|
eFlicker.net
|
Shorab's swansong
After making a return to table football at the London Open in December 2002, a large part of Shorab's continuing involvement in the game was due to a desire to compete at the 2003 World Cup.
Two major FISTF championships later and this weekend's World Cup, in Belgium, will mark the London player's last table football action for the foreseeable future. Maybe forever.
Shorab has decided to take at least a sabbatical from the game which he started playing competitively as a teenager in the Hampton-based Middlesex League of the 80s, and at which he has since won a string of national and international honours, as well as representing England on five occasions in total.
He had previously stopped competing in late 1997, though that was not a planned finish, but instead a gradual retreat, along with the fortunes of game as a whole at the time. And having returned five years later at the English National Open in Woolwich, when the game's fortunes were starting again to flourish, Shorab will now call time more definitely, as other responsibilities take up an increasing amount of his time.
With business interests both in the UK and aboard, as well as, more importantly, family commitments, the former English number one has less time to play in tournaments, and less time for the practise needed to perform well at the top level.
Vital competitions have been missed. A family holiday in Florida during his son Jamal's Easter school break meant that Shorab was unavailable for this year's National Championships in Preston, for instance.
Ironically though it is his son who could be the reason for another return to the game in the future. "If Jamal wanted to start playing, I could make a comeback", Shorab said.
But it wouldn't be in the Open section: "I would play in the veteran's category".
He suggests that competitions in America are most likely to coax him out of retirements, though not only due to the fact that one of his business ventures is based in the States.
"I enjoy playing in America," he said. "The people are friendly and they are fair - unlike some Europeans."
The decision to quit was taken at the start of the year, and aims had been set for the final season. Shorab had wanted to win the STF table and the English Circuit title, but missed out on valuable ranking points for both due to non-availability for certain events. A failure to join the ESTFA meant that he was overlooked for England selection at the UK & Ireland Championships, so that he was unable to defend the title previously won in Preston in June 2004.
It has however been a season that has seen Shorab play in 22 competitions both at home and abroad. And in particular, clashes against some of Europe's top players have stood out for the Londoner.
He highlights games against top Austrian player Robert Lenz in both South Queensferry and London and against the Greek Lazaros Papakonstantinou in the quarter-finals of the Amsterdam Grand Prix.
"I played well in Scotland, and I should have beaten Robert Lenz in London".
He was also unlucky against Papakonstantinou in the Netherlands, having dominated possession for much of their game, and hitting the post late in overtime before his opponent scored from a corner routine with just seconds remaining until the lottery of shots.
However the best performance since his return was undoubtedly in Dublin last summer.
Having been eliminated by Eric Verhagen on the first day of the Irish double-header, Shorab beat the Flying Dutchman on the Sunday, in an end to end battle. One down early on, Shorab led 3-1 by the interval, then held out for a 4-3 victory - his first ever against Verhagen.
"That was a brilliant match", Shorab recalls, "I was tipped to go on and win the tournament, but I lost in overtime to Hansel Mallia [in the semi-finals].
"I played really well though. Like my old self".
The desire is still there, but not the time to play or practise, and results have suffered. And with age, the speed and attacking mentality that once typified Shorab's game has lessened.
Whereas once he would have been the highest scorer at any tournament that he entered, whilst also conceding a lot, goals both for and against have started to dry up. At the recent English Masters, he scored fewer than each of the other full internationals in attendance, but also possessed the tournament's best defensive record.
"I'm not practising anymore - I have no time - and it is difficult to play at tournament without practise", he said.
But before the famous Sports figures in the colours of his favoured Liverpool FC are put into storage, possibly for the last time, there is the small matter of this weekend's tournament in Tournai.
Shorab remains the only English player to reach the last eight of a major FISTF championship, when he made the quarter-finals in Wuppertal, Germany in 1995. As standards have improved over the years, a repeat performance would be a huge achievement, though Shorab is looking to make a mark in Belgium.
"I want to go out on a high", he said, "but it depends how I feel".
It may be that the sense of occasion is enough to see him through for one last effort.
Got News? E-mail us at flicker1995@yahoo.co.uk