Who Wants It?

By Brett Erasmus

Photo Courtesy of Ira Veridiano

Last night in the first round of ToC quarterfinal matches, James Willstrop defeated Amr Shabana and Karim Darwish defeated David Palmer. Both players now move into the semi-finals on Wednesday, where they will face each other. My money is on Darwish. His game against Palmer last night was definitely the one to watch. Shabana lost in a quick 3.

Darwish has beaten Palmer pretty convincingly the last few times they have met on the professional tour. There was a time when Palmer had won every encounter, but since Darwish got married to a top women’s professional, Engy Kheirallah, it has been a pretty one-sided affair. Additionally, Palmer’s best days appear to be behind him. He is 34 years old, a time when most professional players seriously consider retiring. The beating their bodies take is tough to withstand. 34 to 35 years old seems to be the age that most players call it a day in the PSA.


(Despite his age) Palmer went up 1 game after some really consistent play. Darwish went to the front too early, where Palmer is really good and he capitalized on the opportunity. In the second game Darwish regained his concentration and was more patient in going short. But as his opponent slowed and small openings developed, Darwish started going for his shots. About mid game he hit 2 great forehand winners in the front right and he then proceeded to follow up a few rallies later with 3 forehand winners in a row driven to a dying length. His forehand was killing the Australian and Darwish rounded out the game with it. It appeared that the tide had turned. The 3rd game started off really tight, as you expect. Palmer did not come here to lose and he got stuck in. At 4-3 Darwish bounced off Palmer and did a backward slide in a seated position, a la Kobe Bryant (he did not get 2 points, but he did pick up a let). Darwish was un-phased by the contact and knew he had Palmer on the ropes; he started to beat Palmer in the front now with a series of straight and cross court drops. Sensing victory, he was going for everything, trying to win every rally with a touch in the front. Darwish hit a backhand drop to close out the game. This shot was a flat volley from the T hit with as much cut on it as you can possibly hit a squash ball. It sounded like this: 'shhhwick'.

Darwish has trained with Shabana for most of his career and it shows. He has learnt how to play the short game from a master. In the 4th he continued to hit some unbelievable winning drops. The Aussie still won most of his points at the back of the court with hard sharp angled shots. At 7-8 Palmer dived across the front of the court to retrieve yet another backhand cross court drop. It wasn’t looking good for Palmer. I mean, when your feet are leaving the court surface you’ve got to be in trouble right? The ball is not up - Palmer hits it away in frustration, and the ball got stuck in the overhead lighting. They had to warm up another ball but the match is all but over. At 9-7 down Palmer does a dive at the back that was awesome. He took off at an angle higher than the horizontal and landed unbelievably hard. Most people would not get up after a hit like that, especially someone his size. He stood up and was bleeding from various places. And to add insult to injury, he lost the point anyway, is now match point down, and is forced to leave the court to take care of the blood coming from his knee and his hand. Palmer just wanted it to end right there but the refs enforced the rules - rightfully so. There was a pause for a few minutes while the doctors worked, but the game was long over. Palmer got one point back on the return but it was a lucky winner. Darwish wins 3-1 and progresses to the semis.

Realistically the match was over at the end of the 3rd game when Darwish started hitting winners. Palmer was not as fast and as fit as we have ever seen him. This is the 1st tournament for Darwish after 3 months off and he looks fresh. Another factor for Darwish is he gets to rest for a day before his semifinal against Willstrop. A good thing for him considering the tough match he just had and the fact that his next opponent did not have much of a quarterfinal match at all against an out of sorts Shabana. You can read about the match at http://www.squashzag.com/

Squash is a hard game and requires training and preparation and sacrifice. So the real question is: ‘Who wants it?’ In the end we answered that last night pretty convincingly, I would say. Add that in with the fact that his wife is breaking down his opponent's game real time and sometimes coaching him on this between games, makes it even harder for his opponents. There is only one squash player on the court but you are really playing 2 great squash minds out there. Darwish has all the confidence and support he needs to win his next game and I think he will do very well.