Courtesy Gulf Times Sport
Big guns boom into quarters
By R. Ravi Kumar, the Gulf Times
Squash was at its interesting, and at times hilarious, best at the Qatar Classic yesterday as the big guns safely manoeuvred their way past dangerous opponents into the quarterfinals.
World No 1 David Palmer of Australia trounced Del Harris of England in three straight games (15-10, 17-15, 15-13) while No 2 Canadian Jonathan Power won a messy match, which had much on offer for the spectators other than squash, against Chris Walker of England 3-0.
Peter Nicol of England who is ranked third, dropped a game but still managed to confidently pack off compatriot Lee Beachill 3-1 (7-15, 15-7, 15-6, 15-8).
In the first match, Palmer put on display some engaging squash, deftly mixing his shots. It initially appeared as though Harris would test the worlds best player but Palmer rose to the occasion and snatched the first game 15-10. The second game went into a tiebreak in which Palmer came back from two crucial points down and made it 2-0 with 17-15. The third game was easy for Palmer who now meets Frenchman Thierry Lincou in the quarterfinals.
"Harris is a tough guy to beat and I am very happy with the score," said Palmer after the match.
In an engaging tussle of the two new kids on the court, Egyptian Mohammed Abbas prevailed over feisty Pakistani Shahid Zaman 3-1 (15-13, 10-15, 17-15, 15-12). Abbas' fluent and languid style contrasted sharply with Zamans speedy and powerful one and the score hardly indicates how close the former Pakistani junior champion came to rocking his rivals boat.
Tall and lanky Abbas took the first game 15-13. Zaman, with Jahangir Khan's reassuring presence on his bench, immediately came back in the next game and pocketed it convincingly 15-10.
He went into the third round with his tail up and had the score reading a healthy 6-3, when inexplicably the guard was lowered. Zamans confidence started wavering and the unforced errors mounted. He managed to tie the score and force a break but, as luck would have it, a decision went against him and a stroke was awarded to his opponent who got his nose ahead 17-15.
In the third game, Zaman managed to level the score at least thrice but his rival had got the necessary boost of confidence and wrapped up the match 15-12.
Abbas now meets Stewart Boswell of Australia who beat Mark Chaloner of England 3-1 (15-11, 16-17, 15-6, 15-2).
Power, the John McEnroe of Squash, defeated Englishman Chris Walker, who matched Power word for word and shot for shot, in three straight games 15-9, 15-13, 15-11.
Power lunged and slipped umpteen number of times on way to securing the first game 15-11. Verbal jousting started from the second game onwards which Power won to take a 2-0 lead and provided excellent entertainment for the apology of a crowd on centre court.
Walker was warned twice by the referee for needless physical contact and on one occasion was almost docked a point for a rugby-style tackle.
Jibes and taunts between the two players, between them and the referees - and whenever the two decided to patch up and take on the crowd, between them and the audience - continued until Power ended the match 15-11.
"I am very angry. It was a very messy match. I think I have injured myself," was all Power would say before packing his bags and leaving for the hotel.
In another match, Nicol hit a bump on way to the last eight when he lost the first game against Beachill 7-15 but quickly showed why he was so feared on court. He ran his compatriot ragged in the next three games 15-7, 15-6, 15-8 with his ferocious shots sweetly punctuated with timing.