Qualifier Max Lee Stuns Former World No 1 Darwish on Opening Day at Canary Wharf by Alan Thatcher March 24, 2014
- Qualifier Max Lee sprung a massive surprise by beating former world
number one Karim Darwish on the opening day of the Canary Wharf Classic.
Lee produced a stunning performance and held his nerve at crucial moments of the match to win in straight games.
The scoreline of 11-8, 13-11, 19-17 showed how close this contest was.
Darwish survived five match balls in the third game before the world No.33 clinched an astonishing victory.
Earlier, Lee had hinted at the shocks to come as he built a big lead in the opening game and closed it out 11-8.
Darwish led 5-2 and 5-4 in the second but Lee responded with a surge of points to lead 9-5.
Lee held game ball at
10-8 but Darwish then recovered his momentum to twice draw level before
showed coolness under intense pressure to win it 13-11.
Darwish was always
looking to fire in quick winners, frequently slotting nicks off the
serve, but Lee was fast and mobile around the front of the court as he
hunted down every ball.
Darwish led 7-3 and
8-5 in the third game and you wondered if the game was at a turning
point, but Lee constructed another solid period of pressure play to
reach match ball at 10-9.
The following rallies
drew gasps and screams from a packed crowd at the East Wintergarden as
the lead seesawed between each player, but Lee displayed astonishing
maturity to win 19-17.
Afterwards he revealed: "There is no secret to this success. I have learned from losing.
"For the past five
tournaments i have lost on the second day of qualifying so it's hard to
believe i have come through qualifying and beaten the great Karim
Darwish here at Canary Wharf."
The tournament had got
under way in spectacular style with an enthralling battle between
Colombia's No.8 seed Miguel Angel Rodriguez and Londoner Adrian Grant.
Rodriguez finally clinched it 11-7, 5-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8 in 87 minutes of fast and furious combat.
After a slow start,
Grant worked his way into the match with some phenomenal retrieving and
imaginative strokeplay at the front of the court to counter the
high-paced attack of the nippy Colombian.
Rodriguez may be
enjoying the reputation of the Superman of Squash because of his
frequent dives around the court, but his agility was more than matched
by Grant in one spellbinding rally as he won the second game.
When the match reached
a fifth game, Rodriguez built a 5-2 lead before Grant hit back
strongly. At 7-7 it was anybody's match, but Rodriguez finished
strongly to earn his place in the quarter-finals.
Rodriguez said: "I
knew it would be a hard match against Adrian, especially playing an
English player in front of this amazing audience here at Canary Wharf.
"I have been working
hard with my coach David Palmer in Orlando, especially on movement and
fitness, and recently doing more work on tactics.
"It is great to be in the quarter-finals in such a special tournament."
World champion Nick
Matthew overcame stubborn resistance from Scottish No.1 Alan Clyne
before winning in straight games, but he acknowledged that he was made
to work hard for his victory.
Matthew won 11-6,
11-7, 11-5 in 39 minutes and then said: “Alan is a fighter, and showed
that especially at the end of the second and third games.
“He really forces you to work hard for every point.”
Matthew shows no signs
of any easing up in his powerful style, and seemed to be enjoying the
work-out with some rapid changes of direction at the front of the
court.
After clinching
victory, Matthew admitted how proud he was of his Duffield team-mate
Laura Massaro after her triumph in the Women’s World Championship in
Malaysia and invited the packed audience to join him in a round of
applause.
He said: “That was a
tremendous achievement, especially after she had so many tough matches
on the way to the final, saving match balls and then having to adjust
her thinking when she reached the final and instead of facing the top
seed Nicol David she found herself as the favourite against Nour El
Sherbini.
“Again, she handled
that pressure very well to become world champion. We share the same
coach and I hope her achievement will inspire more girls to take up
this great sport.”
With a nod to his
Scottish opponent, Matthew said how much he was looking forward to the
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in the summer.
He said: “It is
massively important for the Commonwealth Games to provide a great shop
window for squash and we hope that the visiting IOC officials are in
the front row. Maybe we should ask them to pay for their tickets.”
Omar Mosaad hustled his way past fellow Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad in an ugly match that set some kind of record.
Mosaad triumphed 11-6, 5-11, 14-12, 11-9 and it seemed that every rally ended in a dispute with the referees.
The match lasted 71 minutes and contained 70 decisions.
The 6ft 4in Mosaad
received a conduct warning after barging into his much shorter
opponent’s back, and central referee John Massarella was involved in a
running dialogue with both players.
The new PSA Referees Director Lee Drew said his mobile phone was red hot with TV viewers texting and Tweeting their comments.
Gawad, the PSA Young
Player Of The Year, made a tactical decision to hit hard, low drives in
an attempt to force his opponent to bend, twist and turn.
However, it takes a brave man to try to outhit a giant opponent whose nickname is The Hammer Of Thor.
Unfortunately, the
hard-hitting rallies frequently resulted in drives landing around the
service box and causing access problems as each player found his path
to the ball being blocked.
Mosaad said:
“Everything looks great about this tournament. It’s a wonderful crowd,
and a big crowd, nice hotel. Everything is perfect. Now I’m looking
forward to playing Nick Matthew.”
Canary Wharf Classic, East Wintergarden, Canary Wharf, London First Round:
(8) Miguel Angel Rodriguez (Col) bt Adrian Grant (Eng) 11-7, 5-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8 (87 min)
(Q) Max Lee (HK) bt (4) Karim Darwish (Egy) 11-8, 13-11, 19-17 (48 min)
(1) Nick Matthew (Eng) bt Alan Clyne (Sco) 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (39 min)
