Sport - Squash   

Forgettable day for the Egyptians

By S.R. Suryanarayan

Third-seeded Egyptian Moustafa Essam (left), who raced to a two-game lead over American Julian Illingworth, suddenly lost his rhythm to crash out in the World junior men's squash championship at the TNSRA-SDAT complex on Thursday. — Photo: K. Gajendran

CHENNAI DEC. 5. The fluidity and grace that lend charm to the game of squash were in full view when the two English players and top two seeds — James Willstrop and Peter Barker — went about their job with the ease of a knife slicing through butter.

If the two Englishmen belonged to a different class and exhibited a touch of professionalism, the Egyptians — otherwise known for being a force in the sport — fell like nine pins with fitness being their major handicap. Three of them were seeded and Moustafa Essam's exit (he was the third seed) was the most noticeable as an eventful day's proceedings ended in the World junior men's squash championship at the TNSRA-SDAT complex on Thursday.

As Egypt's top player who has several under-19 victories under his belt, Essam seemed to possess everything — deceptive drops, control over speed of returns and mobility to back his court-craft. In fact, his American opponent Jullian Illingworth, who many regard as no mean player, was all at sea to start with. While Illingworth relishes pace, Essam was quick to realise he had to cut on that and instead settle for deft placements. The ease with which Essam ran through the first two games, the American was set for a rout.

But all of a sudden, Essam turned indifferent, puzzling everyone around with his sudden dip in form. He repeatedly banged the ball into the tin. Even the two-wall boasts, with which he had mesmerised his opponent, lost sting. From a 5-0 lead and just four points away for a pre-quarterfinal berth, Essam choked, enabling Illingworth to work his way back.

"I was enjoying the way I played. Perhaps, because I loosened up, I was able to get my shots working perfectly," the visibly happy American said.

Why Essam stepped on the skates to crashland, with none of the Egyptian officials showing any concern, was the big question. Coach Abbas Kaoud provided the answer:

"Essam is carrying a back injury and each day he steps on court after a cortisone injection. Today, despite that, the pain recurred and he indicated he was unable to bend."

Essam's loss was the start of the Egyptian slide. Amr Ramzy Swelam followed the third seed out, almost in similar fashion. In Swelam's case, however, it was sheer exhaustion that saw him succumb after being two games up against Australia's Luke Margan. But Swelam, another in the 9-16 seedings bracket, did little to justify his rating vis-a-vis Jon Harford of England.

With the pre-quarterfinal stage reached, the Pakistanis showed their unmistakable zeal to prove a point or two, with all five having a safe passage. Only Khalid Atlas was stretched the distance by Marco Datwyler of Switzerland, the match going to 85 minutes, the longest of the day.

Siddarth Suchde remained the only Indian hope with another neat display, making the win over 15-year-old Welsh player, Peter David Creed, look one-sided. Creed, a sworn David Beckham fan, showed his loyalty to the famous English footballer with a peculiar hair-do — a red-dyed strip running down the middle of his head. Suchde's real test, however, comes next when he meets the second seed Barker.

Earlier in the morning, a minute's silence was observed as a mark of respect to the veteran sports journalist J.C. Jacob, who passed away on Wednesday.

The results (third round): James Willstrop (Eng) bt Sherif Moustafa Kamal (Egypt) 9-2, 9-2, 9-2; Shah Nawaz (Pak) bt Timothy Arnold (Mal) 9-3, 9-4, 9-6; Dylan Bennet (Ned) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy) 7-9, 9-3, 9-5, 0-9, 9-3; Safeerullah Khan (Pak) bt James Rogers (Aus) 10-8, 9-0, 9-1; Julian Illingworth (U.S.) bt Moustafa Essam (Egy) 6-9, 5-9, 9-6, 9-0, 9-4.

Khayal Muhammad (Pak) bt Jose A. Becerril (Mex) 9-3, 9-4, 9-4; Eric M. Galvez (Mex) bt Laurence Delasaux (Eng) 9-4, 9-2, 9-5; Aaron Frankcomb (Aus) bt Mamoud Mohammed Adel (Egy) 9-6, 9-6, 9-2; Bader Hussaini (Kuw) bt Ashley Flathers (Eng) 9-7, 9-6, 9-7; Jhie Gough (Aus) bt Mark Krajesak (Hun) 9-1, 9-3, 9-3; Siddarth Suchde (Ind) bt Peter David Creed (Wales) 9-3, 9-0, 9-0.

Majid Khan (Pak) bt Lewys Powel Horst (Wales) 9-3, 9-5, 9-6; Khalid Atlas (Pak) bt Marco Datwyler (Sui) 6-9, 9-4, 9-7, 0-9, 9-2; Luke Margan (Aus) bt Ahmed Mohsen Hassan (Egy) 4-9, 6-9, 9-3, 9-1, 10-8; Jon Harford (Eng) bt Amr Ramzy Swelam (Egy) 9-6, 9-1, 9-0; Peter Barker (Eng) bt Dick Lau (HK) 9-0, 9-1, 9-0.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

Chess

• Pradeep stops Sharad's winning run
  
  Cricket
  
• Can India get it right from here?
• Nathan Foy foils Indian plans
• BCCI-ICC meet on contracts issue
• Rohit, Hayat pull Bihar out of the woods
• South Africa clinches series
• Karnataka aims high
  
  Golf
  
• Jeev gets a flying start
  
  Racing : Motor
  
• MRF India Rally from today
  
  Sports : General
  
• Oil PSUs to Games' rescue
  
  Squash
  
• Forgettable day for the Egyptians
  
  Tennis
  
• Schmidt talks her way out of trouble
  
  Table Tennis
  
• Bengal claims two titles
  
  

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu