Over 30 hours of wall-to-wall squash brought the 64-man field of the AJ Bell PSA World Squash Championship down to 32 players after the completion of today’s action-packed first round of the sport’s biggest event of the year at the National Squash Centre in Manchester.<\/p>\n
16 nations will be represented in the second round – led by eight Egyptians and five Englishmen.<\/p>\n
Home hero Nick Matthew recorded one of the earliest wins. The No4 seed from Sheffield, bidding to become England’s first three-time winner of the title, despatched event debutant Zahed Mohamed, a 21-year-old qualifier from Egypt, 11-5, 11-4, 11-4.<\/p>\n
The former world number one, now ranked four in the world, admitted later that he knew nothing of his opponent – and spent last night searching the internet for some background. But he later confided: “I feel in the best shape of my career.”\n<\/p>\n
Fellow Yorkshireman James Willstrop, the third seed, also had a convincing opening win over a qualifier – beating compatriot Joel Hinds 11-4, 11-4, 13-11. England team-mates Matthew and Willstrop, who contested the 2010 final, are drawn in opposing halves of the draw.<\/p>\n
All eyes were on top seed Ramy Ashour, the world number one from Egypt who is looking to win the title for a second time in Manchester. In a tough first round clash, Ashour faced Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema, the world No18.<\/p>\n
The assured left-hander from The Hague (pictured above in action with Ashour) took the opening game and had game-balls for a surprise 2\/0 lead.<\/p>\n
But the irrepressible Ashour stepped up his game to win 10-12, 13-11, 11-3, 11-4 after 65 minutes – and extend his unbeaten Tour run to 46 matches since May 2012!<\/p>\n
“In my opinion, the turning point of the match was at 10-8 in the second, when I played two stupid shots, I was too inaccurate,” explained Anjema later. “But then again, even if I had managed to get to 2\/0 up, I wouldn’t have had the match won – it can be very difficult to win from that position.<\/p>\n
“I’m happy with the way I played – I’ve been enjoying my squash recently, I’ve changed a few things in my game during training, but I don’t think about that when I play matches. Actually, tactics are overrated: I just try and go on there empty-headed (which is not as easy as it looks). I try and meditate before the match, to get into that ‘stay in the moment’ feel.”<\/p>\n
Ashour will now face a fellow countryman after event first-timer Fares Mohamed Dessouki continued his giant-killing run in the event by fighting back from two games down to upset world No32 Alan Clyne.<\/p>\n
It was after two shock victories over higher-ranked opponents in the qualifiers that 19-year-old Dessouki (pictured above in action with Clyne) become not only the youngest qualifier – but also the lowest-ranked.<\/p>\n
But the determined world No 111 from Alexandria rose to the occasion by defeating top-ranked Scot Clyne 9-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 in 82 minutes to reach the second round.<\/p>\n
“I’m really happy to have won the game coming from two games down,” said the delighted Dessouki afterwards. “I’m having a great time here and looking forward to playing Ramy tomorrow.”<\/p>\n
16 years after making his first appearance in the event’s qualifying competition for the first time – ahead of any other player in the 2013 draw – Malaysia’s 33-year-old Ong Beng Hee rolled back the years by beating higher-ranked Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad, 11 years his junior, 11-9, 11-9, 2-11, 10-12, 11-8 in 70 minutes.<\/p>\n
“I think I played well in the first two, then went into my usual hibernation mode for two games – well, one and a half games,” said former world No7 from Penang. “I woke up at 7-1 in the fourth, thinking ‘you’re going to lose that one if you don’t do something fast’.<\/p>\n
“It was nice to play somebody my ranking, at least I have a 50\/50 chance,” added the Malaysian number one, now in the second round for the first time in four years. “But it’s still a strong quarters with Mosaad and Matthew. But with the baby due in April, I’d better win a few more!”<\/p>\n
Two all-left-handed clashes produced mixed results for the hosts: Early in the day, in-form Londoner Adrian Grant took on Egyptian maestro Amr Shabana, the No8 seed who is a four-time winner of the trophy.<\/p>\n
The 34-year-old from Cairo is making his first PSA Tour appearance since March – and showed his class with an 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 win over Grant to extend his career head-to-head record over the Englishman to 11-1.<\/p>\n
But fellow London left-hander Peter Barker took his anticipated place in the second round after beating Ryan Cuskelly. But the seventh seed was taken to four games before taking out the Australian 11-4, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5 in 72 minutes.<\/p>\n
“I started pretty well, to be honest – I knew it was going to be a tough match, he’s had a few good results and he’s knocking on the door of top 20 so he’s fresh, said Barker, a semi-finalist three years ago. “You just can’t take anyone for granted. I’m good mates with him as well, we shared at the last tournament, the US Open so I was well aware of him. He played really well in the second, I nearly got it back but then the third and fourth were good from my point of view.<\/p>\n
“I had a really up and down year last year but I managed to stay in the top eight which was the bare minimum but hopefully I can push on this year. I’ve had a couple of decent tournament wins but physically I feel good and just enjoying being able to run.”<\/p>\n
Spain’s ninth seed Borja Golan survived one of the longest matches in the history of the championship when he outlasted England’s Chris Simpson 11-9, 6-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5 in 110 minutes.<\/p>\n
It was a courageous performance by Guernsey-born Simpson, the world No21, who had never before taken a game from the Spanish world No9 in two previous encounters.<\/p>\n
“I played well, had my chances in the fourth and the first,” explained underdog Simpson later. “Think it came down to the fourth really – I was quite tired in the fifth, bit disappointed with how I faded physically. So obviously very disappointed at the moment, hopefully I can take some positives out of it.<\/p>\n
“I played him about three weeks ago and lost in three so it’s encouraging to do a bit better – but, like any athlete, it’s hard to see that right now.”<\/p>\n
There was another brave performance from an up-and-coming Englishman later when Londoner Adrian Waller established a 2\/1 lead over sixth-seeded Egyptian Mohamed Elshorbagy, last year’s runner-up.<\/p>\n
But world No6 Elshorbagy showed his class when he upped his game to close out the match 11-6, 6-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7 in 84 minutes.<\/p>\n
“I am reading a book at the moment, called Winning Ugly – written by a tennis coach that never was a top player but knew how tactically to switch from losing to winning,” said the UK-based Egyptian. “And the first page of his book says ‘do you prefer to win ugly or to lose pretty???’<\/p>\n
“Today, I know I didn’t win pretty. I won ugly, but I’m not taking a plane home tomorrow. And that’s what counts. I’m pretty proud of what I did, happy to get myself out of this situation.<\/p>\n
“I had seen him play at the US Open, I knew so what to expect. I really put myself under tremendous pressure for this event. I was very nervous, and he was very clever, he slowed down the pace. And the more he slowed down the pace, the more I was nervous.<\/p>\n
“So in the fourth, I just tried to make myself angry. Not against him. But I used all the opportunities I could to try and fire myself up. That’s what the book told me really!”
<\/p>\n
Waller, a tall 23-year-old from Enfield, added: “Played quite well tonight. It’s always difficult to play someone highly-ranked in the world, top 10 in the world. Got to a winning positions which was good to feel but just disappointed not to convert. Feel like I can complete with the top guys in the world – but it’s just having the opportunity to do that on a regular basis.”<\/p>\n
A second qualifier later made it through to the second round when Australia’s Matthew Karwalski upset Egypt’s world No43 Mohd Ali Anwar Reda 11-2, 11-5, 11-5.<\/p>\n
The world No54 from New South Wales now faces in-form Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, the No2 seed who defeated Danish qualifier Kristian Frost Olesen 11-7, 11-8, 11-6.<\/p>\n
1st round: Over 30 hours of wall-to-wall squash brought the 64-man field of the AJ Bell PSA World Squash Championship down to 32 players after the completion of today’s action-packed first round of the sport’s biggest event of the year at the National Squash Centre in Manchester.<\/p>\n 16 nations will be represented in the second round – led by eight Egyptians and five Englishmen.<\/p>\n Home hero Nick Matthew recorded one of the earliest wins. The No4 seed from Sheffield, bidding to become England’s first three-time winner of the title, despatched event debutant Zahed Mohamed, a 21-year-old qualifier from Egypt, 11-5, 11-4, 11-4.<\/p>\n The former world number one, now ranked four in the world, admitted later that he knew nothing of his opponent – and spent last night searching the internet for some background. But he later confided: “I feel in the best shape of my career.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-others"],"yoast_head":"\n
RESULTS: AJ Bell PSA World Squash Championship, Manchester, England<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/strong>
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 10-12, 13-11, 11-3, 11-4 (65m)
[Q] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 9-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 (82m)
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) 11-8, 12-10, 4-11, 8-11, 13-11 (79m)
[14] Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt Campbell Grayson (NZL) 12-10, 11-8, 11-9 (48m)
[15] Alister Walker (BOT) bt [Q] Shaun le Roux (RSA) 11-8, 11-5, 13-11 (49m)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Joe Lee (ENG) 11-5, 12-10, 11-3 (48m)
Henrik Mustonen (FIN) bt [Q] Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) 7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 12-10, 11-8 (84m)
[7] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 11-4, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5 (72m)
[8] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 (38m)
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) 11-3, 10-12, 11-4, 7-11, 11-4 (78m)
Leo Au (HKG) bt [Q] Shahier Razik (CAN) 11-5, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9 (90m)
[16] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 11-6, 11-7, 4-11, 11-9 (75m)
[11] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Christopher Gordon (USA) 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 (34m)
Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 11-9, 11-9, 2-11, 10-12, 11-8 (70m)
Max Lee (HKG) bt Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-7, 13-11, 12-10 (39m)
[4] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Zahed Mohamed (EGY) 11-5, 11-4, 11-4 (39m)
[3] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [Q] Joel Hinds (ENG) 11-4, 11-4, 13-11 (35m)
Tom Richards (ENG) bt Ben Coleman (ENG) 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 (53m)
Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt [Q] Steven Finitsis (AUS) 11-8, 4-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9 (75m)
[9] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Chris Simpson (ENG) 11-9, 6-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5 (110m)
[12] Simon Rosner (GER) bt [Q] Raphael Kandra (GER) 11-5, 11-5, 11-9 (57m)
Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) bt [Q] Andrew Wagih Shoukry (EGY) 11-9, 11-8, 12-10 (47m)
Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) bt Julian Illingworth (USA) 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 (45m)
[6] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 11-6, 6-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7 (84m)
[5] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [Q] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 (28m)
Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [Q] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 11-5, 4-11, 8-11, 11-8, 14-12 (74m)
Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt [Q] Ammar Altamimi (KUW) 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 (30m)
[13] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt [Q] Charles Sharpes (ENG) 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 (35m)
[10] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [Q] Eddie Charlton (ENG) 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 (39m)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) 7-11, 12-10, 11-5, 12-10 (52m)
[Q] Matthew Karwalski (AUS) bt Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 11-2, 11-5, 11-5 (32m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 (47m)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"