Tue 2nd Dec
Men's & Women's Last 16 Qatar Quotes and Power update
Men's Last 16:
[1] Peter Nicol (Eng) bt [11] Amr Shabana (Egy) 15/11, 17/14, 14/15, 15/10
[9] Lee Beachill (Eng) bt Mohammed Abbas (Egy) 15/9, 15/7, 15/3
[3] David Palmer (Aus) bt [12] Joseph Kneipp (Aus) 15/11, 15/8, 15/12
Nick Matthew (Eng) bt [Q] Olli Tuominen (Fin) 10/15, 15/9, 15/3, 15/13
Adrian Grant (Eng) bt Mark Chaloner (Eng) 13/15, 15/10, 15/10, 15/9
[4] Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt [Q] James Willstrop (Eng) 15/13, 15/13, 15/6
Omar Elborolossy (Egy) bt [Q] Dan Jenson (Aus) 15/12, 17/15, 15/2
[2] John White (Sco) bt [Q] Renan Lavigne (Fra) 15/5, 17/15, 8/15, 15/14
Full men's draw
Women's Last 16:
[1] Carol Owens (Nzl) bt [12] Stephanie Brind (Eng) 9/0, 9/1, 9/5
[13] Fiona Geaves (Eng) bt [8] Tania Bailey (Eng) 10/8, 4/9, 3/9, 9/6, 9/3
[3] Rachael Grinham (Aus) bt [15] Shelley Kitchen (Nzl) 9/4, 9/0, 9/1
[6] Vanessa Atkinson (Ned) bt [9] Rebecca Macree (Eng) 9/6, 9/7, 9/1
[7] Natalie Grinham (Aus) bt Nicol David (Mas) 9/2, 7/9, 9/0, 9/4
[4] Cassie Jackman (Eng) bt [16] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) 9/4, 8/10, 9/0, 4/9, 10/8
Isabelle Stoehr (Fra) bt [14] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) 10/8, 9/3, 9/7
[2] Natalie Grainger (Usa) bt [11] Vicky Botwright (Eng) 9/1, 9/6, 9/1
Full women's draw
Quick Pics from Fritz
Fritz Borchert reports on Tuesday's play
More photos in the Gallery
Cassie Jackman sailed close to the wind in her match against upcoming Starlet Jenny Duncalf, saving match ball at 4-8 in the 5th game. Only over eagerness by the youngster allowed Jackman to close the gap and save the expected victory.A relieved Jackman said: "Yes, that was close. I think Jenny got over excited, being so close to the win. Experience brought me through."
The same could be said about Peter Nicol. He had to work very hard, to make good a 13-9 in the 2nd game and again in the 3rd. 13-7 difference, before winning 3-1 against Amr Shabana. Nicol said: "It was a tough match. He brought the match to me, attacking whenever he could. I just played steady and let him make the mistakes, but it was hard work."
Isabelle Stoehr kept her winning ways alive, when she beat Omneya Abdel Kawy in straight games. The match finished with the Egyptian receiving a conduct stroke on match ball for over physical play, pushing her opponent against the wall (as seen in the world Championship in Austria, Australia v. France).
Adrian Grant also carried on with his winning habit, when he dispatched Mark Chaloner 3-1 in a gruelling 110 Minutes.
Match of the day:
Cassie Jackman v Jenny Duncalf
Quote of the day:
Nick Matthew after beating Finn Olli Tuominen today, who was carrying a injury, having progressed after Jonathon Power got injured yesterday:
"Perhaps I will play someone who is not injured."
The chances are there, since his opponent tomorrow is David Palmer, who was carrying a strapping on one of his knees today, and said it was 50/50 whether he played today. Qatar Quotes
Stylish Shabana loses match, wins hearts
R Ravi Kumar reports for the Gulf TimesPeter Nicol’s campaign for a Qatar Classic hat-trick almost went off the road yesterday, forcing the world No 1 to dig deep into his reservoir of experience to tame Amr Shabana 15-11, 17-14, 14-15, 15-10 in the second round.
In sharp contrast, New Zealand’s Carol Owens, the top-ranked women’s player in the world, hardly broke sweat while blanking out Stephanie Brind of England 9-0, 9-1, 9-5 for a place in the last eight.
Other results in the $120,000 tournament were on predictable lines and devoid of surprises with the seeds crowding the quarter-finals.
The match of the day was the Khalifa Complex centre court battle between England’s Nicol and Egyptian Shabana and both players ensured that the thriller would remain etched in the minds of the spectators for some time to come.
Shabana and Nicol are both stylish southpaws but the similarities end there. While, the Egyptian is a bundle of raw energy and undiluted emotion, the Englishman is calm, collected and calculating. Superbly gifted, Shabana is by far the most exciting player of his generation from Egypt and hadn’t it been for his inconsistency, his ranking would have been much higher than the current No 11 position.
The 24-year-old Shabana started confidently, executing a flurry of shots for a 5-2 lead in the first game but Nicol, 29, soon caught up and despite being pushed hard, sewed up the advantage.
Shabana was trailing in the second game but gummed up twice at 5-5 and then 9-9 and stood on the brink of levelling the match before his demons overtook him. Consequently, the Egyptian tinned four game points and could only watch in anguish as Nicol forced a three-point settler, and made it 2-0. Fantastically angled shots off the sidewalls formed Shabana’s main weapon while Nicol tried to counter this with his deceptive, unpredictable style.
Shabana, who won the Spanish Open in June, picked up the third game by overwhelming his rival with his speed and ability to produce irretrievable dropshots. He found a gear which Nicol thought didn’t exist.
But, just as soon, Shabana lost the plot and his confidence started leaking badly in the following game, helping Nicol establish control over the proceedings and eventually book his place in the quarter-finals against compatriot Lee Beachill.
“He is an extremely dangerous player and the match was very close. He is quite emotional and this tends to work against him,” said Nicol. “He needs mental discipline. If he can achieve that, he will be unbeatable,” added Nicol.
Shabana agreed with Nicol’s assessment. “I am not mentally tough and still not professional enough. I need more strong matches to build up confidence in my own abilities,” said the Egyptian.
Elsewhere, world No 3 David Palmer shrugged off a potentially serious thigh injury to easily defeat fellow Australian Joseph Kneipp 15-11, 15-8, 15-12 in under an hour.
Palmer, who is the British Open champion, met with no resistance and was understandably happy about the no-contest. “I was worried about the injury in the morning and it was 50-50,” said the Australian who now plays English young gun Nick Matthew in the last eight. “But I worked with the doctors and felt fit to take the court. I am happy with the way I am hitting the ball. I am taking it one match at a time and though my mind is sharp and willing, my body is letting me down,” said Palmer who defends his World Open title in Pakistan next week.
Women’s top seed Owens had “plenty of energy stored up” from Monday’s no-show of her rival and blasted Brind off the court in 28 minutes.
“I didn’t play yesterday and was quite energetic,” she said. “But I was a bit tentative and plan to work on that tomorrow. I will get better as the tournament progresses,” added Owens, more or less issuing a warning to Fiona Geaves, her next challenger.
Other winners on the distaff side were British Open champion Rachael Grinham and her sister Natalie from Australia, Cassie Jackman of England, second seed Natalie Grainger of the United States and Vanessa Atkinson of the Netherlands.
Men’s fourth seed Thierry Lincou of France had to work hard to quell strapping Englishman James Willstrop’s challenge. The score at the end of the 50-minute encounter read 15-13, 15-13, 15-6.
“He is a young and talented player and improving all the time,” said Lincou who has made two finals this year. “I had to be careful because he is so big and it is difficult to read him. I played him earlier on a normal court and the match lasted more than two hours. I knew he would be more confident on the all-glass court. I had to fit my game accordingly to beat him.”
The 27-year-old Frenchman, who next meets Adrian Grant of England, also declared his intention to “make the final and win it - Inshallah
News direct from Doha ... www.qatarclassic.com
