LIKE AN INVISIBLE MAN ON THE COURT II.: RAMY ASHOUR vs. AMR SHABANA

In the first few years of his stellar break-through Ramy Ashour managed to beat pretty much everybody in the top10 at the first or second attempt. But he was suffering against Amr Shabana. It was only at the 4th attempt that he managed to beat him. What was it? Probably too much respect? Maybe. Shabana just so clever? Sure. In any case, these two are the two main heroes of what we might call the Egyptian Revolution of squash; these two have shown first that as a professional - with 15 years of training behind you - you are supposed to be capable to go short from any point of the court; and at the same time, you should be capable of covering the space in case your short attempt went loose. Of course, the game of squash is inconceivable without a steady basic long game; and these two without question are also great masters of the basic shots; it's just as they they have made a pact: "we are similarly good in the basic game, so why hitting first 25 deep shots before going short, let's make it within 5 shots..." And as they are used to this mentality since their early junior times, they have learned to read the game also when the ball is hidden and the opponent is in front of you. It's shoot-out squash, with hazardous nick-attempts off the serve (0:11), cross-court drops (0:13) and "invisible man" running across the court (0:15) - probably not as invisible as James Willstrop was at another exquisite occasion - but still, pretty invisible to generate a friendly & funny body-check from Amr Shabana. By the way, it was an important point; Shabana led by two games to one and 8:6. With 9:6 in the fourth it would have been tough to beat him, whereas by winning the point Ramy managed to come back in the game and then also won the fifth (...and then the final against Karim Darwish to become World Champion, at the age of 21!) Shabana then avenged the loss next year in the final, whereas in the last two years Ramy was injured at the World Open. Unlucky for him and the spectators, lucky for the rest of the field...

FLYING AROUND THE COURT II.: ALISTER WALKER vs. THE ILLUSIONIST RAMY ASHOUR

Another spectacular rally from the fantastic venue of the 2011 World Open held at the Luxor Theathre in Rotterdam. A clearly injured Ramy Ashour played the always entertaining Alister Walker. You might remember Walker from another rally where he was flying around the court with another great entertainer, Wael El Hindi. Well, Ashour normally estinguishes Walker almost in a humiliating way. I remember, last January I saw them playing in the flesh in the World Series Finals in London, Ashour once again was just recovering from his usual harmstring injury (the same one that he was carrying in this tournament) and he gave there Alister a pretty incredible beating notwithstanding literally playing on one leg. At the post-match interview when the presenter Jake Humphrey asked Alister how it felt to get beaten like this, he was not reacting in a funny way at all I can tell you. This time however Walker seamed to be more aware of what he is supposed to do against a physically restricted genius, in the first two games he held his shots longer and made Ashour twist and turn which resulted in Ashour being constantly late on the ball (which also means that he either had to make a bigger last lounge and risk to worsen the injury or to accept to hit the ball out of position/balance). So Walker went 2:0 up, but somehow Ashour started to anticipate better and the result was really exciting, both of them flying and diving around the court several times as it can be seen in the below rally. In fact, spectacular squash often results from lacks; Miguel Angel Rodriguez's extreme speed and extravagant solutions is aided by the fact that his reading of the game is not at the heights of the top players; and in Alister Walker's case it's the quality and the reliability of the basic strokes that opens up the court slightly more for his opponents - but then, due to the fine mix of lightness and athleticism, he often recovers from the resulting attacks and the rallies become crazy - just funny and crazy.

WE WILL MISS YOU, MR. PALMER

David Palmer is retiring, he announced to have played his last PSA match when he lost to Karim Darwish in the quarter finals of the 2011 World Open in Rotterdam. In this blog, we have mentioned and analysed several times the amazing professional qualities of the 'Marine'. His main weapon was always his physical and mental strength; just by appearing on the court he made opponents doubt, and at crucial stages of a match his concentration and self-belief might have achieved at times 'Übermensch' levels. Technically too, he was very complete, very solid, steady basic game coupled with a beautiful backhand volleydrop (enabled by great anticipation qualities). Palmer made himself also a reputation for his spectacular dives. With age he also made his squash evolve into a very intelligent lower-pace high-percentage game with looking to fade the ball into the sidewall instead of going for the just-over-the-tin shots (even though there were of course exceptions, like his hilarious and famous drop shot against Ramy Ashour at 2011 TOC in New York). However, there is also the other face of the coin; Palmer, in many regards, is also a representant of a type of squash that is less to our likings; the squash of the eighties, nineties, the squash of subtle and less subtle blocking, the squash of asking for 'Let' at the slightest interference (nevertheless caused by yourself due to a loose previous shot or going initially the wrong way). If PSA were capable of recording bit more elaborated statistics, I am pretty sure that Palmer's name would lead the list of most 'Lets' played in avarage. And that's no good for the general image of the game and also a bit of a shame in an era where the likes of Peter Nicol, John White, Shabana, Willstrop or Ramy (just to mention the main ones) have proved that it is possible to get to the top by playing free-flowing squash. Of course, the below rally is an extreme example, as Jonathon Power and David Palmer had a specificly tough story of their own within the history of squash, but it is still demonstrating the strange kind of rugby player qualities of this great squash player. Let's finish this post by emphasising that the positives of Palmer's game weight still heavier than the negatives, and he will definitely leave an unfilled hole in the pro circuit of squash.

2011 ROTTERDAM WORLD OPEN: ANOTHER MIZUKI by HISHAM ASHOUR

If in our last post we showed a special shot, a shot that only one player, Miguel Angel Rodriguez is playing, then the Mizuki is the other special shot linked basically to a sole player: Hisham Ashour. The below rally happened just a day ago at the 2011 World Open in Rotterdam. Hisham won the first game against Amr Shabana in just 4 minutes, he was up then 2:0 and it looked like this could be his first ever win on the PSA Tour against his "older brother", but as so often with Hisham, his lack of stamina or fitness enabled his error-count to grow to undecent hights and made him lose the match at the end one more time. Still, his movement is so much more fluid, so much more streaming compared to just a year ago; he should definitely give it a big push training-regime-wise as, given his age, it might be his last chance to become a top10 player in the next 12 month. I remember having asked/suggested the same to Mohd Azlan Iskandar, and indeed he became top10 just a few months later. If Hisham won't make it - I hope he will - then he might retire into history as one of the best players ever not to have figured ranking-wise within the world top10. Come on Hisham!

PROBABLY THE MOST STUNNING SHOT OF ALL TIMES: by MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ

Holy moly! I only believe my eyes because I've seen from Miguel Angel Rodriguez a similar attempt last year at the 2010 London Open. Well, the man who likes to go the wrong way as we called him last time, or if you prefer, the quickest man on earth on 5 meters likes not only dancing on the court but also has shots that only a Zen Buddhist Karate Matrix Magician - who has the power of slowing down the time and even foresee the future - should be capable of. Rodriguez, of course, went again the wrong way, then turned 180 degrees to hit this volley out of the blue and am afraid I called David Palmer's famous shot at the 2011 TOC in New York a bit prematurely the shot of the century. (By the way, Palmer and Rodriguez train these days together, let's hope that will enable this funny genius to go less often the wrong way and strengthen also the "boring structure part" of his game in order to get into the top10 - which would be just great for squash in general). Back to the current video, it is pretty funny how the commentators reacted: long seconds of silence before Joey Barrington started to employ various superlatives ("outrageous shot", "that's ridiculous", "who plays a shot like that?"). It's a shame this rally did not happen in front of a larger crowd, like Palmer's at the TOC, and that the referees did not see at first that the ball has passed Lincou by far by the time he raised his racket to appeal for a Let. But this time I don't really blame them, I guess they were as amazed as anyone else in the audience, facing a never seen, an almost religious-like revelation situation, kind of Jesus walking on water. Luckily science - video review - allowed to award this shot with what it deserved, a clear No Let! and point! Thank you Mr.Rodriguez for existing.

WEEKEND BAGATELLE IX.: ANOTHER CLASSIC NO-LET: DAVID PALMER vs. GREGORY GAULTIER

This is a perfect example of a tough but still evident No-Let! situation; at first sight it might look as a stroke, as David Palmer's ball was loose and Gregory Gaultier managed to stop it. But! Palmer's ball was so fast that Gaultier could only stop it behind his body, therefore the question weather the frontwall was open or not does not apply. Gaultier could have only played a boast or in the best but unlikely case a straight drive and there was room to make both shots. Because there was no way of hitting a cross-court, the safety consideration is also not applicable, therefore Gaultier should have played the ball. As he hasn't, the decision should have been clearly a No Let! And Gaultier knew it best himself, just look at the expression on his face after the stopping.

HEAVY METAL STUFF II.: RAMY ASHOUR vs. NICK MATTHEW AT THE ROWE BRITISH OPEN 2011

If the Nick Matthew-James Willstrop pairing is considered as the ultimate heavy-weight encounter (from a physicality point of view) then close next to it follows the pairing that has determined the top of the rankings in the last two years: Nick Matthew vs. Ramy Ashour. Let's don't be mislead by the fact that Ramy is a crazy genious, he is nevertheless very much conscious of Matthews' exceptional combination of strength, speed and fitness, and therefore pays huge respect to his gutsiness and retrieval abilities. A part from Darwish and Gaultier, Nick is the only player against who Ramy does not allow himself to go short any time from anywhere (he does it even against Shabana as I think they consider their matches as a kind of showcase of Egyptian squash flair). The below rally states it as well, Ramy, when he has to, is ready to construct the rally as patiently and accurately as it takes to tire the "robot" (as Joey Barrington calls NM at times). 

HEAVY METAL STUFF: NICK MATTHEW vs. JAMES WILLSTROP AT THE 2011 US OPEN

In the past 130 posts of this blog I've been citing a few great pairings on the tour, such as Willstrop-Ramy, El Hindi-Darwish, Ramy-Gaultier or again Willstrop-Shabana; pairings that bring out the best from each other, players who inspire each other. But let's do not forget a hard core pairing: Nick Matthew vs. James Willstrop. These two have quiet some history with each other and they are the protagonists of probably the greatest squash match ever. The below rally is reminiscent of that match played a year and a half ago at Canary Wharf; it might not be audacious "Egyptian Squash", they just have too much respect towards each other's retrieving skills to go for unstructured attacking shots. But there is so much going on on other levels, on a constructing-structuring level; so many variations of trajectories, rhythm and pace. These two play the game on the highest physical level, nevertheless they are constantly entering into each other's mind in order to find that little breach of deception that will allow to squeeze out a sufficiently loose opening form the other one which then probably - probably I say, not sure - will allow to play a winning shot. And as hard as the rally is, it can also end with such a soft and delicate drop shot as the one Willstrop is demonstrating. However, one more time, all those incredible skills were not enough to beat the beast that Matthew is.

NICK AND AMR: THE NEVER PLAYED FINAL AT THE 2010 WORLD SERIES FINALS

First of all, the quality of squash was so high between these two at this match (Round Robin). I had the luck to be there at the Queens Club that evening, and apparently this best-of-three-games format liberated the players mind (knowing that in three games there will be no stamina issues, so one can go for all right from the word go and for all the duration of the match). The other great thing about this event - the 2010 World Series Finals - was the colour and lighting settings; squash has never looked as good both on the screen and in the flesh. I've been waiting for long that PSA understands that squash courts need to be dark in order to see well the tiny white ball; the pink-brownish color of the court was elegant and friendly for the eyes, the lighting was dramatic, just like in a good theater (spectators are sitting in the dark). A shame the tent had to collapse the night before the finals (which would have been a repetition of the Matthew-Shabana match in the round robin stage). Just last weekend however Nick and Amr were allowed to meet in the final of the 2011 US Open, but Matthew being slightly diminished physically, had no chance against mighty Shabana and lost 3:1.  

WEEKEND BAGATELLE VIII.: HITTING THE OTHER CHAP'S FACE: DAVID PALMER vs. JONATHON POWER

Poor Jonathon Power! He has revolutionized the game of squash (deception, extra-compact backswing), but he was for some reason (maybe for that reason) not always welcome by the fellow players. You remember I guess the weekend bagatelle from a few weeks back when Ahmed Barada kicked him in the leg; this time, even though without any intention, it was David Palmer to hit him brutally in the eye with his after-swing. If JP has introduced the compact backswing and the the extra sliced shots into the game of squash, then Palmer is definitely a representative of the old school at least in regard of his extra long and round after-swing and the almost top-spin like backhand drives. 

THE MAN WHO LIKES TO GO THE WRONG WAY: MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ

Finally I have found some footage about one of my favorites from outside the top20 on the PSA tour; Miguel Angel Rodriguez, probably the quickest person on earth on 5 or 10 meters, by the way a lovely squash player with a particular type of deception in his shots and a funny Gaultier- or crab-like lateral movement. Well, as we said, he's got definitely the quickest feet on the tour (yes, quicker than Gregory Gaultier or Aamir Atlas Khan) and he is also a clean striker. So why is he stuck outside the top20? Probably because back in his home country Colombia he lacks serious training partners. For me, this guy should come to the UK, and under the guidance of the likes of Peter Genever for example he could easily become top10 if not top5. So which are his weak points? Definitely his reading of the game. He often goes the wrong way, even though he almost seems to like to go the wrong way to exploit his hilarious speed. He is the only player on the tour to make on a constant basis 360 degree turns (like in the current video at 0:48 and like I've had the luck to observe in the flesh at the 2010 London Open; once there he was even doing it on the volley, and fellow PSA player Joe Lee who sat next to me said that this would have been the greatest shot ever if it hadn't hit the tin...) Once we said, that what distinguishes Amr Shabana from the other dive-kings on the tour (John White, David Palmer) is his ability to get up after a dive. Well, have a look at Rodriguez' get up at 0:22, and you will probably agree that Shabana is only number two in this respect.