Qatar, WTF?

I watched some of the Qatar Classic currently underway, proudly sponsored by the Ali Bin Ali Group. In truth, some great matches, with perhaps the most memorable being the Selby vs. Willstrop match. Selby has been dominated for years by James Willstrop, but today as fate would have it Willstrop hit a shot up the middle (a shot that seems to be more and more in vogue) that Selby anticipated, and Selby responded by hitting a behind-the-back dropshot to the other corner for a jaw-dropping point-game-match winner: 13/11 in the fifth game. Selby laughed, then looked to the heavens in thanks. 

There were several other great matches, but all that played out in front of a crowd that appeared to number 10. 

No, seriously. Here's a screen shot of the crowd 5 seconds after the conclusion of the Karim Abdel Gawad vs. Tarek Momen match, which Gawad won, 12/10 in the fifth. Another great match, watched by a precious few. 

What is the story here? Despite the support from the Ali Bin Ali Group, is the squash-loving population in Qatar so vanishingly small that they can't muster up a few spectators? It's frankly embarrassing. And I would think old Ali Bin Ali would be rather displeased.

The Empowering Effect of a Dose of ToC

My arch-enemy Schumacher and I went to see the Tournament of Champions last night, paying good money to get seats midway down the left wall. It took a while to get used to the crazy angle, but once we did we were treated to some close-up views of the pros and their shotmaking. 

We saw four matches. The first was Olivia Blatchford, one of two players from the US, playing Dipika Pallikal, the 7th-seeded Indian. It was really no contest, as Blatchford appeared by turns nervous and agitated over her play. She lost in straight games. Here's the last point, as recorded on my lousy cellphone:

We also saw Australia's Donna Urquhart, who is without doubt one of the sexiest woman in squash, play Pakistani sensation Maria Toor Pakay. Pakay has come under the wing of Jonathan Power, who is helping to guide her as she negotiates her way from the ultra-conservative tribal areas of her country, where a woman is not supposed to be involved in sport whatsoever, to playing squash at the highest level in venues around the world. A big step, and judging by her play last night, she's not there yet. She appeared to be nervous and relatively uninterested in doing anything other than smacking the ball hard to the back corners. Urquhart, on the other hand, remained unfazed and looked perfectly delightful in a wonderful peach-colored dress. I am here to report that there were murmurs of appreciation from the crowd, and they weren't talking about her squash game....

We also saw two good matches on the men's side. First up were Englishmen James Willstrop, looking very sharp, and Peter Barker. Barker looks to be in great form, so it is a little amazing that he hasn't had more success against Willstrop, but the latter seems continually to have the edge up, and so it was last night, with Barker being shown the door in under 40 minutes. We also got to take a look at Egyptian teenage sensation Marwan El Shorbagy, who seems to float effortlessly about the court, and a very impressive Daryl Selby, Englishman, who I think played a magnificent match. Selby can be quite deceptive, employing a full bag of head fakes and last-second wrist breaks. The effect of all this was to keep Marwan running, and that he did. They had several very long rallies, after which Selby seemed to take one long breath and then was quickly back ready to play, whereas I saw Marwan doubled over a few times trying to catch his breath. I think Selby, who won in 3, has a shot to reach the finals this year, he is playing that well. I also think that Marwan will be the #1 player within 7 years: he moves better than any other player I have ever seen.

There is something empowering about seeing a lot of high-level pro players going about their business. Schumacher and I agreed to play this morning, and I, feeling jazzed by my observations last night, foiled my arch-enemy's plans for total domination and offered up a soul-crushing win in 5. The squashist wins! The squashist wins!

 

The American Tennis and Paddle Tennis Association

England's National Racketball Championships will be held May 6 - 8 at the Edgbaston Priory Club!

Or so England's squash association tells us. That's because in England the squash association is called England Squash & Racketball. And therein lies the rub.

If I remember correctly, England's squash association decided only a few years ago to welcome lovers of racketball into their warm, suffocating embrace. I didn't understand why they did that then, and the rationale for it still eludes me. 

Racketball is a different game. It uses different rackets than squash and a different ball. It is played, in England at least, on the same court as squash, but that is its only similarity. True, squash players can readily pick up the game of racketball, and indeed the current top-rated men's racketballer in England is squash's own Daryl Selby. But this is akin to a top tennis player picking up a paddle tennis racket and having a go at it. Those are different games. No one has proposed incorporating the American Tennis and Paddle Tennis Association.

I think this is a question of a sporting association forgetting that, for the purposes of effective governance and good marketing, it needs to consistently tell a story to the public. What is squash's story? Why would England Squash want to bifurcate its message by throwing in another sport that is kinda like squash but not really?

I suspect there is money at the root of this issue, although I don't know what it is. I do strongly believe that it is not good for squash to have a national sporting association also promoting another sport. I think it's a really bad idea. 

Whack-It Ball

I read today on squashsite.co.uk that Peter Nicol has decided to play in a racketball tournament, England's Dunlop National Racketball Championship, where he may end up playing 5-time winner Daryl Selby. [But, see Postscript below...]

Now why would Nicol go and do a foolish thing like this?

Actually, I can understand. About a decade ago I moved from the city to suburbia, and because of the move I didn't have enough money to maintain my city squash club membership. Believe me, the Squashist was very sad about this. Very sad indeed. After a while I realized that there was a local fitness club that I could afford to join so I could at least stay in shape, so I did, and I found myself drawn to their racquetball courts. What the heck, I gave it a whack one day. 

It's not squash, you run much less, and you are mostly concerned with hitting to the back corners, so tactically it is less interesting. Still, it's a court and a racket and a ball, so I hit a few times. I then noticed they were having the club tournaments, so decided to sign up. The pro there said, well, if I played squash, I should do okay in the 5th grouping, of which there were 11 in all. Although I didn't practice at all and only played the tournament matches, I won easily.

I then went back to just working out, but lo and behold time went by and the club championships came around again. This time the pro told me to play the 2nd grouping. That too I won, again without practice, although the final was tight. Soon after this, I recovered my financial wherewithal and rejoined the squash club, and so have never played racquetball again. But I had a pretty good time playing. I'm told, incidentally, that the 3 top players at the club, the ones in the 1st grouping, are all ex-squash players who have adopted the sport since there are no local squash courts nearby to play on.

The racket skills and court sense one learns in squash are transferable to both racquetball and racketball, the latter of which is what an American would call racquetball but played on an international squash court, which I believe is the version most common in the U.K. where Nicol will play the tournament. I very much suspect Nicol will win this tournament, his skills are too immense. I am reminded of a story about Gary Waite, an excellent squash player as well as top hardball squash doubles player, who became the champion Canadian racquetballer, just to see if he could. Heather McKay, Australian squash champion who is the winningest female squash player ever, also famously played racquetball, winning multiple American and Canadian championships.

The point is that racket skills and court coverage are transferable. That is the intriguing idea behind Racketlon, a marathon racket skills tournament in which opponents are tested in squash, badminton, tennis and table tennis. Each set is played to 21 points, with the winner being whomever scores the most points across all sport disciplines. Racketlon started in Finland in the 1980s where it was called mailapelit, meaning 'racket games', and has continued to gain adherents. 

I recently had a chance to play badminton, and found that the court movement and wrist action were similar enough to squash that I did well. And since I play tennis regularly, that sport's different stroke biomechanics are not a problem for me. Furthermore, a squash player's coverage of a tennis court is as good as anything a tennis player could offer. The problem for me: table tennis, which is much different from the other games of racketlon.

There is something about a racket player, no matter what the racket. See ball, run to ball, hit ball. I already feel a little sorry for Mr. Selby, poor fella. 

POSTSCRIPT: It seems The Squashist has revealed a touch of ignorance with this blog, and stuck his big size 13 foot into his gaping maw. Mr. Selby, it turns out, is a top squash player, in fact is currently #9. I'm sorry, Mr. Selby, I didn't appreciate that fact when I wrote this blog! It does argue in favor of my basic point, though, that squash players can walk on the racketball court and play a mean game from the get-go, but it also puts into question whether Peter Nicol, retired from the pro game, can likely put up stiff enough resistance against a top-10 squash foe. However, Mr Nicol rarely does me wrong, so I still say he'll take it! Selby, prove me wrong!