NICK AND RAMY KEEP IT ROLLING - AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2011

After a long break on the tour, the squash elite came back on scene in August in Camberra/Australia. As so often in the last 24 months, it was Nick Matthew and Ramy Ashour to decide about the title. It's been a thrilling 5 gamer, with Ramy coming out fresher and more concentrated in the fifth. Absolutely no doubt, the below rally is good material both for our 'greatest rallies ever' and squash-analytics section. First thing that hits the eye is the speed and quality of some of the retrievings that are out of this cosmos, with probably the most surrealistic one at 0:48 by Ramy after a perfect nasty trickle-boast by Nick, and then the next one at 0:52, again by Ramy after a really good over-head volley-drop by Nick. Second thing to note is the way Ramy plays the cross-court: he turns the bust towards the side-wall and lets the ball slip almost behind himself to fake a straight drive, and indeed Nick is pretty much each time on the wrong foot (most noticeably at  0:22 and 1:04). Last thing I would like to note, even if it might seam a heresy in the middle of a celebration: I think at the last winning volley-drop (at 1:07) Ramy was considerably blocking Nick's path to the ball. The least to say is that the drop was far from being lethal and he cleared the ball in the wrong way. I know Nick was not asking for a 'let' (nor the commentators, Lee Beachill and Paul Johnson were contesting anything), but in my eyes this is only due to Matthew not wanting to spoil such a great rally with a 'let' outcome; I know my theory might sound naive, but I feel Matthew's general attitude (highly professional, conscious and also intellectual) enables him to look at the 'big picture' and sacrifice a point in order to raise the profile of his sport.

FOUR-CORNER SQUASH II.: KARIM DARWISH vs. WAEL EL HINDI

After our last post with the same two protagonists, here we have another example of 'total' or as I allowed myself to call it: 'four corner' squash, even if the right back corner was only visited once (this is how much they mutually respect each other's forehand). And if in the previous rally Darwish finished it off at full stretch, here he concludes by keeping the arm close to the hip at the moment of impact to enable him to control the drop as much as possible; interestingly this drop was not looking for the nick, Darwish preferred to find the front-side-wall angle to make the ball bounce quickly twice on the ground. He had to play this drop with a pretty fast swing, and it was the angle's task to brake the speed of the ball and make it bounce quickly twice in a row close to the front-wall. Last time Darwish maintained control and pace whilst flicking the wrist, in the current example he could hold the wrist firm all the way down of his swing for this drop winning shot (it was the 8th drop in this 40 second rally!)

FOUR-CORNER SQUASH I.: KARIM DARWISH vs. WAEL EL HINDI

If we've said that one of the most entertaining pairings in the current pro squash circuit is composed by Ramy Ashour and James Willstrop, then closely after them follow Karim Darwish with Wael El Hindi. You might remember an earlier example of hilarious attacking/retrieving squash by them, here we now another rally where they make each other visit all four corners of the court a couple of times within those 50 seconds. In the current sample I would specially like to point out Karim Darwish's wrist. We've talked a lot about his extremely compact backswing that enables him to hit any shot from any position without allowing the opponent to anticipate it; however, normally the compact backswing involves decreased power/pace. So how come Darwish can still hit the ball so hard notwithstanding the lack of momentum of the arm? The only explanation I can see is his wrist, the extreme stiffness of his wrist in the moment of hitting the ball in any position of the racket. As it can be seen, he is able to handle that wrist even in such extreme situations like at the last shot: he still managed to deploy power and total accuracy in a situation where he had to use an extreme flick of the wrist. "Well, that's what they call the Egyptian wrist" - says the commentator, Robert Edwards. Well, yes, Karim Darwish disposes of a pretty complete package in terms of an ideal squash arm: compactness, power and touch.

DOUBLE FAKE, THE CORRECT WAY: JAMES WILLSTROP vs. THIERRY LINCOU

In our last post we've had a slightly over-confused double fake by Amr Shabana, here we have James Willstrop showing the most classic way to employ it correctly right after a highish counter-drop; after a good drop your opponent digs deep to 'grab out' a counter drop, he is still about to get back from his lounge when you threaten with a big swing and a quick fake swing-through to hit a hard cross-court kill; that makes him stuck or even move back slightly and that's enough for you to execute quiet securely a second drop.On club level you might expect it to be a winner straight off, pros like Lincou might get there again to scrap the ball off the ground, but without the time to recover your next winning shot (volley in the below case). The point is to employ the double fake only when the ball (and both you and your opponent) are pretty close to the front-wall, I think.

DOUBLE FAKEING YOURSELF: AMR SHABANA vs. JAMES WILLSTROP

It has been said a few times, the great thing about Amr Shabana is the mixture, the perfect balance of keeping it simple and being tricky at the right times. However, sometimes it can happen even to the greats that they become confused with themselves, just as it happens to Shabana in the below rally at 0:30. He employs a double fake, I guess as a variation to avoid to proceed to the more usual holding of the shot or just taking the ball as early as possible (which both are better solutions than the double fake when your opponent is so close to you I think).Anyway, some mess will always come with creativity, you just have to make sure that their number remains restricted.


'

THE RAMY ASHOUR MASTERPIECE IN 2011 NEW YORK TOC

This one is one of my favourite one-sided matches ever. Ramy Ashour in general is probably the best thing that could ever happen to squash, but this semi-final match against James Willstrop at the 2011 TOC in New York Grand Central Station was probably his most outrageous masterpiece he has ever created (If you have a subscription with PSA Squash TV then you can watch it in the 'Replay' section). Beating the world #4 in about 30 minutes tells in itself the story. And don't think James was injured or played badly. Not at all. It's just that Ramy was more on fire than ever before, probably because he just had behind him a long and frustrating injury and recovery time and even against David Palmer in the previous round (with the shot of the century!) he seemed to be careful and hesitating at the start. Ramy probably felt euphoric not feeling any pain or fear for the first time after long. What ever the reason was, here we have the last three rallies. I just find it so intriguing when all four corners of the court are being used, when all kinds of pace (slow-fast) and trajectories (high-low) are employed in an embarrassing variety and when players are not afraid to go for the geometrically most risky solution: sending the ball into the nick. Add to this an exceptionally high level of sportsmanship (keeping playing when others might stop is search for a 'Stroke'), the direct and honest expression of admiration by the opponent (the mutual clapping after the first and second rally) and the warm friendly hug at the end. You just can't pretend to ask more than that form the phenomenon called squash, can you?


'

WEEKEND BAGATELLE IV.: THIS, A LET? JAMES WILLSTROP vs. PETER BARKER

If two weekend earlier's 'bagatelle', with Shabana and Willstrop, had a funny but probably right 'Let' outcome, the current one is a sample of exemplary bad refereeing. The decision is even worse knowing that for the first time in squash history, a challenging system with video replay was employed (what a great thing though). Should have been simple: there was minimal if any interference, Willstrop was not blocking or clearing in the wrong way, Barker had straight access to the ball, he didn't raise his hand for a 'let' at or before the moment of the minimal interference (exactly because he knew it was only a 'minimal interference'), he went through and was ready to play and chose not to do so because of the quality and tightness of Willstrop's faded drop. One or two of the above mentioned would already be enough for a 'No Let!', but if all of the above mentioned points are applicable, then there should be no question - also because cheap 'Lets' damage the profile of the game. Otherwise, congratulations to Peter Barker, this was his first ever win against Willstrop.


'

HOW TO FINISH OFF A MATCH: RAMY ASHOUR vs. GREGORY GAULTIER

You can't finish off a tight five-gamer (or just any match) more stylish than that, can you. And the amazing thing is that Ramy was definitely going for the nick-boast as everything else would have put him under huge  pressure (even if we know that he doesn't mind allowing his opponents to get in front of him). Concerning the Ramy-Gaultier story of the last couple of years, as incredible as it sounds, before their last encounter in Hurghada this year - which was won by Ramy 3:0 - their five previous matches went all to five, with each time Ramy coming out as the winner. If you have a subscription on PSA Squash TV I suggest to watch their quarter final match at this years North American Open (where the below rally is from), last year's final at the Hong Kong Open, their semi final at the Australian Open and mostly their 2010 quarter final match at the TOC in New York.


'

FROM THE BEST DIVES SERIES: AMR SHABANA vs. RAMY ASHOUR

The overall dive kings are David Palmer and John White, but close after them comes Amr Shabana. In one respect Shabana is clearly superior to Palmer and White: his aptitude of standing up after the dive. I guess being shorter helps in this respect, but even taking this into account the athleticism factor - the speed of getting back to his feet - of the below recovery is hilarious.

'

WEEKEND BAGATELLE III.: YES LET, CONDUCT STROKE... WARNING... THAT'S FINE!

If these two, Barker and Matthew were not the good mates they are, I could have imagined some more upset reactions from the guy who has been pushed. Just translate this situation into, let's say, a Palmer-Power, or Ricketts-Power context... Matthew argues funnily and intelligently with the referee just to clear the misunderstanding. He did not want to lose a point (conduct stroke) but was totally fine with a conduct warning. As a prologue let's mention that Matthew ended up losing this match, which ended also his incredible 6 months-long winning streak. After match ball, in his frustration, he threw his racket brutally into the glass-wall. I guess if there is a moment Matthew would have the power of cancelling from his squash-past, that one would figure high in the list.


'

WRONGFOOTING RAMY ASHOUR: MOHAMED EL SHORBAGY

We've had so many examples with Ramy intercepting beyond reason, here for once he's been taken on the wrong foot. To achieve it El Shorabgy bended extremely and played the ball relatively late, close to his body. Such preparation generally suggests a drop, and as you do not stretch your arm to hit the ball, you can relatively easily flick the wrist late and go suddenly for a cross-court. So even if some coaches teach in general to stay away from the ball and to hit it as early as possible, to add a higher deception factor to your game, you might rather chose to allow the ball close and hide it with your body. This way you will hold the shot and have more options (creating more uncertainty to your opponent) and also more control if you chose to go for the drop. Of course, to increase even more your deception factor, it makes sense to hit the ball at times also early and straight forward without any deception. Just like in chess, you look to drive your opponent crazy, and to do so, you have to keep being unpredictable.


'