MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ: THE GREAT DAVID PALMER DISCIPLE

It's been now some time that David Palmer started to coach the funniest and quickest guy on the tour, Miguel Angel Rodiriguez. Just a few days ago we had a very similar David Palmer dive here on the blog and here we have the Colombian cannonball doing even two of them in a row in opposite corners. 

Rodriguez has visibly benefited a lot from the training with his legendary supervisor, but it has to be said that in the decisive moments when the loose shots arise his choice of shots are not yet as good and as sharp as his tutor's used to be. Still it's high quality squash and extremely entertaining. 

Oh, and concerning his opponent, Mr.Willstrop, it's just each time a pleasure to observe his timing of shots: there is a delay on each shot, even on the most basic drives.

THIS IS NOT AN OLYMPIC SPORT? 15 SQUASH RALLIES THAT EVERYBODY SHOULD GET TO KNOW

Some people don't know squash. Some people know squash but think it is not fun to watch on TV. Have a look at the below 15 videos, a selection of the hardest and most fun rallies of the past few years, and you might change idea.

Ramy ASHOUR (Egy) vs. Gregory GAULTIER (Fra) / 2013 Tournament of Champions, New York

to read the full No-Let post about this video: ROCK AND ROLL SQUASH: RAMY ASHOUR vs. GREGORY GAULTIER IN THE 2013 TOC FINAL


Amr SHABANA (Egy) vs. James WILLSTROP (Eng) / 2013 World Series Finals, London

to read the full No-Let post about this video: THE BEST DOUBLE FAKE EVER: AMR SHABANA vs. JAMES WILLSTROP


David PALMER (Aus) vs. Ramy ASHOUR (Egy) / 2011 Tournament of Champions, New York

to read the full No-Let post about this video: THE SHOT OF THE CENTURY: by DAVID PALMER


Ramy ASHOUR (Egy) vs. Nick MATTHEW (Eng) / 2012 El Gouna International, Egypt

to read the full No-Let post about this video: IT WON'T GET CRAZIER THAN THAT - 2012 EL GOUNA - RAMY ASHOUR vs. NICK MATTHEW


Nick MATTHEW (Eng) vs. Amr SHABANA (Egy) / 2011 Tournament of Champions, New York

to read the full No-Let post about this video: SQUASH GOING CRAZY: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS 2011 NEW YORK


Mohamed EL SHORBAGY (Egy) vs. Ramy ASHOUR (Egy) / 2012 PSA World Championship, Qatar

to read the full No-Let post about this video: A NEW CONTENDER FOR THE GREATEST RALLY EVER: MOHAMED EL SHORBAGY vs. RAMY ASHOUR


Miguel Angel RODRIGUEZ (Col) vs. Thierry LINCOU (Fra) / 2011 US Open, Philadelphia

to read the full No-Let post about this video: PROBABLY THE MOST STUNNING SHOT OF ALL TIMES: by MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ


Ramy ASHOUR (Egy) vs. Nick MATTHEW (Eng) / 2011 Australian Open, Canberra

to read the full No-Let post about this video: NICK AND RAMY KEEP IT ROLLING - AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2011 


John WHITE (Sco) vs. Gregory GAULTIER (Fra) / 2008 Tournament of Champions, New York
to read the full No-Let post about this video: THANKS, JOHN!


Karim DARWISH vs. Mohamed EL SHORBAGY (Egy) / 2012 El Gouna International, Egypt
to read the full No-Let post about this video: MONSTER RALLY: KARIM DARWISH vs. MOHAMED EL SHORBAGY, 2012 EL GOUNA INTERNATIONAL


Ramy ASHOUR (Egy) vs. Nick MATTHEW (Eng) / 2012 El Gouna International, Egypt

to read the full No-Let post about this video: GREAT SQUASH IS ALWAYS FAIR SQUASH TOO: RAMY ASHOUR vs. NICK MATTHEW


Amr SHABANA (Egy) vs. Miguel Angel RODRIGUEZ (Col) / 2011 Tournament of Champions, New York

to read the full No-Let post about this video:  SQUASH GOING CRAZY AGAIN - TOC 2012: AMR SHABANA vs. MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ


James WILLSTROP (Eng) vs. Nick MATTHEW (Eng) / 2010 Canary Wharf Classic, London

to read the full No-Let post about this video: CANARY WHARF 2010 - MATTHEW vs. WILLSTROP: BEST EVER SQUASH MATCH?


Amr SHABANA (Egy) vs. Ramy ASHOUR (Egy) / 2012 British Open, London, UK

to read the full No-Let post about this video: AMR SHABANA vs. RAMY ASHOUR - THREE CORNER SQUASH ULTIMATE EGYPTIAN VERSION


James WILLSTROP (Eng) vs. Ramy ASHOUR (Egy) / 2013 North American Open, Richmond

to read the full No-Let post about this video: THE EXTRAORDINARY TRIPLE FAKE by JAMES WILLSTROP

Squash has finally become a serious contender to be included in the Olympics. It has been shortlisted and it has received several prestigious public backings, like for example from Roger Federer. If you too would like to see such entertaining actions within the Olympics then please feel free to spread these images.

VINTAGE DAVID PALMER DIVE, VINTAGE KARIM DARWISH EXECUTION

Some vintage stuff in vintage quality (unfortunately), but it makes me miss David Palmer and his crazy dives (which were in such interesting opposition with the general discipline and steadiness of his game). The rally is also telling stories about the Dark Prince, Karim Darwish, who after winning the rally, shows signs of being p... off instead of enjoying the crowd's celebration, having just won a spectacular rally that got him to matchpoint. But okay, it's part of Darwish's character, he has never aimed to be a crowd-pleaser, however, in his prime times, he was both sharp as a knife and entertaining due to his deadly touch and exceptional reading of the game. He's not the old himself anymore, but he's still there as he has just recently proven by beating new ace Mohamed El Shorbagy 3:0 in the final of the CIMB KL Open.