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[15]
Samantha Teran (Mex) bt Dipika Pallikal
(Ind)
11/6, 11/8, 11/9 (36m)
Teran advances to
semi-final
Malcolm
reports
 Mexico’s
Samantha Teran must have been thrilled with
her win over Rachel Grinham and here was a
different challenge against 20 year old
Dipika Pallikal, who herself had been
impressive beating Jackie Hawkes 3-1 and
Kanzy El Dafrawy 3-0.
The first game was punctuated with errors
from Pallikal of an unforced nature,7 in
all, and against a player of Teran’s
steadiness and resolve, that was a recipe
for disaster. The second game was little
different. Teran, quick, determined and
persistent was giving nothing away and
playing well into the front left, she
quickly led 5-1 and 4 more errors by
Pallikal handed Teran a 2-0 lead.
The third game saw the Indian reducing her
error rate, attacking as she can, but with
much more discretion and at 9-6 threatening
to win the game. It appeared a strange
decision to award Teran a stroke at 9-8 ,but
having levelled the score the Mexican made
the semi finals as Pallikal tinned a
forehand.
Teran will be rightly overjoyed at her
achievement and Pallikal, once the
disappointment of losing recedes will
realise how well she has done to make the
last 8 of a World Championship. 11-6, 11-8,
11-9.
I’ve very
happy, it’s the first time I’m doing well
here.
I had already played Dipika, and I knew what
to do against her, but she is very difficult
to play, you never know what she is going to
do!
Will I be on the front page of the
Newspapers in Mexico tomorrow? I hope so!
Squash is getting very popular in Mexico,
thanks to the success of the Pam Am games,
and now this…
For years now I’ve been trying to do better
and better on the world scene, I had some
many disappointment in this World Open, but
I’m here at last.
 I
started playing squash very late, at the age
of 14, and from that moment on, I didn’t
stop, and when I chose to be a professional
squash player, I knew that squash was going
to be my life. I’m lucky to have the right
support, my family in particular…
I went from small tournament to bigger
tournaments, my ranking improving all the
time, but in 2003, a bad knee injury kept me
away from the court for a year and a half.
And I started again from scratch, 200 in the
world.
My goal was to reach the top 10, so I came
here to train with Liz. It’s difficult to
travel on your own on the circuit, as I’m
the only Mexican, whereas there would be a
few Malaysians, English, etc… But I made
friend with Nicol David, the best person I
ever met, and we became good friends.
Today, I’m living a dream, semi-final of the
world open, but it’s a dream I’ve never
stopped working for, and for which I trained
hard, day after day.
[2] Jenny Duncalf (Eng)
bt
[5] Laura Massaro (Eng)
11/9, 11/7, 11/7 (45m)
Duncalf breaks the
spell
Malcolm reports
 This
all English confrontation between two of the
World’s best players promised a great deal,
since both had looked in good order in
Rotterdam. Duncalf started sharply, leading
3-0 and 4-1.
An error by Duncalf, a delicate forehand
volley by Massaro, a stroke and it was 4
all. Both girls, in common with all the
world’s best women players look in fine
shape and both blend defence and attack.
So the first game began positively. Duncalf
led 7-4; Massaro told herself to come on at
5-7 and she did recover to 7all. Duncalf
missed an opportunity to go 10-7 on the
backhand, but Massaro, a winner by Duncalf
and the important 1st game was hers 11/9.
 Duncalf
playing well has extra dimensions and an
exquisite forehand drop by her made it 3/2;
an error off the serve by Massaro 5/4; 6/5
to Massaro now the large, early afternoon
Rotterdam crowd appreciative, enjoying
themselves – work behind them-.
Soon 8/6 to Duncalf after a reviewed upheld no let; 9/6, as both girls
tried to influence the referee – not much
love lost it seemed or maybe just the heat
of the battle. A stroke after a fascinating
rally and 10/7 for a 2 love lead.11/7 with
her forehand backhand drop. Duncalf
impressing, uphill for Massaro now.
Massaro debated with the referee to no avail
and lost the last two rallies with simple
errors – no point debating. 4/1 to Duncalf –
debating now, but not for long – ; 7/3 with
a perfect backhand to the back, nothing to
hit. 8/3 Duncalf flowing, entertaining,
various, skilled. 9/3 with a perfect
forehand to the back; an overrule to 5/9;
10/5 lots of match balls, a tin, one less, a
winner from Massaro, 10/7 – an angle in the
tin and Duncalf to the Semi Finals.
Since her form has been variable, Duncalf
will be very pleased with her form today.
 Last
time I played Laura, in the US Open, I was
frantic both mentally and squash wise. So
today, I was trying to stay calm and hit
good length really, and wait for the
opportunity to come instead of making it
from nowhere.
At the end, she put me under a lot of
pressure again, got a bit more momentum, and
I’m glad she didn’t get those extra points
at the end….
The World Open is the tournament everybody
wants to win, it’s the pinnacle really, and
to play it here, it’s an amazing venue….
I’ve been playing for the Dutch league for a
long time now, for Victoria, so I feel
comfortable there.
Tomorrow against Sam, we were saying at
practice that that’s the player I’ve never
played against, not in a tournament, not
even in practice! She is really the unknown
quantity, and I’ll make sure that I don’t
take her lightly, even if on paper I’m
favourite
[3] Karim Darwish (Egy)
bt
[8] David Palmer (Aus)
11/9, 11/7, 11/1 (42m)
Darwish puts an end
to Palmer's career
Malcolm
reports
 If
this turns out to be David Palmer’s
farewell, he will leave on a high note,
whatever the result.
Twice a world Champion, four times a British
Open Champion, but no doubt he will feel
reaching the quarter final here is a bonus
indeed.
Already large crowds building up, bringing a
sense of excitement and anticipation for
what’s in store.
Palmer, right leg heavily strapped,
protectively, presumably, served and with
two stunning balls led 2/1; 3/2 and not a
rally yet, strangely enough. Palmer, all
offensive, perhaps concerned about the leg,
5/2 up, 6/3 attacking at every opportunity.
A trademark Darwish forehand angle took the
serve to 4/6, when a multidimensional rally
received loud approval from the crowd. 7/4
now, Palmer all guns blazing; 5/9 a
brilliant rally ending in a let; a larger
rally at last, not in any way negative, took
Darwish to 7 all and he led for the first
time since early in the game, 8/7. An
exceptional delayed deep crosscourt gave
Darwish a game ball at 10/9 and at 11/9 the
lead 1-0.
It had been a remarkable first game,
unexpected, more like a Shabana – Ashour
shoot-out, shots abounding. The crowd loving
it – me too!!
Two errors by Darwish gave Palmer a 2/0
start in the second, but Darwish was moving
fiercely, his recent injury problems
apparently behind him; less of a shoot out
now, but still entertaining and positive. A
broken string brought an error Palmer to
Darwish to lead 7/6; then another wonderful
rally, controlled by Palmer, but he lost it
8/6 now; an unlucky top of the tin angle
9/6, no luck for the Australian. 10/7
Darwish serving for 2-0 and a no let review
quite right in my opinion – gave Darwish the
game.
 Almost
a full house of 1,300 at 15:45 on Friday
afternoon – no wonder there’s concern the
European
Economy! –
Darwish opens with a winner. What has Palmer
got left now? Darwish, moving really well –
must be injury free – 4/0, 5/0, 6/0; Darwish
impressive, showing the full range of his
considerable racket skills.
At last a point for Palmer 1/6 on a backhand
cross court deep – now 8/1, the end in
sight, 9/1, 10/1, 11/1 with a cross court
drop into the nick. Darwish looked back to
his best today.
The send off David Palmer then received was
as splendid a send-off as any player has
ever had. He had selected his final match
wisely.
Video of David's
speech and farewell walk
[1] Nick Matthew (Eng)
bt
[7] Peter Barker (Eng)
6/11, 11/8, 11/8, 11/5 (71m)
PETER HINDERED
 What
a great start for Peter today, what a great
presence at the front, powerful, accurate,
superb to be honest, absorbing his mate’s
pace to perfection – we don’t nickname him
“Sponge” for nothing!
And Nick struggled in the first game, to
come back with a vengeance in the second,
making the rallies last, and making his
mark. Still, Peter couldn’t be shaken off.
3/3, 4/4, 5/5, 7/7, 8/8. Shame for Peter,
Nick squeezed errors out of him, an out of
court shot, then a tin, to finish with a
stunning drive glued to the wall. Back on
equal term we were.
But as soon as the third started, Peter felt
some pain in his lower back, and it became
difficult for him to change directions,
which is, in squash, a bit of a problem one
could say.
 Nick,
keeping to his game plan of making the
rallies the longest and the hardest as
possible, kept pushing the nail into the
coffin, twisting and turning his team mate
to perfection. Peter pushed as much as he
could, and they both offered us some
stunning rallies, but the underdog seemed a
bit lost out sea on there to me.
After the third, he asked for 3m injury
time, got a bit of treatment from Phil, ES
physio, but miracle it was not, and Nick
quite rightly took the last game, 11/5.
 Pete
has been knocking on the door for a long
time, and actually is knocking it down as we
speak! In the last game, he was not moving
at his best, but we had three very tough
games.
Like I said before, I took that tournament
as two separate tournaments, one at the
club, three rounds very hard, great
atmosphere on a warm court, I’m not sure how
I got through that one, mind you, and then,
a complete separate tournament here, on this
magnificent court.
I’ve been playing better and better as the
matches unfolded, and I hope that I’ll keep
doing tomorrow…
[1] Nicol David
(Mas) bt [6]
Kasey Brown (Aus)
11/7, 12/10, 11/4 (41m)
PAGE TURNED
 How
good was Nicol today???
OK, the Malaysian didn’t spent much time on
court since the start of the tournament, not
losing a game, while Kasey had a heavy 5
setter yesterday, more from a mental point
of view I would say than a physical one.
But when Queen Nicol sat on that bench next
to the court, waiting to get on, she was not
tense. She was not scare, or nervous. She
was a tigress waiting to get in the circus
ring. Reading to jump. Ready to tear her
opponent to shred to have had the nerve of
beating him. Crime de lèse-majesté!
And taking a great start she did, 6/1. But
the Australian, not that impressed, just
clawed back to 6/6, then 7/7. But to get to
7/7, we had a mammoth rally, honestly, like
I rarely saw in a ladies match, that took an
immense lot out of Kasey, although she won
it. Followed unforced errors that basically
gave Nicol the game on a silver tray.
The Australian shoot right back in the
second, increasing the pace to take a nice
3/0. Enormous rally after enormous rally,
Nicol and Kasey stayed closed all the way to
9/9. Game ball for Kasey, another enormous
rally, but a tin to finish it, and it’s
Nicol that closes it down, 12/10.
Mountain was just that much too high for
Kasey to climb back, and Nicol turns the US
Open page in a splendid fashion.
 The
score doesn’t reflect how hard it was on
there, it was maybe 3/0 but it felt more
like 5 or 6 games actually!
Kasey had a very hard game yesterday, but
still, she is such a strong player, she’s
stepped up her game so much, if you lower
your guard ever so slightly, she gets on it.
I’m always trying to improve my game, but
you always have the younger players stepping
up their game, but that’s the challenge I
enjoy.
Today, I took that match as one match after
another, and I’m pleased with my
performance. And if last time I played her,
my focus was out slightly, pushing me to do
error upon error, and going for too much,
today, I tried and keep the ball in play,
keep things simple, and keep my focus at all
times. And today, everything kept together.
Also see Nicol:
"Won't get beat again"
[12] Natalie Grinham
(Ned) bt [16] Low Wee Wern (Mas)
11/7, 11/7, 11/5 (47m)
Natalie's back
 Ok,
we've used that headline before, but
consider the facts: Natalie Grinham lost in
the final of the 2009 World Open - while
pregnant - to Nicol David in Amsterdam. Her
second tournament back was last year's World
Open in Sharm where she lost her only
previous encounter with tonight's opponent
Low Wee Wern 15/13 in the fifth.
Tonight there didn't seem much danger of a
reoccurrence of that result. The Malaysian
was never far behind, was never out of the
match, but she was never really in it
either, not in the sense of looking likely
to win. Grinham's deft flicks, deceptive
shotmaking and speedy court coverage was
just a little too much tonight,
notwithstanding having to have treatment on
a little cut on her nose after an accidental
collision at the start of the third.
And to complete the circle, her next
opponent is ... Nicol David, of course.
 I
was pretty focused on what I was doing
tonight, and happy with how I was playing.
When I had to have that cut treated I knew
it had to be stopped, that I could lose the
match if it started up again, but I was
pumped up, I wanted to get back out there
and get on with it. I was a little bit wary
of it and tentative for two or three points
but I soon settled down after that.
I was ahead in all the games but I
remembered being 10/6 up in the fifth
against her last tie and losing, so I had to
make syre I kept on pressing, so I'm really
pleased to win it in three.
As for Nicol, we've played once since, in
Cayman this year. That was a good game [very
good] so hopefully we'll have another good
one tomorrow.
I'm fast on court, yes, Rachael and I have
always been naturally fast, and running
after Kieran now helps, but Nicol's always
been fast too ...
[4] James Willstrop (Eng)
bt [5] Amr Shabana (Egy) 11/8,
11/2, 11/13, 11/1 (59m)
Not Shabana's year
after all
 Many
thought that this being an odd-numbered
year, 2003, 5, 7 and 09 champion Amr Shabana
had his name on the trophy.
James Willstrop, finalist in 2010, had other
ideas though, and for three games he pretty
much dominated one of the all time great
players.
He looked like dominating the third too, but
Shabana's fighting spirit and pride wouldn't
let it go that easily.
He was up for it, for sure, first pumping
and all, and he mounted a stirring comeback,
saving match balls at 10/9 and 11/10 before
pulling one back.
Willstrop resumed dominance from the outset
of the fourth though, and by the time the
last few points came around Shabana had
already accepted that this would not be his
year, and as he slammed the final serve into
the tin James raised his eyes in relief,
while Shabana's looked down ...
 There
is no player I have more respect for. He has
the most sportsmanlike manner on court:
he’ll never play a double bounce, cheat, ask
for too many strokes, it’s been the most
enjoyable of matches, in a quite sadistic
way…
When you go up 2/0, you can get a bit
excited, carried away, but with Shabana, you
never exactly know where he is mentally. All
credit to him, he came back so strong in the
3rd. I got a massive boost from going up 2/0
– which you get against everybody – I just
kept on digging, and hung in there,
especially at the end of the 3rd, because I
knew that I had to just kept on pushing and
pushing. I thought if I can just weather the
storm, accept that he is going to go for his
shots, I should be alright.
In England, we had remarkably great support
from our government, and we received physio
treatment, sport science, you name it,
nutrition, etc. I can’t stress enough how
much it has help me over the years.
Tomorrow I’ll play or Ramy, a Magician with
the racquet, or Greg, so talented, who talks
a lot, I certainly can’t win the crowd like
he does, and I won’t even try!
I’m thrilled to be part of such an event…
[6] Gregory
Gaultier (Fra) bt [2] Ramy Ashour (Egy)
11/8, 11/1, 3/0 rtd (24m)
Ramy retires
 The
final match promised much, and for the first
game it delivered as Ramy Ashour and Gregory
Gaultier fought out a typically high-paced
encounter with spectacular shots,
retrieving, and the crowd at the Luxor
Theatre were loving it.
At 8-all in the third Gaultier took three in
a row, and the fact that the Egyptian, who
had twice come from two games down looking
far from fully fit, failed to chase the
final ball sounded an ominous warning.
The Frenchman dominated the second, Ashour
competing half-heartedly, and after a few rallies in the third Ramy bent down on
his knees, cried out in pain and
frustration, and offered his hand to Greg.
A sad end to quarter-finals day, and
everyone wishes Ramy well, not least his
opponent of tonight who knows all about
injury problems and looked as distraught at
proceedings as everyone else.
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