THE EMPTY CHAIR...
by Bob Hanscom
September 15, 2012 - In her loss to Raneem Weleily of Egypt last night at the 2012 $70,000 Malaysian Open, next to Nicol David between games, we noticed one obvious thing...an empty chair! Normally, that chair would have been occupied by Liz Irving, Nicol's personal coach from Amsterdam for the last ten years offering her expertise between games. Here's "that" picture...
Was it this that contributed to the most devastating loss Nicol has suffered in over five years, losing to the #2 player in the world now, former two-time world junior champion from Egypt, Raneem El Weleily in four games, 12/10, 11/13, 11/6, 11/2!
Or...was the result of this tournament due to the fact that Nicol has been unselfishly spending an inordinate amount of time and energy promoting the 2020 Squash Back The Bid initiative in an effort to have squash included in the Olympic Games of 2020, compromising her own and normal training and preparation schedule!?
Or...was it that Raneem's shot-making was so "on," that no matter who was in the court with her last night, they were going to lose? As Raneem said in an interview, there was no pressure on her following the semi-finals - and all the pressure was on Nicol, the event taking place in front of her home crowd. Raneem said that after the first two very difficult games going to extra points and the match even, she just came out and took advantage of every opportunity to go for her shots, which were working. She admitted that she was even surprised that they were working so well.
And finally...could it just be that the 29 year-old Nicol is beginning to be affected by giving away six years to a very young and talented 23 year-old shot-making Raneem!? Even though Raneem's shots were "working," Nicol is usually on top of everything and anything her opponent decides to hit, retrieving the ball and keeping her opponent under pressure until an error results. What happened last night? Perhaps it was a little of each! Smiling..in her interview, Raneem said, "I know Nicol will be back!"
So...we'll all have to play the "wait and see" game, as in two weeks, Nicol and Raneem are scheduled to meet in the finals of the $50,000 Carol Weymuller Open (http://www.squashsite.co.uk/2009/weymuller2012.htm) in Brooklyn, NY, which takes place over the September 27-30 weekend, followed by the $50,000 U.S. Open (http://www.usopensquash.com/draws/2012-womens-main-draw/)
in Philadelphia, taking place over the weekend of October 4-7.
Stay tuned!
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