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14/09/2015
AJ Bell British Grand Prix 2015

  AJ Bell British Grand Prix 2015
09-14 Sep, Manchester, UK, $70k
Round One
11 Sep
Quarters
12 Sep
Semis
13 Sep
Final
14 Sep
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY)
11-4, 11-7, 11-7 (32m)
[wc] Richie Fallows (ENG)
Mohamed Elshorbagy
6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 (54m)
Daryl Selby
Mohamed Elshorbagy
7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8 (95m)
Gregory Gaultier
Mohamed Elshorbagy
11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 11-6 (65m)
Nick Matthew
[7] Daryl Selby (ENG)
11-8, 11-3, 11-9 (46m)
Cameron Pilley (AUS)
[5] Peter Barker (ENG)
11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 11-2 (51m)
[Q] Cesar Salazar (MEX)
Peter Barker
11-4, 11-7, 11-4 (28m)
Gregory Gaultier
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
16-14, 11-7, 11-6 (43m)
[Q] Alan Clyne (SCO)
[Q] Gregoire Marche (FRA)
11-9, 11-8, 11-6 (53m)
[4] Miguel Rodriguez (COL)
Miguel Rodriguez
11-7, 15-13, 4-11, 3-11, 11-3 (86m)
Karim Abdel Gawad
Karim Abdel Gawad
11-7, 11-6, 13-11 (48m)
Nick Matthew
Tom Richards (ENG)
8-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-2 (74m)
[6] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
[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)

All the action will be shown live on SQUASHTV - www.psaworldtour.com/tv
 
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.