[Q] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED)
11-8, 4-11, 11-5, 11-6 (61m)
[8] James Willstrop (ENG)
James Willstrop
11-7, 11-5, 11-7 (45m) Nick Matthew
Chris Simpson (ENG)
11-4, 11-7, 11-6 (45m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG)
AJ Bell British Squash Grand Prix: Manchester, UK click images for a larger view
Elshorbagy
Is British Grand Prix Champion
World
No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy dethroned England’s Nick Matthew 3-1 in the
final of the 2015 AJ Bell British Squash Grand Prix to take the title in
front of a partisan English crowd and collect his 15th PSA World Tour
title - in what was his 100th tournament on tour.
Backing up from an intense 95-minute semi-final encounter against French
World No.3 Gregory Gaultier, the 24-year-old Egyptian showed no signs of
fatigue as he blasted out of the blocks in the opening game to impose
his pace on Matthew and take the opening game 11-7.
The wily 35-year-old veteran fought back in the second, mixing up his
pace and variation to try and upset Elshorbagy’s rhythm, but he couldn’t
convert and fell two-nil behind after a tense tie-break.
The
man from Alexandria, who now resides in Bristol, England, continued to
force the pace in the third but in a back-and-forth game it was Matthew
who managed to squeeze it and keep his hopes of completing a hat-trick
of British Grand Prix victories alive but it proved to be as good as it
got for the Sheffield-man, as Elshorbagy pounced in the fourth game to
secure the title 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 11-6 in 65-minutes.
“Last year at this event it didn’t got well for me, losing in the
quarter-finals, so it’s great to come back here this year and get my
first title of the season,” said Elshorbagy.
“It was a challenge to back-up from yesterday’s big battle against Greg
but those challenges are what I live for. I came out fighting for each
point and I’m glad it turned out to be a great match and a great battle
between us.
“I
expect we’re going to have a lot more battles to come this season but I
know I’ll be coming back next year to defend my title for sure.”
After his defeat Matthew said; “Obviously as a competitor you want to
win but being in the final was more than I expected this week.
“So I’ve got to be over the moon with where I’ve got to. The pace in the
first game took me by surprise but I’ll be a better player both mentally
and physically for the rest of the season because of it.”
Matthew
And Elshorbagy Into British Grand Prix Final
Defending
champion Nick Matthew, the 35-year-old from Sheffield, will take on
24-year-old World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy in the final of the 2015 AJ
Bell British Squash Grand Prix tomorrow after the Egyptian came through
an epic encounter with World No.3 Gregory Gaultier at Manchester’s
National Squash Centre earlier today.
Elshorbagy prevailed 3-2 in a gruelling 95-minute battle with Gaultier,
recording his fifth consecutive win over the charismatic Frenchman, and
will now take on Matthew for the 15th time - with honours even so far
between the duo.
They last met in the semi-finals of the Allam British Open in May when
Elshorbagy triumphed 3-1 over Matthew, whom he cited as ‘past his peak’
ahead of their 2014 World Championship semi-final clash, and he’ll be
hoping to record another win over the man from Sheffield in a
mouth-watering title decider (Monday September 14).
“I
am really happy I am playing another final, my first final here in the
Grand Prix,” said Elshorbagy.
“Another final with Nick and we always have big matches. He probably had
an easier draw than me but if there was a time I could play those tough
matches and be up for it physically, its when I’m 24 years old.
“I have no excuses for tomorrow. I know I’m going to be hopefully fresh
and I’m going to be ready for it and give it my all tomorrow.”
Matthew secured his place in a third consecutive British Grand Prix
final, where he’ll be gunning for a third consecutive title, courtesy of
an assured 3-0 win over Karim Abdel Gawad.
“I think I played really well today,” said Matthew.
“I think I’ve played better each day. Karim offered a different
challenge to my other opponents. I’ve never played him before and with
his silky skills he presented a totally different challenge and I never
felt totally settled.
“I’m looking forward to the final tomorrow and I just feel happy to be
on court and doing justice to myself.”
Matthew
Wins Manchester’s Battle Of Britain While Gawad Gallops Into Semis
Defending
champion Nick Matthew produced an outstanding display to defeat
long-term adversary James Willstrop in the quarter-finals of the AJ Bell
British Grand Prix, PSA M70 tournament taking place at Manchester’s
National Squash Centre and extend his recent dominance over his closest
national rival.
The pair were facing each other for the first time since the 2014
Commonwealth Games final, when Matthew won a dramatic five-game
encounter to claim Gold, but the 35-year-old from Sheffield produced an
emphatic performance in an encounter that treated the capacity crowd in
Manchester to some electric rallies as he downed his 32-year-old rival
11-7, 11-5, 11-7 to record his 19th consecutive win over Willstrop.
“I thought I played really well today,” said Matthew.
“I didn’t really expect to play that well yesterday. I tried to start
well and that’s what I did. There were patches where he got on top of me
because he is a good player. It was always going to be a struggle to
maintain that level and I think I maintained it for more than I did
yesterday, that’s all I can do.
“We’ve not played each other for a while which can be a good thing
because it makes you refocus. But it can also be a bad thing because he
can surprise me with something new. All I really focused on was trying
to impose my game on him from the first point and thankfully I got the
win.”
The
World No.2 now progresses to the semi-final stage where he will face
Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad who produced the shock of the round as he
knocked out World No.4 Miguel Angel Rodriguez in a high class 86-minute
encounter.
“I can only say he [Rodriguez] is one of the best four players in the
world,” said Gawad.
“He is very good and very strong both physically and mentally. Beating
him today is a great achievement. I played well in the first two games
and then he came back.
“I was thinking in the fifth that I had to win. I have been training
really hard so I had to win. I have been eating, sleeping, training all
for this.
“I put all my focus into the fifth and give it everything. I’m playing
with one of the most experienced players on the PSA World Tour tomorrow
against Nick. He’s 35-years-old and has been the World No.1 before so he
has a lot of experience. First I will rest and tomorrow I will try do my
best against a great player like him.”
The
other semi-final will see World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy take on French
World No.3 Gregory Gaultier in a mouth-watering encounter.
Draw - AJ Bell British Squash Grand Prix: Semi-finals
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v [3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
[6] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [2] Nick Matthew (ENG)
Matthew
And Willstrop Set Up Mouth Watering Manchester Showdown
English
pairing Nick Matthew and James Willstrop are set to renew their historic
rivalry during the quarter-finals of the 2015 AJ Bell British Squash
Grand Prix which take place at Manchester’s National Squash Centre.
The duo, who have both previously held the World No.1 ranking, have
maintained an apathetic often acrimonious relationship since first
clashing in 2001 with Willstrop going as far as citing his rival as
‘pretentious and vicious’ during a rivalry that has spanned two decades
and produced some of the most memorable matches in the history of
squash.
Separated by just three years in age and thirty miles geographically in
their home county of Yorkshire the pair will do battle for the first
time since the final of the 2014 Commonwealth Games - when 345-year-old
three time World Champion Matthew consigned his old foe to defeat in
what has been an emphatic recent streak against the 31-year-old.
Matthew
saw off Chris Simpson 3-0 while Willstrop overcame Dutchman Laurens Jan
Anjema 3-1 to set up their last eight encounter.
“I came away with a lot of positives there from that match,” said
Matthew.
“I was expecting to draw on a lot of experience today that but only
really had to in that last game so I'm over the moon. I've had a bit of
an interrupted summer but it came together on the day. I'm enjoying
being healthy then tomorrow it moves on quickly so I've not got much
time to relax.”
Willstrop said: “Its all positive and I'm happy to be playing in a
quarter final against a world class operator in the form of Nick
[Matthew] and it's a big rivalry.
“You never know what's going to happen.”
Elsewhere
World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy eased through his first round opponent,
Wildcard Richie Fallows, to join World No.3 Gregory Gaultier, World No.4
Miguel Angel Rodriguez, Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad and Essex duo Peter
Barker and Daryl Selby in the quarter-finals.
British Grand Prix Main Draw Finalised
The main draw for the 2015 AJ Bell British Squash Grand Prix has been
finalised after Cesar Salazar, Laurens Jan Anjema, Alan Clyne and
Gregoire Marche came through the final round of qualification to book
their berths in the first round of the PSA World Tour M70 event.
Mexican Salazar, the top seeded player in qualification, moved into the
main draw after an hour-long battle with talented French youngster Lucas
Serme, while French number three Marche bettered his countryman - coming
through a monstrous 86-minute encounter with Egypt’s Zahed Mohamed 3-1.
Marche’s powers of recovery will be tested to the max when he takes on
World No.4 Miguel Angel Rodriguez, the Colombian live-wire, in the first
round at the National Squash Centre, Manchester, tomorrow while Salazar
goes up against England number three Peter Barker.
Clyne and Anjema will face Gregory Gaultier and James Willstrop,
respectively, in what promises to be a fascinating day of action, with
every match being played out live and exclusively on SQUASHTV.
