| Gregory Gaultier
(Fra) bt Amr Shabana (Egy)
11/9, 5/11, 11/5, 11/9 (62m)
INCREDIBLE
INTENSITY
Eight tins in the first game for
Shabana.
Eight tins in the third game for Shabana.
Against one of the toughest fastest most skilful,
fit and hungry for victory up and coming players,
it was never going to be good enough, was it.
Still, in the second, when he was in the match,
both mentally, and physically committed to the rallies,
Amr was out of this world, disposing of the young
Greg Gaultier with elegance, accuracy, touch and
flair.
And yes, in the third in particular, Amr and Greg
were ever so patient, the rallies, all with an intensity,
a pace, a power I’ve up to now rarely seen with
such a consistency throughout a match, but the Egyptian
just seemed to find the tin time and time again.
Greg was superb today, it must be
stressed. His calmness on court, his presence on
the T - he hardly seems to move from the middle,
allowing him to get to any part of the court in
a fraction of a second – and the fact he keeps his
arms so close to the body, you can’t predict where
his low percentage out of the blue shots are going
to come from, making him one of the most lethal
opponents on the circuit.
 A point to
be noted. Amr had his left ankle strangely strapped,
like for an ligament injury. Was that impairing
his movement slightly?
If it was the case, at the speed and strength Greg
was playing at, it would have slowed Shabana just
enough to be out of balance slightly enough to make
the unforced error again and again.
We’ll never know, as the Prince of Egypt disappeared
as soon as the match finished. But one unhappy Egyptian
makes a very happy Frenchman, who for the first
time in his young career, is now a British Open
Finalist.
Bien joué, Greg.
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"It’s always been a kind of a dream
of mine, getting to the final of the British, well,
winning the British Open I mean.
"I’m very happy with my game, I’m happy to be back
after a bad injury, and tomorrow, I’m not going
to give 100%, not 500%, but 1,000%!!!!!
"Amr and I we have a lot of respect for each other,
he is really a great guy, he is such a fair player,
he and I don’t cheat, and look at him, at the end
of the third game, on a ball that sets up a game
ball, he gives me the point, how fair is that.
"I have learnt so much from him over the years,
he is such an example for me and for the sport,
he’s been number one for a long time now, and I
just hope I get a future like his."
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