NSC Series 8

1st Round

The Series 8 started on Monday with the qualifyings and yesterday with the 1st rounds. The women seem to be doing better than the men but that is expected of it. As normal, I did not watch any women's matches so you have to rely on other alternative reports.

For the men's side, we had 6 men in the main draw but only 1 made pass the 1st round and it is Asyraf who beat Kamran in 4. It was tight in the 1st 2 games where it both went to tie breakers and were shared with Kamran taking the 1st and Asyraf taking the 2nd. Asyraf then kept his nose ahead and with that closed out the match 3-1.

Elvinn played the top seed, Omer Abdul Aziz and lost 3-0 but had his chances in the 2nd and 3rd. Elvinn had gameball 10-7 in the 2nd but could not close it while it was neck and neck in the 3rd all the way.

Jam played Nicholas Muller and also lost 3-0 in a close match especially in the 1st 2 games. Again it was neck and neck in the 1st and Jam had gameball 10-7 in the 2nd but like Elvinn, he just could not finish it. Muller then ran out comfortably in the 3rd as Jam ran out of steam to compete.

Kam Hing was always a step behind Yasir Butt and although he tried hard, there was no way he was going to change the result. A lot of hardwork still needs to be done to ensure he progress to a competitive level.

Ivan actually had a tough opponent in Steve Finitis who is experienced and that showed immediately as Steve imposed his authority over Ivan from the start by punishing every ball that was short or loose. Ivan on the other hand was playing exactly how Steve wanted him to play, impatient and going for shots. That enabled Steve to control the match and Ivan was running all over. By the 3rd, Ivan was lost and crumbled.

Quarterfinals

With only Asyraf in the quarters for the boys, it looked very bleak for Malaysia to get something bearing in mind he was up against the top seed, Omer Abdul Aziz. But Omer was not impressive in his win agaist Elvinn the previous day and so Asyraf had a chance if he could take it. Asyraf started off well taking the first 2 games by being himself, unafraid of his opponents reputation and being absolutely cheeky with gamesmanship which riled Omer. But that took a bit out of Asyraf and Omer staged a fightback and secured the 3rd and 4th with Asyraf looking very tired. Omer was looking confident while Asyraf was very quiet.

The 5th however was the best squash from Asyraf I have seen in the last 3 months, focused and disciplined. He slowed down the game, kept it deep and straight and pick on the loose shots from Omer with deadly straight drops. Asyraf won it 11-4 and Omer was in disbelief. He came out ranting at the referee for being lenient, abused Asyraf by calling him a cheat and used vulgarities and called me a cheat as well for asking Asyraf to use gamesmanship or unethical tactics. I have never done it and will never do it as Asyraf being Asyraf will do things his was. Anyway, if Asyraf can produce the 5th game all the time, he will be good but at the moment, I doubt it.

The women's side we had 3 girls and 2 of them got to the semis. Wee wern had no troubles beating Song Sung Mi 3-0 and Siti pulled a great win by beating the 4th seed Emma Beddoes 3-2 in a marathon battle. Siti deserves the wins as she has been working very hard for the last few months. Sharon however lost to Lauren Siddal in another marathon, having matchball in the process. Plenty of decisions in that match as Sharon was reading Lauren's drops and Lauren being big and tall was slightly slow in clearing with resulted in a lot of lets. That made Lauren very upset but she hung on to beat Sharon.

Semifinals

Asyraf made a very poor start against a very disciplined and aggresive Nicholas Muller losing the 1st easily. Asyraf then started tightening his game and fought back to win the 2nd in a tie break to even the match. It was neck and neck in the 3rd till 7-7 and then Muller pulled away. 4th game was very close with Muller eventually winning 13-11. A good show by Asyraf in terms of discipline squash but just lacks the aggression in taking the ball early and clinical finishing. He was a little sloppy with the easy chances that were presented to him and that cost him.

Wee wern was up against Aisling and what a marathon it was, 85 minutes in all. Wee Wern was 2-1 and matchball up but could not finish it. She then went a little too safe and Aisling was pretty much comfortable in the 5th leading all the way by 2 points all the time. Wee Wern made too many unforced errors on her easy drops and cost her the match which was at least 5 per game. Too high for squash at this level and needs to work on it.

Siti was determined to prove that she was not lucky in beating Emma who had a tough 5 setter in the 1st round. But Lauren's sheer power proved the difference, constant hammering of the ball kept Siti on her back foot throughout the first 2 games. Siti managed to slow it down and squeezed the 3rd but then lauren upped the pace again in the 4th. As hard as Siti tried, there was no stopping Lauren winning that 11-0.

So no Malaysian in the finals. Hard luck to the trio especially Wee Wern. Work harder and try again the next time. I would have to say that Siti has impressed me with her display in this series of tournaments with some good results and performances. Well done and continue the hard work.

Check Squashsite for the results. Cheers and happy squashing!