BEST AND WORST WAY TO CONCLUDE A MATCH: GREGOIRE MARCHE vs. OLLI TUOMINEN

Oups! Hitting a volley nick is always a pleasure. Finishing a match with a volley nick is always an extra pleasure. Getting your biggest win of your carrier by date with a volley nick makes it even more special. You probably just have to make sure that you don't knock your opponent's head off afterwards ;) Anyway, welcome to the blog Gregoire Marche, one of the potential up-and-coming players to be confirmed in 2013.

DROP AND COUNTERDROP - OLLI TUOMINEN vs. AMR SHABANA, 2012 BRITISH OPEN

I keep getting more and more surprised how Olli Tuominen keeps progressing his squash. He has certainly passed his peak years in terms of physicality - for sure he has always been one of the main animals of the circuit - but he has never played with so much variety. Also his racket-technique was a bit square, not natural, not fluid, however, by now, he is almost text-book even in this respect.
Let's have a more close look to the below rally. For example, at 0:10, observe how Tuominen holds the shot to hit a pounded low pace deep drive. Very nice. And even if it didn't create an opening, next time in a similar situation his opponent will be a lot more uncertain whether to expect a drop or a drive (or a boast or a cross kill or even a cross lob...).
At 0:18 however he hits a very loose cross-court and Amr Shabana does not ask twice to go for it: indeed, he goes for three volley-nicks in a row, The first two made Tuominen dig deep, however at the third one, Tuominen, due to his impressive fitness and body strength, manages to get there early enough to answer with a counter-drop; due to the tightness of his ball, Shabana had no other option than to counter-drop again, which not surprisingly ended up being loose enough to enable Tuominen for another time to hold his shot and menace with a kill; that made Shabana stuck on the 'T' and the last counter-drop ended up being a clear winner. Classic stuff.

AMR SHABANA vs. OLLI TUOMINEN, 2012 BRITISH OPEN

(2o12 British Open, 2nd round, Shabana-Tuominen 3:0)
Haven't seen Olli Tuominen playing for a long time and it appears to me that technically he became a lot smoother than in the past. He can be considered by now one of the veteran players, but he still very much looks the business. A part from the body letting you down somewhat with time, everybody keeps improving in squash it seems to me.
And Shabana looks in a good mood. First round he was a bit up and down against one of the upcoming rising stars of the game, Tarek Momen, but yesterday against Tuominen he was lethal all way long. Should be a great match against Ramy Ashour Friday 12.45 (UK time) in the quarter final. Don't miss this one, leave your office early and join us live or switch on to squashtv.

WATCH OUT FOR THIS BOY: MOHAMED ABOUELGHAR

Okay, here we have a few players I haven't had the opportunity to talk about yet. First on is flying Tarek Momen against Mohamed Abouelghar. I have already expressed a few times my admiration towards Tarek Momen (however, soon the results will have to be more consistent, otherwise he could become one of the greatest talents ever not to really make it. Let's hope he proves his points this year). His opponent, 19 year old Mohamed Abouelghar (in red shirt), is another stellar prodigy from Cairo. Watch his shots, hardly any back- and afterswing, his court coverage (both with the foot - to defend - and the eye - to attack!), so smooth and compact that I can't help but thinking of a certain Amr Shabana. By the way when I had the luck to bump into Abouelghar in the Queens Club in January he confirmed me that he mostly trains with Shabana form the big guns. And on top of all, he's got also what this highlight can not show: mental discipline. If this guy will not waste his talent in some way, then watch out for interesting things to happen. Next match is between good old Olli Tuominen - you probably remember our praise of him - against the biggest block on the tour, Omaar Mosaad (in black). It must be a nightmare to be on court with Mosaad unless you are a lot better or a lot smaller to get around him under his armpit. Mosaad is still young (24) and he's been in the top20 for nearly two years, I am curious to see how far he could go. He is probably the hardest hitter on the tour, he's got also great touch and is moving the court around pretty decently for being slightly oversize for this sport. Anything can happen yet with him, however the next two years will show if we shall whether expect him in the top5 or rather top10. Next on, I don't have to introduce Hisham Ashour (in red shirt), last month he achieved carrier high world #11 (grrr, still no top10!) Unfortunately Hisham seems to have gained some extra weight again, you can see it so clearly with him as not only does his upper body become really big, but also his movement becomes totally different compared to his slim times. His opponent, Mohd Ali Anwar Reda, another Egyptian youngster in the top30, is a highly skilled player, but I have seen a few times lack of mental strength in his matches. Last up is Amr Shabana against Cameron Pilley. Pilley (in blue shirt) is another famous hard hitter (you know what he did to his brother, don't you) and a very relaxed guy too. Why hasn't he achieved top10 so far? He probably lacks exactly that tiger-kind concentration that the really big ones have (and that Abouelghar seems to have too!)

UNORTHODOX III.: OLLI TUOMINEN

What a great hold and deception by Olli Tuominen to finish off this rally! Tuominen is a very special phenomenon on the PSA tour, a lonely guy from Finland who's been top 20 for about a decade, has beaten the majority of the top players (quiet a few of them more than once or twice). Tuominen's playing style is very physical - okay, I hear you guys saying that squash in general is very physical, but still there are players who move like a panther, and others like a terminator. Olli is rather from the latter type. Also his racket-preparation, his backswings are a fraction too hectic compared to the average of the pro players. All this sounds like a slight lack of squash culture (lack of education in junior times maybe). However, there are a couple of things that compensate for all this. First of all, Tuominen's fitness and athletic capabilities: you will not want to go for a little jogging with Olli in the snowy forests of Finland: it will take easily two to three hours and the speed will be more similar to a 1500 race - you'll end up left far behind, lost, starving and freezing in that forest. So you better stay on the squash court if you get to train with him. But there then you'll have to cope with his ultra fast pace and his surprisingly good deception. It's strange, as he looks less fluid compared to the average top player, but maybe this is exactly what gets him to disguise the deception; you would expect basic shots form a robot-like mover, and indeed he'll play straight twenty times in a row if he has to, but then still ends up hitting accurately chosen and unorthodoxly executed volley-drops and trickle-boasts at the right times. Welcome to 'No Let! The Squash Video Blog', Olli!