Kuwait World Open 2009 Semifinal James Willstrop vs. Amr Shabana

Last week was the Kuwait Men’s World Open 2009 squash championships held on Green Island.

Sheikha Fadyah Al-Sabah was Chairman of the Higher Organising Committee. She was seated at the front along with the other dignitaries.

All the top squash players were there with Egypt being dominant. There is a Kuwaiti in the top also. The Pakistanis used to dominate including Jahangir Khan who dominated the game in the 80′s. In this time he won 555 matches consecutively, the longest winning streak in squash history and one of the longest unbeaten runs by any athlete in top-level professional sports.

He was at the tournament as the President of the World Squash Federation since 2002.

This is the first semi-final match. The Egyptian winner of this match went on to win the final.

Some of my coworkers are squash aficionados – I’ve only played a few times as a kid. They told me that if this was in the UK it would be sold out months before. In the case of Kuwait, we just showed up and it was free to watch. The stadium filled up near the end of the first match but still was not to capacity.

The game is fun to watch but it would have been cool to watch from the far end where the cameras are but I was afraid if I tried to go there I would be kicked out as I don’t have a press pass.

These players are incredibly quick on their feet and able to unbelievabley dig the ball out of the back corners. The rallies go on for dozens of shots and they made very few errors.

Also there is a lot of input from the referee when there are lets. It is a referees judgment whether one player was able to get out the was fast enough in order to allow the other person to reach the shot and have room to swing his racquet. If they were not and the blockage wasn’t deliberate then the shot is replayed. And if the shot was well played whether or not they were impeded the point would be awarded.

Such joy he shows after making the shot. And he says it is the greatest shot he has made in his life. And such despair in his opponent.

Federer is the example for everyone of perfect footwork. There is a good article here on NY Times. You need to register which is a pain but it is freel.

Much nicer than the Serena Williams tirade and her disqualification. But at least she apologized.

Soccer Day in Canada is soon on June 20.

Soccer (or football if you are from outside of North America) is big in Canada. Many boys and girls of course play it. I played as a kid until my late teens. I’ll be in Calgary and maybe I’ll try to find a good game to watch with Camera and biggest lens in hand.

I saw this sign on the weekend while there having lunch at Le Pain Quotidien at The Palms.

I wonder what a single male costs!!! And for a year a couple would be 1800 KD or approximately $6,800 US dollars! I can tell you no club is not that good!

Here’s a video of the weights area on Google video.

We’ve got a membership at the Hilton club which is less than half this but still too much. But that’s Kuwait cost of living!

How We’re Wrecking Our Feet With Every Step We Take — New York Magazine

Sports is not fair anymore as you see here.

Credit to mental floss for this.

Wait there’s more!

USA Today has published interesting galleries. Go here, then click on the Take the controls link on the left side of the page.

Sports Illustrated has also posted photos.

Thanks to Rob Galbraith a great photo blog by a Calgary photographer.