08 January 2012

WEEKEND BAGATELLE XIV.: LET, STROKE OR NO LET? KARIM DARWISH vs. AMR SHABANA

Before coming to the referee's decision... This rally is from the final in Qatar 2010. From this sole rally you can see the difference in Darwish's game compared to how he played in 2011 and these days (4-8 January 2012) at the ATCO World Series Finals in London at the Queens Club; he is still a world class straight hitter of the ball, but he lost his confidence in his short game. In the below rally as for example, he plays the boast at 0:07 almost casually but still with accuracy and control over what his opponent is going to do with the ball, and at 0:09 he employs that famous big-shot-fake sliced forehand drop shot (he used to win a third of his points with that shot). I haven't counted exactly, but in his four matches at the Queens Club he's made hardly any, and he just looked like a few classes below Willstrop and Gaultier when it came to initiate. On the other hand, Shabana looks very much in the mood, he gave a master lesson to the current world #1 and we should all look forward to a great final today at 15.00 UK time against Greg (who looks to enjoy himself very much and who moves again as agile as a teenager leopard-crab). But for now, is the below rally a 'Let' / 'Stroke' or 'No Let!' ?