and silent - movement around the court.

The squash was near faultless with inch perfect precision, tight drives and skimming drops. The game was a sheer joy to watch and Omneya was in full flow of her confidence. There were no errors , but Omneya’s distribution had even the rapid David in trouble and two strokes against her in a row put Omneya at 7-4. David persisted in picking up everything – her coverage of the court was quite phenomenal and, in my opinion, the reason for the final results. But in the first game David got back to 7-7 on an error by Omneya and then another put David at game ball 8-7. Two winning drops from the Egyptian and it was 8-8. Omneya was denied a let giving David game ball again and then an error by both players gave David another game ball. She made no mistake with a forehand cross court drive and the game was hers.

And that, sadly, was the match. David took a 4-1 lead in short time, and at that point Omneya simply gave up. (Exactly as she did in Penang 1991 when she lost to David in the final of the world junior’s individual final and in the team championships).

She went for a winner on all the next rallies and failed to chase a ball in response as David took the game 9-1 in six minutes. The Egyptian coach gave his player advice and encouragement and Omneya put up more of a fight in the third game but David was just too good, too fast and too focused, taking the game 9-5 and tieing the match.

I thought Omneya, used to catching her opponents flat-footed with her deft cross court cuts and drop shots, lost heart when she found David getting to everything and getting it back. It is a character fault we thought she would lose as she moved from the junior game to the senior game, but it is still there, which is sad for such a wonderful squash player.

And so it was left to the number three strings to decide the match and Eman el Amir did the necessary business in three games in beating Tricia Chuah to give Egypt the win and the number one spot in the pool.

Jubilant American Team; photo © 2004 Fritz Borchert

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