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Reports
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All photos copyright Patricia Lyons Photography
Ashour Outlasts Matthew In North American Open Final
 In,
fittingly, the longest match of the tournament, Egypt's Ramy Ashour
ultimately prevailed in the Davenport North American Open by beating
Englishman Nick Matthew in the 91-minute, five-game final of the $93,000
PSA Super Series Silver squash event at the University of
Richmond in Virginia.
Ashour, the 21-year-old
third seed in his first final since winning the World Open title last
October in England, took the first two games in this scintillating climax - and
led 5-3 and 9-8 in the third.
But Matthew, the eighth
seed from Sheffield who is returning to the top flight after shoulder surgery
last year, maintained his focus to win the game - then led throughout the fourth
to level the match.
It was nip and tuck in the
decider - with never more than two points separating the pair until the last
point of the match when another Ashour drop landed just beyond the outstretched
Englishman to give Ashour the title in an 11-8, 13-11, 10-12, 5-11, 11-8
scoreline.
At the presentation
ceremony, Ashour thanked his opponent and joked that he never thought the match
would go so long.
"I’m really happy winning
this match. I think I’m back on track and have my confidence back," added the
21-year-old from Cairo who now boasts 11 PSA Tour titles, of which seven are
Super Series crowns!
The runner-up, celebrating
his third successive appearance in a Tour final, added: "It was great that
everyone got behind both of us. Thank you very much for your support, it made
it a pleasure to play."
Matthew & Ashour Survive Marathon Semis To Make Richmond Final
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 Egypt's Ramy Ashour
(left) and Englishman Nick Matthew staged stunning
upsets over higher-ranked opponents in the semi-finals of the Davenport North
American Open to reach the climax of the $93,000 PSA Super Series Silver
squash event at the University of Richmond in Virginia.
In
the first semi, third seed Ashour came back from 1-6 down in the fifth game to
upend the tournament's top seed, his fellow countryman Karim Darwish,
8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7 in 74 minutes.
Said
a breathless Ashour afterwards: "After all this running, I can hardly talk. At
times I lost my concentration. It's not always easy to keep my focus on the
court."
The
decider was really a tale of two games. Darwish, the world number one,
maintained the momentum from his fourth game win at the outset, racing out in
front 6-1. But the 27-year-old from Cairo's movement seemed hampered from that
point on - the accumulation of too many long rallies and fully-stretched lunges
for Ashour's clever boasts and drops.
The
younger Egyptian's legs helped Ashour win nine consecutive points to get to 10-6
up - a point away from the win.
But
Darwish won the next point to get to within 7-10 when Ashour, the 21-year-old
world No4, dumped a forehand volley in the tin - before then winning the final
point with a forehand drive that Darwish had no answer for.
The
victory takes Ashour into the 17th PSA Tour final of his career - but the first
since October when he beat Darwish to win the World Open title, for the
first time, in England.
"I
was actually thinking a bit about Manchester," added the former world junior
champion from Cairo afterwards. "I lost against him last year on this court (in
the quarter-finals). I can’t really analyse how it happens on the court — I
just do it!"
 The
other semi-final provided sweet revenge for England's Nick Matthew,
(right) who avenged
his January loss to France's Gregory Gaultier in the final of the
Tournament of Champions with a 14-12, 11-9, 6-11, 11-3 win after 83 minutes
of high-calibre squash.
"The
first game was so tough," said eighth seed Matthew of the 32-minute opener that
firmly established the fact that he was intent on making life difficult for
Frenchman Gaultier, the fourth seed who bounced back in the third game before
being distracted by an ongoing dialogue with the referee.
"Greg
had a few errors that I’m sure he wasn’t happy about. I had to stay focused the
whole time," added Matthew, the former world No5 from Sheffield who is returning
to the top flight after shoulder surgery last year.
Matthew will be contesting his third consecutive Tour final - a streak that
includes not only victory in the Swedish Open in February, but later also
in the British Nationals.
Matthew leads the head-to-head with the Egyptian 3-2 and has won their last two
meetings. But the 28-year-old is far from overconfident looking ahead to
Saturday's final. "Ramy’s an incredible player. He plays fantastic shots you
don’t even see sometimes."
Matthew Makes Richmond Semis
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The recurrence of a knee
injury sustained earlier in the year led second seed Amr Shabana to
concede midway through his quarter-final match in the Davenport North
American Open – leaving England’s Nick Matthew to secure an
unexpected place in the last four of the $93,000 PSA Super Series Silver
squash event at the University of Richmond in Virginia.
"Clearly, Amr's not the
type of guy to pull out unless something's really wrong," said eighth seed
Matthew after his 11-9, 11-7, 5-3 victory in 41 minutes.
"We're all striving to be
like him... he's won three world championships. I'd give anything to have one of
those,” added the 28-year-old from Sheffield who is returning to the top flight
after shoulder surgery last year.
Shabana, the world No2
from Egypt, injured his left knee two months ago during the Tournament of
Champions in New York - and said afterwards that he still isn't feeling 100%
and didn't want to risk incurring further injury, so decided to abandon the
match.
 In a repeat of the New
York event final, Matthew will take on ToC champion Gregory Gaultier
after the in-form Frenchman steamrolled his good friend Wael El Hindi
(left)11-5, 11-8, 11-1 in 49 minutes.
"It gave me a lot of
confidence, winning the Tournament of Champions,” said Gaultier afterwards. “I
had 10 hard days of preparation afterwards and I'm playing well again. I had to
be really sharp in the front of the court and volley as much as possible tonight
against Wael."
The
other semi-final will be an all-Egyptian affair between favourite Karim
Darwish, the world number one, and third seed Ramy Ashour,
(right) the
reigning World Open champion.
Darwish is through to the
last four after trouncing former world No1 David Palmer 11-4, 11-5, 11-7
in 45 minutes. The Australian looked to be getting back into the match early in
the second game, leading 5-3, but the 27-year-old Egyptian ran off eight
consecutive points to race out to a 2-0 lead - then methodically wore down
Palmer in the third game to close out the match.
Palmer was playing with a
wrap on his right knee after sustaining a cut in his win yesterday over
Saurav Ghosal of India.
Ashour
enjoyed a reasonably pedestrian 11-8, 11-4, 11-9 quarter-final win in 36 minutes
over sixth seed Thierry Lincou. (left) Ashour's blazing court speed and
lightning-quick hands were the primary instruments of the Frenchman's demise.
"I didn't think about
anything at all out there," said Ashour. "No matter if I was feeling tired I
just tried to keep pushing my hardest and be keen about every shot."
Ashour and Darwish
contested last year’s World Open final in England. "It's tough to play
him but I'll do my best against him," said the 21-year-old from Cairo.
Top Two Seeds Suffer Second Round Struggles In Virginia
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The top two seeds were
stretched in the second round of the Davenport North
American Open before anticipated finalists Karim Darwish and Amr
Shabana (right) took their places in the quarter-finals of the $93,000
PSA Super Series Silver squash event at the University of Richmond
in Virginia.
Second seed Shabana, the
Egyptian who held the world number one ranking for 33 months before compatriot
Darwish wrested it from him in January, found himself 1/2 down in his first ever
match against Englishman Daryl Selby, the 13th seed.
But Selby, the
rapidly-improving 26-year-old from Essex who was ranked outside the top 40 when
his opponent first became world number one, was unable to maintain his
dominance. Shabana found his stride in the last two games and, after 71
minutes, clinched his 11-9, 6-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-5 victory.
 The
29-year-old from Giza will now face another English opponent Nick Matthew,
(left) the in-form eighth seed. Matthew, the former world No5 returning to the
top flight after shoulder surgery last year, despatched fast-improving
compatriot Tom Richards 11-8, 11-4, 11-5.
Darwish will now face
fifth seed David Palmer, the reigning British Open champion and a
two-time World Open champion. The veteran Aussie found his groove after
a testing opening game against Saurav Ghosal, the 15th seed from India -
but was kept on court for 54 minutes before claiming his 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 win.
Palmer is the only
Australian left in the tournament after fellow New South Welshman Cameron
Pilley failed to upset fourth-seeded Frenchman Gregory Gaultier. Pilley
pushed Gaultier all the way but was unable to win the crucial points as the
Frenchman emerged an 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 victor.
Gaultier, a finalist in his last three PSA Tour events and
winner of the Tournament of Champions in New York in January, will be
hoping to prevent an all-Egyptian semi-final line-up when he takes on No7 seed
Wael El Hindi in the next round.
Coppinger Tests Ashour In North American Opener
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 World
champion Ramy Ashour (left Black Shorts) was severely tested in the Davenport North
American Open as unseeded South African Stephen Coppinger (Left in
white) came within
points of taking a two-game lead over the third-seeded Egyptian in the first
round of the $93,000 PSA Super Series Silver squash event at the
University of Richmond in Virginia.
The 21-year-old world No4
from Cairo found his form late in the second game and went on to beat Coppinger,
a two-time South African national champion, 7-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-6 in 46
minutes.
 Ashour
will be joined in the second round by compatriot Karim Darwish (right)
after the top seed cruised to an 11-6, 11-1, 11-3 win in 23 minutes over
Pakistan qualifier Arshad Iqbal Burki.
World number one Darwish,
who showed no signs of the ankle injury which caused him to concede this month’s
Swedish Open final, will now face 14th seed Renan Lavigne.
The experienced 34-year-old survived an all-French battle with Yann Perrin,
beating the 23-year-old qualifier 11-7, 11-9, 11-5.
Australian David Palmer
shrugged off a chest infection to down Brazilian qualifier Rafael F Alarcon
11-5, 11-0, 11-6 to claim his anticipated place in the last sixteen. The fifth
seed picked up the illness at the Bluenose Classic earlier in the month
in Canada and has been struggling ever since.
“I’m still a little bit
sick at the moment,” said the world number six, who has been on antibiotics for
the past week and was still feeling the effects during matches. “I’ve had a
bronchial infection and I just can’t seem to shake it – I’m having real trouble
breathing on court.”
Palmer will now face
Saurav Ghosal after the 15th seed from India beat Egypt’s
Yasser El Halaby 11-6, 11-5, 11-2.
“He’s very small – I will
tower over him,” said Palmer of his next opponent. “But he’s very fast around
the court. He spends a lot of time in Manchester training, so he’s got an
English type of game, with a bit more flair.”
Richards Outlasts Illingworth In Richmond Marathon
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Englishman Tom Richards caused the only upset on the opening day of
action in the Davenport North American Open when he outlasted US hope
Julian Illingworth, the 16th seed, in a 90-minute first round
match in the $93,000 PSA Super Series Silver squash championship at the
University of Richmond in Virginia.
Just two ranking positions separate the pair – and Illingworth, the US champion
for the past four years, was looking to exploit ‘home advantage’ and take
domestic interest into the last sixteen of this Richmond event for the second
year in a row.
The 25-year-old New Yorker led 2/1 – and, after Richards had drawn level, fought
back from 4-8 in the fifth game to send the match into a tie-break.
But the English underdog, ranked 44 in the world, held his nerve to record a
brave 11-8, 12-14, 8-11, 11-9, 12-10 victory.
 Richards
– now in the last sixteen of a Super Series event for the first time in his 13th
attempt - will now meet fellow countryman Nick Matthew. (left in white
top)
The No8 seed from Sheffield, who beat Irishman Liam Kenny 11-7, 12-10,
11-5 in just 42 minutes, will be facing Richards for the second time this month
after beating the 22-year-old from Surrey en-route to winning the British
National title.
 Second
seed Amr Shabana (right) was triumphant in his first ever match in
Richmond as he fended off the challenge of Jan Koukal, beating the Czech
number one 11-7, 11-8, 12-10. The former world number from Egypt one will be
anxious to make amends for his second round exit in the Tournament of
Champions in New York in January when he faces England’s Daryl Selby
for a place in the quarter-finals.
Selby, the 13th seed from Essex, had only been on court for 14
minutes when Pakistan opponent Khawaja Adil Maqbool, a qualifier, retired
injured with the score standing at 11-0, 11-6.
Pakistanis Power Into North American Open Draw
Pakistanis boasted 100% success in the qualifying finals of the Davenport
North American Open when both Arshad Iqbal Burki and Khawaja Adil
Maqbool secured places in the main draw of the $93,000 PSA Super Series
Silver squash championship - the second Super Series event of the year in
the USA - in Richmond, Virginia.
Burki,
24, from Peshawar, took just eight minutes to earn his place in a Super Series
event for the first time in more than two years when his higher-ranked opponent
Wade Johnstone, from Australia, retired injured with the score standing
at 11-4, 7-2.
The
lowest-ranked qualifier in the event is unlikely to find the next round as
straightforward: Burki now faces top seed Karim Darwish, the world
number one from Egypt!
Dubai-based Khawaja Adil Maqbool defeated Joshua Greenfield – one of
three New Zealanders to exit at the qualifying finals stage - 11-6, 11-8, 11-3.
The 20-year-old takes on England’s Daryl Selby, the 13th seed,
in the first round.
North
American interest in the event will also be boosted by two Canadians who
prevailed in the final qualifying round – both in 72 minutes! Robin Clarke
recovered from a game down to beat US opponent Christopher Gordon 5-11,
11-8, 12-10, 11-6, while David Phillips came from two games down to
overcome Australian Bradley Hindle 9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-5.
The
second Super Series event of the year has attracted a world-class field led by
the top four players in the world rankings – though England’s world No5 James
Willstrop, winner of the Virginia Pro Championship in Richmond a year
ago, was forced to withdraw with a virus illness.
Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, the world No3 who won the first Super Series
event of the year at the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York in
January, heads the Dunlop PSA Super Series Rankings and will be keen to
build on his lead in Richmond. The third seed faces Zambian Patrick Chifunda
in the first round and is expected to meet second seed Amr Shabana, the
former world number one from Egypt, in the semi-finals.
Nick Matthew,
the Tournament of Champions runner-up who heads the English assault in Virginia,
will also be keen to make up for missing out on qualification for this year’s
ATCO Super Series Finals after spending most of last year recovering from
shoulder surgery. The world No9 from Sheffield, currently in second place in
the SS rankings, faces Irishman Liam Kenny in the opening round.
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