Amr Shabana had to pull out all the stops to prevent a shock defeat here tonight. The four-times World Open champion found himself trailing by two games to one as the Englishman matched the Egyptian's panache at the front of the court.
They say that left handers' brains make them more creative and that was certainly the case this evening as the two players produced a dazzling display of high-quality, inventive squash.
Kemp, the world #21, took the game to his more senior rival. He lost the first game 11-8 and fought back from 10-8 down in the second game to win the tiebreak 15-13. He then recovered from deficits of 6-3 and 8-7 to win the third game 11-8. As he opened up a 3-0 lead in the fourth, many in the crowd were sensing a shock result.
However, Shabana is a calm and intelligent man in a crisis and a succession of winners gave him five points in a row. He maintained his lead to win the fourth 11-7 and he quickly moved 4-1 ahead in the fifth. But there was still plenty more to come from Kemp. He rallied to draw level at 5-5 but again Shabana showed confidence and composure to counter with a run of four points that took him to 9-5.
Game over? Not a bit. Kemp turned the tables with a three-point run to 8-9 but Shabana finished in style to close out the match 11-8 in 54 minutes.
After the match he was typically gracious to his opponent, saying: "The way Jonathan has come back from hip and back surgery to continue his career in squash is a phenomenal achievement. Those injuries would have finished the careers of many athletes and he is a very talented player - always difficult to play against.
"At 5-5 in the fifth I wasn't really worried. I just knew that the player who would win would be the one who could keep to his game and not make too many mistakes. Fortunately that was me."
No comments:
Post a Comment