MOHD AZLAN ISKANDAR vs. JAMES WILLSTROP: 2011-2012 WORLD SERIES FINALS

The World Series Finals at the Queens Club in London feature those eight players who gathered the most points in the 2011 World Series events. The tournament however is played in January 2012, hence the confusion whether to call it World Series Finals 2011 or 2012. This might be a promoting/marketing issue to be fixed in the future I guess by the PSA/WSA. Anyway, the best match of the third and final group stage day featured newly crowned world #1 James Willstrop and Azlan Iskandar. There was no real stake as James was already qualified for the semis and Azlan was already out as he has lost previously to both Mohamed El Shorbagy and Karim Darwish. Azlan played great squash and ended James' 17 match winning streak. James might not have given it his all, but he was far from playing badly or just letting it go. It was Azlan who was just so much better today compared to the previous days. Azlan is a relaxed, cheerful character and apparently he prefers relaxed situations, when the stake is not that high. For me, this is the only reason why he is not a top5 player. He should probably try to learn from Amr Shabana, the most relaxed character amongst the top players who, in opposition to Iskandar, can be slightly disinterested at less important stages of a tournament but is mostly a god of concentration when it comes to play the big matches.

UNORTHODOX II: MOHD AZLAN ISKANDAR

There are by now around thirty posts in this squash video blog, and this is only the first to feature Mohd Azlan Iskandar. Shame on me, but it also shows in what an undeveloped stage video sharing still is, there is not that much to be found about him. Anyway, Iskandar is a great player with a very particular style, beautiful to watch. He is soft and strong, gentle and dynamic at the same time. He has an amazing wrist which allows him those out of the world flicks as the one which made him win the below rally, but at the same time he is also one of the most classy players on the current tour with that long, old-fashioned follow-through on the after-swing of his drives (reminiscent of the heavy, wooden racket-times) as it can be seen for example at 0:15. Another particular thing is his backhand from the back after the re-bounce from the back-wall: it's not the typical static 'two-legged' type, he is going very deep with the legs and lounges with the right leg extremely forward - more than anybody else on the tour. That he's stuck in the top20 is a real shame for him. There are not many players outside the top10 who have beaten Amr Shabana, Ramy Ashour, Nick Matthew, David Palmer, Thierry Lincou and Lee Beachill at least one time each. But then again, he can lose to anybody. Azlan, if you listen, could you please take a bit seriously the next 12 months? I am afraid it's your last chance considering the age factor. Congrats for having just won the Malaysian National title, but back it up please, it's just not worth to retire with the label "former world #11", and mainly not with your talent. May the force be with you.