Mon 1st Dec
Shocks galore in Qatar ...
Men's First Round (bottom half):
Mark Chaloner (ENG) bt [10] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
15/13,15/8,13/15,12/15,15/6 (98m)
Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [7] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 6/15,15/6,15/10,11/15,15/12
(111m)
[Q] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [16] Graham Ryding (CAN)
15/11, 15/6, 15/2 (40m)
[4] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [Q] David Evans (WAL) 15/12,
15/6, 15/10 (54m)
[Q] Dan Jenson (AUS) bt [13] Martin Heath (SCO) 15/9,
15/12, 5/15, 15/9 (75m)
Omar Elborolossy (EGY) bt [8] Karim Darwish (EGY) 17/14,
12/15, 17/14, 17/15 (74m)
[Q] Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt [15] Simon Parke (ENG) 15/7, 15/9,
15/7 (33m)
[2] John White (SCO) bt [Q] Peter Barker (ENG) 15/4, 15/7,
15/10 (33m)
Full men's draw
Women's First Round:
[1] Carol Owens (NZL) bt [Q] Tegwen Malik (WAL) w/o
Malik withdrew with 'flu
[12] Stephanie Brind (ENG) bt Sharon Wee (MAS) 6/9, 9/3, 9/2,
9/2 (29m)
[8] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt [Q] Rebecca Botwright (ENG) 9/1,
9/2, 9/2 (31m)
[13] Fiona Geaves (ENG) bt Pamela Nimmo (SCO) 5/9, 9/5, 9/1, 9/4
(45m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) v Latasha Khan (USA) 9/1,
9/2, 9/2 (23m)
[15] Shelley Kitchen (NZL) bt [Q] Carla Khan (PAK) 9/7, 9/2,
8/10, 9/7 (60m)
[6] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt [Q] Laura Lengthorn (ENG) 9/4,
9/5, 9/2 (29m)
[9] Rebecca Macree (ENG) bt [Q] Alison Waters (ENG) 6/9, 9/6,
9/1, 9/1 (50m)
Nicol David (MAS) bt
[10] Jenny Tranfield (ENG) 9/5, 9/5, 9/2 (27m)
[7] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Engy Kheirallah (EGY) 9/0,
9/2, 9/2 (25m)
[16] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) bt Annelize Naude (NED) 3/9, 9/7,
rtd (25m)
[4] Cassie Jackman (ENG) bt [Q] Heidi Mather (AUS) 9/1, 9/4,
9/2 (23m)
[14] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [Q] Amelia Pittock (AUS) 9/6,
9/6, 9/2 (30m)
Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) bt [5] Linda Charman (ENG) 9/5, 10/9,
3/9, 9/5 (67m)
[11] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt Madeline Perry (IRL) 9/6, 9/2,
9/4 (27m)
[2] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt Rebecca Chiu (HKG) 9/4, 9/4,
9/2 (30m)
Full women's draw
Quick Pics from Fritz
Fritz Borchert reports on Monday's play
The
2nd day at the Qatar Classic in Doha was full of surprises.
Early in the day came the shock withdrawal of tournament co-favourite
Jonathon Power, followed this afternoon by a defeat of Monaco Champion
Linda Charman to Isabelle Stoehr.
"I had a video tape from my match with Linda in Monaco,"
said Stoehr. "I have studied it all week and when I went on court , I was
ready for her. I trained a lot in the summer and was waiting for a good
win.”
Adrian Grant had a fine win, but some nervous moments, in his match
against Ong Beng Hee. At 2 each and 14/9 match ball Grant suffered a
cramp that nearly cost him the match. Also, at 14/12 a certain stroke
should have give him the match, but the Malaysian was reprieved until he
tinned the ball a few rallies later.
Mark
Chaloner proved a point to the England selectors when he beat Gregory
Gaultier in a hard fought 5 game encounter.
Match of the Day: Adrian Grant v Ong Beng Hee
Quotes of the Day :
Martin Heath (on Court, after a no Let)
"That is my living that you're destroying here."
Nick Matthew after Power's retirement :
"I was a little disappointed, as I felt that I could have beaten him. But
a win, is a win."
Seeds Decimated in Doha
Howard Harding reports on a dramatic day in Doha
In a day beset by upsets, all but two of the second day's schedule of
men's first round matches in the Qatar Squash Classic went against the
seedings as world top twenty players like Egyptian Karim Darwish,
Malaysian Ong Beng Hee, Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, Scot Martin Heath,
Pakistani Mansoor Zaman and Englishman Simon Parke fell by the wayside to
lower-ranked opponents.
There were similar collapses in the women's first round as Malaysia's
Nicol David and France's Isabelle Stoehr overcame higher-seeded English
opponents Jenny Tranfield and Linda Charman, respectively.
Experienced Egyptian Omar Elborolossy engineered perhaps the most
significant of upsets when he beat compatriot Karim Darwish, the world
No8, 17-14 12-15 17-14 17-15 in 74 minutes of finely-balanced and
high-pressure squash. Darwish, 22, recently succeeded 28-year-old
Elborolossy as the Egyptian No1 and led an Egypt squad in October's World
Team Championships from which his predecessor had been excluded.
Elborolossy delivered the perfect riposte to the nation's selectors when
he later ejected world No1 Peter Nicol in the first round of the Canadian
Classic. "This was a very important match for me," said Omar after his
Doha triumph.
Unseeded Mark Chaloner also had a belated message for the selectors who
left him out of the England squad in the Vienna championships. The
Lincolnshire lad toiled for 98 minutes to achieve a morale-boosting 15-13
15-8 13-15 12-15 15-6 victory over tenth seed Gregory Gaultier, the
Frenchman who was responsible for England's unexpected semi-final exit
from the tournament.
Two other Englishmen joined Chaloner in unscheduled second round berths.
Unseeded Adrian Grant ousted seventh-seeded Malaysian Ong Beng Hee 6-15
15-6 15-10 11-15 15-12 in 111 minutes, while qualifier James Willstrop
took just 40 minutes to get the better of Canada's 16th seed Graham Ryding
15-11 15-6 15-2.
Linda Charman was the heaviest casualty in the women's event. The world
No6 from Sussex, victorious in the Monte Carlo Classic less than two weeks
ago, crashed out 9-5 10-9 3-9 9-5 to Isabelle Stoehr, ranked 14 places
below, to suffer her first opening round exit on the WISPA World Tour
since the Qatar Open in October 2001.
News direct from Doha ... www.qatarclassic.com
