TODAY at the British Open

Fri 21st Sep - Day FOUR If yesterday was a good day for the men's seeds, the today it was the turn of the top women to assert themselves. The top eight all won through to the quarter-finals on the glass court, with only Tania Bailey and Rachael Grinham extended to four games. It was a different story in the men's event, with Peter Barker and Ong Beng Hee scoring upset wins over Wael El Hindi and Stewart Boswell.

Peter Barker (Eng) bt Wael El Hindi (Egy)              9/11, 3/11, 11/9, 11/8, 11/4 (72m) It was an ugly opening match at Sportcity as Peter Barker and Wael El Hindi tussled and quarrelled, causing each other and the referees plenty of problems. The Englishman came back from two-down to reach the quarter-finals, but as he himself said, not one for the purists, so we'll just leave it at that ... "I'm absolutely delighted to reach the quarter-finals. It wasn't one for the squash purists for sure, but different people have different styles and you have to adapt to it and cope with it. "I took my time to get into each game, but I was particularly disappointed with the second. You can't give him anything on his forehand, he just flattens it, so I started to play everything on my forehand, his backhand, and it worked. "It was a tough match, sometimes the refs get it too easy, but it was tough for us and them today."

Amr Shabana (Egy) bt Lee Beachill (Eng)               11/5, 7/11, 14/12, 11/3 LEE IS BACK… Boy oh boy oh boy…Was the Prince of Egypt lucky today to win that match? Yes. Is Lee in great shape, playing better squash that we’ve been seeing him play for months? Yes. Is the Pontefract Man hungry for victory? Yes. Is he going to create upsets soon and get back at the top where he belongs? Bet your squash racquet he is. It seems Lee has enriched his game considerably, and if it took him a while to come from a rather traditional up and down the wall style to a flamboyant and perfect balanc between attack and length squash, he is now ready to roll, and watching him today against one of the masters of the Short Game was a pleasure of every moment. Still, he was playing Shabana, who was in and out, as ever. In in the first game, out (7 tins) in the second, and in/out in the third, lucky to clinch that game 14-12 in the tie break, then seized the momentum with his opponent’s disappointment at the loss of that crucial game to wiz through the 4th… Lee cannot be disappointed with his performance. Surely he knows he is back there, physically and mentally, and Shabana will thanks the Squash Gods who smiled widely on him today… "Nobody wants to play Lee in the second round of the British Open, and I knew when I came in that it was going to be a 50/50 match, but I’m happy with my game, I think that’s my best game so far this month. "The third was the turning point, we went point for point, I could see he was pushing hard… "I used to be able to just play well without really thinking about it, now I’ve got to keep working hard at it, I can’t just let it flow, I can’t go on auto-pilot anymore.. "I always like the way Lee plays, he hides his shots well. As he dropped in the rankings, it’s hard for him to get to the quarter finals, because he’ll always find a top guy in his way. "This is a punishing court for a glass court. On some other glasscourts, the ball clings to the wall, but here, if it’s not 100% perfect, it just stops. Very hard to play… "I’m really happy with my game, really happy with the way I played today…"

"Of course, he hits the ball very well, that’s his game….!!!! "My first game was pretty awful, but I played pretty well after that… I was really angry with myself to lose the third, if I'd gone 2/1 up I don’t think he would have come out that fiery in the fourth… I could see at the end of the game he was a bit anxious, he knew how important that game was. But I made a couple of errors, and I let him back in there… "There is a different feel on the glass court, a different swing. I don’t think people can realise the massive difference between playing “out there” [on the traditional court] and playing here [on the glass court]. "Not to mention that yesterday, hitting the ball hard didn’t lead you anywhere, whereas here, it does! So, it took me a good 15minutes to adapt to the conditions… "I may have dropped ranking-wise but not level-wise I think. Last year, I went 3/2 against Lincou, who got to the final, I beat James 3/0, here I pushed Shabana 3/1, and may have won had I won the third. "So I don’t think that my level has dropped really, it’s just a few matches here and there that I could have won, that I used to win, and that I didn’t for a while, and on my day, I’m a nightmare for anyone to beat…"

Thierry Lincou (Fra) bt [11] Mohammed Abbas (Egy)    3/11, 11/3, 11/9, 8/11, 11/9 (60m) UP AND DOWN IT WENT… Shame those two guys barely played well at the same time … it was like they were taking centre stage each their turn, first Gentleman Abbas, 11/3, then Thierry 11/3. Then, good start for Abbas in the third, 4/1, then 7 points in a row for the Frenchman, who sets up a game ball at 10/7, but will need three to convert. In the fourth, Abbas, thanks to some superb drop shots from far back, flies off comfortably to 7/1, then 8/3, but seems to freeze mentally as he often does when he is ahead, and lets his opponent come back at 8/8, to finally take the next three points. Looks like we have a match on our hands at last, well, not yet, as Thierry takes a huge leap to what seems now a won match, 7/1.  But no, of course not, he’ll let the Egyptian come back to 9/8, and will need two match balls, to win an encounter that I’m sure most bookies gave as a 3/0 for the former number one. Lincou came extremely close to exiting a tournament that he wants desperately to add to his collection. And that’s maybe what gives him this nervous edge, that extra pressure on his own shoulders… And Abbas, well, as ever, a superb attacker, a splendid retriever, a patient and determined player, who still lacks that belief in himself that he needs to acquire somehow to step up the next level.

"What can I say…. "Physically, I felt OK, then not OK, then Ok again. I played well in patches, and he played well in patches, which explains why the game was so fluctuating. "This court feels really different, the bounce is never the same, it surprises you on a regular basis, it’s not consistent. It’s very hard to keep a length and to play tight, I struggled with it all match. "It’s all about staying accurate, and tonight, Abbas was very accurate, he is a shot maker, and if you are not precise enough at the front, you just lose the point. "What saved me was that I got an excellent start in the fifth, and what’s positive for me is that it proves that I can hold that pace and consistency for a long period again… "But it’s here, we are at the British, it’s special, and I’m so happy to get through to the quarters…"

James Willstrop (Eng) bt [9] Karim Darwish (Egy)        11/5, 11/7, 9/11, 11/9 (65m) KARIM IMPRESSIVE, JAMES, ONLY JUST… Close, close close, and close again that was. If the Englishman played a superb start to the match, with an Egyptian totally outplayed by the pace, intensity and variety of his opponent, Karim found his rhythm in the third and fourth, found the right answers, found some splendid attacks and counter attacks, weathered the storm and stuck with it, putting more and more pressure on the British National Champion as the match went on. And when in the fourth Karim scored four points in a row to come back to 8/7, it seemed like we were going for a fifth game which could have gone either way. But in front of his home crowd, with the ambition to make his mark in this tournament after the disastrous one he had last year (he had to retire against Nick Matthew, too weak from his food poisoning in Egypt), Willstrop gave it a last push, and clinched a seat in the quarters 11/9…..

"I’m not very happy with my performance, it was very bitty, and it will have to get much better for tomorrow. But I guess you’ve got to win when you are not playing well, and I guess it’s probably a good thing to have a match like that at the start of the tournament. "I thought I played pretty well for the first two games, I played straight and simple, it was a flowing attacking game. But then he started to play really well, all credit to him, and I didn’t do enough to stop him. "I thought stayed focused, stayed relaxed, I don’t think I lost concentration, he was really playing well, and I just hung in there a bit longer… "Now, I’m going to go and concentrate a bit on myself, do the right things, all what athletes are supposed to do…"