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20/02/2022
Squash On Fire Open 2022
Squash On Fire Open 2022
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Squash On Fire Open 2022
Men's Draw
16 - 20 Feb
Washington DC, USA, $50k |
ROUND TWO
17 FEB |
QUARTERS
18 FEB |
SEMIS
19 FEB |
FINAL
20 FEB |
|
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY)
7-11, 11-8, 15-13, 11-8 (57m)
[9/16] Patrick Rooney (ENG) |
Mohamed Elshorbagy
11-5, 11-9, 11-7 (45m)
Omar Mosaad |
Mohamed Elshorbagy
13-11, 11-6 ret. (35m)
Iker Pajares Bernabeu |
Mohamed Elshorbagy
11-5, 11-9, 11-8 (69m)
Joel Makin |
[6] Omar Mosaad (EGY)
11-7, 11-3, 12-10 (42m)
[9/16] Todd Harrity (USA) |
[7] Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP)
11-5, 11-9, 11-6 (38m)
Tayyab Aslam (PAK) |
Iker Pajares Bernabeu
11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9 (74m)
Greg Lobban |
[9/16] Greg Lobban (SCO)
11-6, 11-1, 11-6 (42m)
[3] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) |
[4] Youssef Soliman (EGY)
11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 12-10 (61m)
[9/16] Declan James (ENG) |
Youssef Soliman
11-5, 11-5, 11-3 (31m)
Cesar Salazar |
Youssef Soliman
11-8, 11-5, 12-14, 11-6 (80m)
Joel Makin |
[8] Cesar Salazar (MEX)
11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6 (44m)
Yip Tsz Fung (HKG) |
[5] James Willstrop (ENG)
11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5 (58m)
[9/16] George Parker (ENG) |
James Willstrop
11-8, 14-12, 9-11, 11-2 (64m)
Joel Makin |
Nathan Lake (ENG)
11-8, 11-4, 7-11, 11-8 (57m)
[2] Joel Makin (WAL) |
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bye
[9/16] Patrick Rooney (ENG) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 11-9, 11-3, 11-6 (38m)
[9/16] Todd Harrity (USA) bt Sébastien Bonmalais (FRA) 11-5, 14-12, 11-4
(48m)
[6] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bye
[7] Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) bye
Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bt [9/16] Lucas Serme (FRA) 11-9, 7-11, 3-11, 11-7,
12-10 (74m)
[9/16] Greg Lobban (SCO) bt [WC] Karan Malik (IND) 11-5, 11-5, 11-5
(29m)
[3] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bye
[4] Youssef Soliman (EGY) bye
[9/16] Declan James (ENG) bt Leonel Cardenas (MEX) 11-7, 11-9, 6-11,
11-9 (58m)
Yip Tsz Fung (HKG) bt [9/16] Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) 11-5, 11-9, 11-3
(25m)
[8] Cesar Salazar (MEX) bye
[5] James Willstrop (ENG) bye
[9/16] George Parker (ENG) bt Ivan Yuen (MAS) 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (37m)
Nathan Lake (ENG) bt [9/16] Shahjahan Khan (USA) 11-7, 11-5, 6-11, 11-5
(52m)
[2] Joel Makin (WAL) by |
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Squash On Fire Open 2022
Women's Draw
16 - 20 Feb
Washington DC, USA, $50k |
ROUND TWO
17 FEB |
QUARTERS
18 FEB |
SEMIS
19 FEB |
FINAL
20 FEB |
|
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
15-13, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5 (43m)
[9/16] Farida Mohamed (EGY) |
Nour El Sherbini
11-5, 11-1, 11-6 (25m)
Nele Gilis |
Nour El Sherbini
11-7, 5-11, 12-10, 11-8 (42m)
Nour El Tayeb
|
Nour El Sherbini
6-11, 11-8, 16-14,
13-11 (55m)
Joelle King |
[5] Nele Gilis (BEL)
8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (69m)
[9/16] Tinne Gilis (BEL) |
[9/16] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)
5-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7 (45m)
[8] Danielle Letourneau (CAN) |
Sivasangari Subramaniam
9-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-4 (46m)
Nour El Tayeb |
[3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (29m)
[9/16] Nada Abbas (EGY) |
[9/16] Sabrina Sobhy (USA)
11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (35m)
[4] Olivia Fiechter (USA) |
Sabrina Sobhy
11-9, 12-10, 11-9 (30m)Rachel Arnold |
Sabrina Sobhy
11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 11-3 (35m)
Joelle King
|
Rachel Arnold (MAS)
9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9 (34m)
[7] Hollie Naughton (CAN) |
[9/16] Lucy Turmel (ENG)
11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-4 (54m)
[6] Nadine Shahin (EGY) |
Lucy Turmel
11-7, 11-8, 11-8 (38m)
Joelle King |
Aifa Azman (MAS)
11-8, 11-6, 13-11 (30m)
[2] Joelle King (NZL) |
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bye
[9/16] Farida Mohamed (EGY) bt Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG) 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 (23m)
[9/16] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) 11-4, 3-11, 12-10, 9-11,
11-5 (38m)
[5] Nele Gilis (BEL) bye
[8] Danielle Letourneau (CAN) bye
[9/16] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt [WC] Ineta Mackevica (LAT) 11-3,
11-8, 16-14 (26m)
[9/16] Nada Abbas (EGY) bt Anna Serme (CZE) 11-5, 11-4, 11-7 (27m)
[3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bye
[4] Olivia Fiechter (USA) bye
[9/16] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt Tze Lok Ho (HKG) 12-10, 11-9, 13-11 (37m)
Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt [9/16] Donna Lobban (AUS) 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 (22m)
[7] Hollie Naughton (CAN) bye
[6] Nadine Shahin (EGY) bye
[9/16] Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt Énora Villard (FRA) 11-4, 11-7, 11-8 (29m)
Aifa Azman (MAS) bt [9/16] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 (31m)
[2] Joelle King (NZL) bye |
ElShorbagy Targeting Return to World No.1 After Squash
On Fire Open Title
Former World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy crowned his return to the PSA World
Tour with a scintillating performance to capture the Squash On Fire Open
title in Washington DC, while Nour El Sherbini came from behind to win
her first tournament of the year.
After spending four months away from the Tour, there were concerns that
No.1 seed ElShorbagy could be rusty against Joel Makin in his first
final since September’s Egyptian Open.
Whilst there were some nervous moments for the 31-year-old earlier in
the tournament, today ElShorbagy looked imperious.
Accurate, calculating, and possessing legendary power, ElShorbagy blew
World No.8 Makin away in the second half of the first game, quickly
moving from a narrow 5-4 lead to take a commanding 11-5 win.
Makin recovered well in the second game and kept the Egyptian within
reach with his typical drive and energy, and at 9-9 the crucial second
game was there for the taking for both men. Despite the best efforts of
Makin, who threw himself across the court in a desperate attempt to keep
the rally, and his scoring momentum, alive, he could only watch,
marooned, as ElShorbagy smashed a winner before wrapping up the
31-minute game 11-9.
Buoyed by this morale-raising win, ElShorbagy continued to attack in the
third game and, although the Welshman was able to save one championship
ball, he could do little to prevent the resurgent ‘Beast’ from seeing
out the match with an 11-8 victory.
After the match, ElShorbagy said that he had come to Squash On Fire
looking to make a statement and that he was ready to try to reclaim his
World No.1 crown.
“I'm really proud of how I performed here. It's been a good week for me
to win like this. I wanted to try and win three love as well, to send a
message that I'm trying to come back again. I'm definitely going for the
number one spot. I want to go for it for another time in my career. I
know I have it in me. I know I can do it.”
He added: “To be out for four months and come back in your first event,
I definitely didn't feel comfortable at the beginning of the tournament,
losing the first game.
“I would say it was my best performance of the tournament, because I had
to raise my level. If I played Joel in the semis, I would have probably
have had to raise my level the same way.”
In the women’s final, World No.1 El Sherbini survived a scare from New
Zealand’s No.2 seed Joelle King to record a comeback victory.
Ahead of today’s match, El Sherbini boasted a 12-1 record against King,
with the Kiwi’s last win coming in the first round of the 2012 U.S.
Open.
If King was intimidated by this record, she certainly didn’t show it on
court. The 33-year-old came flying out, taking eight unanswered points
after falling behind on the way to an 11-6 win.
While El Sherbini still didn’t look her best in the second game, there
was a marked improvement on the first, and the Egyptian began to show
more of her old accuracy in an 11-8 win.
With the scores level, both players went all out in an 18-minute third
game. In a nail-biting finish, both players had game ball, before
eventually El Sherbini took advantage to claim a 16-14 win.
King battled hard in the fourth, and drew applause from the crowd when
she saved two championship balls with the scores at 10-8 to have a game
ball of her own at 11-10. King, though, was unable to convert as El
Sherbini fired back to take the game 13-11 and the match 3-1.
After the match, El Sherbini said: “I'm feeling really good after a
tough match, Joelle played really, really good. She surprised me a
little bit, I think she was playing very good squash today. I think I
wasn't 100 percent focused on my game plan and then was up and down the
whole match, but I'm happier now that I won.”
“I just tried to relax a bit [after losing the first game]. I tried to
think of what I'm supposed to do and find my myself more I tried just to
place myself and be ready for all her shots and to change it a bit in my
game plan.
“Today is the only day I can celebrate and then I need to try to forget
this week and focus on the next week [for the Windy City Open, which
begins 23 February]. So a small celebration today and then I'll try to
regroup and focus for next week.”
Visit the official website of the PSA World Tour or follow events
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Hope Over at Squash On Fire Open
Hopes of a home winner at Washington DC’s Squash On Fire Open were
doused in today’s semi finals, after the USA’s last remaining
representative, Sabrina Sobhy, lost to No.2 seed Joelle King.
Sobhy had captured the imagination of the crowd by beating Tze Lok Ho,
No.4 seed Olivia Fiechter and Rachel Arnold with a combination of speed
and accuracy to reach her first Bronze semi final.
Today, however, against the experienced King, proved one match too far
for the 25-year-old, who was the last remaining unseeded player in
either draw.
World No.6 King dominated early proceedings with her typical accuracy,
settling more quickly than Sobhy and finding her rhythm on the way to an
11-5 win in the first game and an 11-4 win in the second.
To the crowd’s delight, Sobhy was able to find a foothold in the match
as an improved performance in the third game was rewarded with an 11-9
win.
King, though, quickly refocused and stormed out in the last game to wrap
up the match with an 11-3 win.
After the match, King said: “I'm definitely pleased with that
performance. Sabrina and I have had some tough, tough battles over the
years. So I'm just happy with the way I was able to close out the match.
“I think, in the third game, I became a bit rattled, she came back at me
and tried to find a way to get back into the match, which she did. But I
was really pleased with the way I finished the fourth.”
King will face World No.1 Nour El Sherbini in the final after the top
seed survived a spirited challenge from an improving Nour El Tayeb.
El Tayeb, who was playing in only her second tournament since the 2020
Egyptian Open after giving birth last summer, lost to El Sherbini 3-0
when the pair played last December. Today, though, the former World No.3
looked considerably sharper.
After El Sherbini took the first game 11-7, the No.3 seed fired back
with an excellent range of shots to take the second game 11-5.
With the scoreline level, the third game was always likely to be crucial
psychologically, and both players pushed themselves to the limits to
secure the advantage.
In a game that ebbed and flowed, El Sherbini took a 5-2 lead, only to be
pegged back to 7-7. Both players then traded points and with the scores
at 10-10, the game was anyone’s to win.
As she so often does at crucial moments, it was El Sherbini who kept her
cool, taking the third game 12-10 before finishing the match with an
11-8 win in the fourth game.
Afterwards, El Sherbini paid tribute to her compatriot Tayeb’s improving
form: “It's amazing to see Nour play like this again. It's the second
tournament for her, and the second time in two months we've played each
other and this time she improved on the last time we played.
“I'm really happy to see her play and I'm really happy that we're having
these kinds of battles again and I hope she keeps going and we can play
more matches like this.”
In the men’s draw, Joel Makin and Mohamed ElShorbagy will compete for
their first title of the year after overcoming Youssef Soliman and Iker
Pajares Bernabeu, respectively.
No.2 seed Makin’s match against the No.4 seed was an at times fractious
affair, with both players competing fiercely over every inch of space.
Makin initially looked to be cruising into the final after taking the
first two games 11-8 and 11-5. However, a more focused Soliman struck
back in the third, eventually winning the 26-minute slog 14-12 after
going match ball down at 11-10.
The Golden Tiger, however, promptly shut down any hopes of a comeback
when he came roaring out in the fourth game, taking the first seven
points on his way to an 11-6 win, to finally bring 80 minutes of intense
squash to an end.
Makin said after the match: “We had a few [exchanges] during the match
about understanding each other's lines properly. It's a good side of the
game, that, understanding where each other are coming from.”
Makin’s final opponent, top seed ElShorbagy, may go into his final
feeling bittersweet, after what was looking to be an entertaining match
was curtailed by an injury to Pajares Bernabeu.
The No.7 seed had severely tested ElShorbagy in the first game, going
toe-to-toe with The Beast in a narrow 13-11 defeat, before an injury
suffered during the second forced him to withdraw.
After the Spaniard was applauded off by the crowd, ElShorbagy said:
“That’s only the second time my career my opponent has retired, even
though I have been on tour for so many years. I definitely don’t want to
go through like that.
"I told him after the match that he was a beast. He showed his character
and showed how tough he is. I think he has a lot of potential to do
really well in the future.”
The finals of the Squash On Fire Open begin tomorrow at 13:30 (GMT-5),
with action being broadcast LIVE via the SQUASHTV Lite kit on SQUASHTV
You can also keep up to date with all the live scores from the
tournament here..
For more information on the tournament, as well as the option of buying
tickets, visit the
Squash On Fire site.
Visit the official website of the PSA World Tour or follow events
on Twitter or Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
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Nour El Tayeb in thrilling quarter final comeback at
Squash On Fire Open
Nour El Tayeb staged a spectacular comeback at the Squash On Fire Open
to reach her first semi final since returning to the PSA World Tour.
El Tayeb, playing in only her second tournament since the 2020 Egyptian
Open after giving birth last summer, found herself in hot water after
going two games down against an energised Sivasangari Subramaniam.
The Egyptian, though, while still not back to her devastating best, was
able to force her way back into the match with a hard-fought 11-6 win in
the third game.
After El Tayeb raced into a 6-1 lead in the fourth game, Subramaniam
threw everything at her opponent in an attempt to finish the match
before a fifth.
This charge from the Malaysian initially rattled the No.3 seed, and with
the scores level at 9-9 the game, and match, felt on a knife edge.
Eventually, though, it was El Tayeb who held her nerve and the former
World No.3 levelled the tie with an 11-9 win, which she followed up with
a swift 11-4 fifth-game victory against an exhausted Subramaniam to
complete the comeback.
Speaking after the match, El Tayeb, who will face World No.1 Nour El
Sherbini in the semi final, said: “I’m happy to come back, and literally
in the match! I'm taking it one point at a time and trying to do my best
every point.
“This is my mindset since I've come back on tour, and I think it helped
me a lot today that at 2-0 down I didn't think I was out of the
tournament.
“I can’t say I'm back to form, I can see a lot of areas where I'm not
back to where I was, but I think I'm improving at a very nice pace, and
I'm enjoying the improvements.
“I didn't think, coming into this tournament, that I was going to win
two matches, to be honest. But to be in the semis of a Bronze event, I'm
very proud of myself.”
El Tayeb’s wasn’t the only comeback story today in Washington DC, with
the USA’s Sabrina Sobhy reaching her first PSA Bronze semi final
courtesy of a remarkable performance against Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold.
Despite the 3-0 scoreline, this match was anything but a simple affair
for the World No.24.
Although she trailed in all three games, Sobhy was able to repeatedly
escape danger and get back into the match. Having already recovered from
5-1 down to claim the first game, Sobhy then stunned Arnold when she
saved three game balls to snatch the second game 12-10.
Once again Sobhy found herself behind as the match entered a third game,
and once again she fought back. Even after Arnold had opened up another
5-1 lead, Sobhy was able to reel her in, going on a scoring blitz that
has become her trademark here in the US capital to secure the match with
an 11-9 win.
Sobhy will face New Zealand’s No.2 seed Joelle King in the semi final,
after the World No.6 beat England’s Lucy Turmel in straight games.
Speaking after her match, Sobhy said: “I'm still processing this match
to be honest. I really felt like I was scrambling on the edge a little
bit throughout the entire match. So just having that finish, I’m a
little bit taken aback, in awe, very surprised, happy and excited!
“It's a lot of emotions at once and it's kind of hard to digest right
now. But I'm thrilled. It's a huge accomplishment and achievement so
far. I'm just really looking forward to keeping going in DC.”
Elsewhere, former World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy continued his resurgence
with a powerhouse performance against Egyptian compatriot Omar Mosaad.
ElShorbagy had looked at times vulnerable in his second-round tie
against Patrick Rooney, but today produced the sort of commanding
performance for which he is famed.
 E
lShorbagy took the first game 11-5 before coming from 9-5 down in the
second to win 11-9. The increasingly confident-looking top seed carried
this momentum through to the third, drawing great applause from the
crowd with a powerful strike to end the game 11-7 and the match 3-0.
“Omar is someone I looked up all the way through my junior career,”
ElShorbagy said afterwards.
He added: “If you give him any opening he's going to take it and that’s
what happened in the second game when I lost focus for a few seconds and
found myself five down. We haven't played in so many years, so it's
great to be back on court one more time with him.
“I really want to win here. I'm playing every single point to try and
win. Any of the top guys have to always find ways to win even when
they're not at their best and I'm definitely feeling much sharper than
yesterday.”
In the day’s other matches, Egypt’s No.4 seed Youssef Soliman reached
his maiden Bronze semi final after a straight-game victory over Mexico’s
No.8 seed Cesar Salazar, Joel Makin continued his impressive form with a
3-1 victory over James Willstrop, El Sherbini breezed past No.5 seed
Nele Gilis 3-0, and Iker Pajares Bernabeu beat Greg Lobban 3-1.
Play at the Squash On Fire Open resumes tomorrow at 13:00 (GMT-5), with
action being broadcast LIVE via the SQUASHTV Lite kit, on |
ElShorbagy Returns and Seeds Tumble on Squash On Fire Day Two
Former World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy made his long-awaited return and
five seeded players crashed out before the quarter finals on a day of
surprises at the Squash On Fire Open.
Squash fans had been eagerly awaiting the return of ElShorbagy, who has
not played on the PSA World Tour since a second round defeat at the
QTerminals Qatar Classic in October of last year.
Early on inside the Squash On Fire club, which sits above an active fire
station, there were alarm bells ringing for the ElShorbagy comeback when
England’s World No.28 Patrick Rooney earned a shock one-game lead on the
back of his impressive power at the front.
The top seed would have been under no illusions as to the challenge
ahead of him, having seen four seeded players crash out before his
match.
Rooney’s early momentum was soon extinguished, though, as The Beast
roared back in the second game, wowing the crowd with the speed of his
reactions and his immaculate positioning to level the tie with an 11-8
victory.
In an epic third game in which both players had opportunities to win, it
was ElShorbagy who was eventually able to break through, with the
Egyptian taking the game 15-13.
Although Rooney continued to fight hard in the fourth, ElShorbagy was
able to keep him at arm’s length and close out the tie in 57 minutes
with an 11-8 win, to set up a quarter final match with No.6 seed Omar
Mosaad.
After the match, ElShorbagy said: “I felt really burned out at the end
of last season, from all the years. And I felt like I need to step away
a little bit and tell myself to take a step away and give myself a
break, to rethink what I need to do what I need to work on.
“I'm really happy to be back again, happy to be part of battles, battles
like I had today, and I’m just really glad to be back in the tournament
mode again.
“When I was down, I had to tell myself that I need to find a way, in
situations like this, to win and I had to turn the match into a bit of a
dogfight.”
While ElShorbagy may have avoided an upset, other favourites were not so
fortunate.
Sabrina Sobhy got the day’s play off to a thrilling start when she
knocked out No.4 seed and American compatriot Olivia Fiechter in three
games to proceed to a quarter final against Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold.
In her first round match against Hong Kong’s Tze Lok Ho, it was Sobhy’s
astonishing speed that proved the 25-year-old’s most effective weapon.
Today, though, she combined this with improved accuracy to take the
first two games 11-9 and 11-7 to leave herself in a commanding position
and Fiechter stunned.
Fiechter initially appeared to have found her rhythm at the beginning of
the third game and took the first two points. However, Sobhy quickly
rallied to devastating effect, taking nine of the game’s next ten
points, before eventually securing an 11-7 win.
“It's a big win as Olivia has done so well in the past year or so, she’s
shot up in the rankings and has just been playing some outrageous squash
with some really great victories. So just to have the opportunity to
play against her, and to have a good performance against her as well, it
really does mean a lot to me,” Sobhy said after the match.
In the day’s final match, Greg Lobban shocked Men’s No.3 seed Eain Yow
Ng, following defeats to Women’s No.6 seed Nadine Shahin, No.7 seed
Hollie Naughton, and No.8 seed Danielle Letourneau earlier in the day.
World No.40 Lobban took a battling first game 11-6, before stunning an
increasingly frustrated Eain Yow 11-1 in the second.
Although the Malaysian regained his composure in the third game, he
struggled to trouble the confident-looking Lobban, with the Scot able to
control the majority of proceedings on his way to an 11-6 win.
After the match, Lobban said: “I’m really delighted as I've not had many
performances like that in the last two years and I’d started to think:
‘Was I ever going to have one of them again?’ Everything just felt good
tonight. I've been working really hard with Paul Price and getting into
the zone like that. I felt in control, I felt really good. It's been a
long time coming, but maybe it's made it sweeter that it took so long.
Elsewhere, Women’s World No.1 Nour El Sherbini saw off Egyptian
compatriot Farida Mohamed in a stop-start encounter, Nele Gilis came
from behind to beat sister Tinne, and hopes of a male home winner were
ended by Todd Harrity’s 3-0 defeat to Mosaad.
Play at the Squash On Fire Open resumes tomorrow at 11:00 (GMT-5), with
action being broadcast LIVE from both courts via the SQUASHTV Lite kit, |
Mixed Fortunes For Home Hopes As Squash On Fire Open
Begins
The USA’s Sabrina Sobhy (above) and Todd Harrity progressed to the
second round of the Squash On Fire Open, while US Men’s No.1 Shahjahan
Khan endured more torment at the hands of Nathan Lake, on an
entertaining opening day in Washington DC.
World No.24 Sobhy, younger sister of World No.4 Amanda and a 2021 Squash
On Fire Open semi-finalist, got the day’s play off to a perfect start
for the home crowd when she downed Hong Kong’s Tze Lok Ho 3-0. While the
match was a more even affair than the scoreline suggests, the
25-year-old American was deserving of the win, fully utilising her
impressive pace to cover the entire court and keep Ho guessing.
Sobhy fought her way through two tight first games, claiming 12-10 and
11-9 wins to leave herself in a commanding position. The match appeared
to be heading into a fourth game when Ho went 8-2 up in the third, only
for a scoring blitz from ‘The Roadrunner’ to snatch the match in
straight games with a 13-11 win to set up an all-American clash with
No.4 seed Olivia Fiechter in the second round.
Speaking after the match, Sobhy said: “I'm feeling very pleased that I
got through. We’ve never played before, or not since under 19s. It was
difficult to have an 11am start and be the first match of the
tournament, which is a new experience for me, so I'm just lucky I don't
have to deal with long jet-lag or anything. I'm honestly just pleased to
get through to the second round.”
On playing in front of a home crowd, she added: “It’s very comforting
knowing that I don’t have a very far travel to go, it just takes the
pressure off. There’s a lot of pressure if you spend money on a flight
to Cairo and then end up losing in 25 minutes in the first round, so it
takes the pressure off when you know you’re only a couple of hours away
from Philadelphia.”
Todd Harrity
Meanwhile, in the day’s final game on the glass court, World No.34
Harrity overcame a spirited second game charge from France’s Sebastien
Bonmalais to ensure that the US would have representation in both draws
tomorrow, after US No.1 Shahjahan Khan suffered his fourth defeat in two
months to England’s Nathan Lake. Harrity, 31, had looked the sharper of
the pair in the first game, before an epic duel in the second wowed the
crowd.
Both players led on seven occasions in a helter skelter second game,
with thrilling rallies at the front of the court dazzling the fans.
Eventually, though, Harrity was able to break the deadlock, coming from
12-11 down to claim the game 14-12, much to the delight of the raucous
home support.
The toil, emotional as much as physical, seemed to take its toll on
Bonmalais in the third game, which Harrity was able to close out 11-4 to
set up a second round match against Omar Mosaad.
Afterwards, Harrity said: “That second game was very important for me.
It was very close and touch and go. At the end I felt I was getting
tired, but I could feel he was getting tired, too and it was a good
thing I won the first game because that gave me energy to push.”
On the Squash On Fire venue, he said: “It’s a great venue, a great
court, and it’s great to be in DC. I have friends and family here who
can come and watch. I have great memories of here, I won a national
title here so I felt really confident today because I love playing in
this venue.
“The crowd definitely helped me today. In the second game, I could hear
my friends cheering and that really helps. It makes a big difference to
have the crowd for you, rather than playing against a crowd, and I hope
they cheer for me again tomorrow.”
Tsz Fung Yip
Outside of the American contingent, the biggest cheers of the day went
to wildcards Ineta Mackevica and Karan Malik, both of whom coach at
Squash On Fire. There was to be no fairytale for either player, though,
with Latvia’s World No.43 Mackevica losing 3-0 to Malaysia’s Sivasangari
Subramaniam and India’s World No.577 Karan Malik going down by the same
scoreline to Scottish World No.40 Greg Lobban.
There was some joy for the wildcards, though, with the day’s biggest
upset coming in the day’s second match on the side court, where Hong
Kong’s wildcard Tsz Fung Yip beat Egypt’s Moustafa El Sirty 3-0 in just
25 minutes to earn a second-round matchup with Mexico’s No.8 seed Cesar
Salazar.
Play at the Squash On Fire Open resumes tomorrow at 11:00 (GMT-5), with
action being broadcast LIVE from both courts via the SQUASHTV Lite kit,
on SQUASHTV
You can also keep up to date with all the live scores from the
tournament here..
For more information on the tournament, as well as the option of buying
tickets, visit the
Squash On Fire site.
Visit the official website of the PSA World Tour or follow events
on Twitter or Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
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Preview
Hany And Elaraby Withdraw From Squash On Fire Open
The Egyptian duo of World No.7 Salma Hany and World No.9 Rowan Elaraby
have withdrawn from the upcoming Squash On Fire Open, which will take
place in Washington, D.C. from February 16-20.
The pair, who both sit inside the top ten of the World Rankings, have
pulled out of the PSA World Tour Bronze level due to COVID. A family
member of Hany’s has tested positive, with the World No.7 showing
symptoms over the last few days.
Meanwhile, World No.9 Elaraby tested positive for COVID a few weeks ago,
and has not fully recovered in time to play in Washington, D.C. next
week.
Both players were inside the top four seeds for the Squash On Fire Open
draw, so there have been a string of movements in the women’s draw for
the event with their withdrawals.
Nour El Tayeb and Olivia Fiechter now received first round byes as the
new No.3 and No.4 seeds, with the Canadian duo of Hollie Naughton and
Danielle Letourneau moving into the top eight seeds, and also receiving
a bye through to the second round of the tournament.
Australia’s Donna Lobban replaces Naughton in the 9/16 seeding bracket
and will now face Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold, with Tze Lok Ho coming into
the draw. The Hong Kong No.1 will meet USA’a Sabrina Sobhy in the first
round.
England’s Jasmine Hutton takes Letourneau’s place in the 9/16 bracket,
and she will now face Malaysia’s Aifa Azman on the opening day. Liu
Tsz-Ling comes into the draw to take Hutton’s spot in the opening round,
where she will face Egypt’s Farida Mohamed. |
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Visit the official website of the PSA World Tour or follow events
on Twitter or Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. |
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