Final:Gregory
Gaultier notched up the 22nd PSA World Tour squash title of
his career at the inaugural Abierto Mexicano de Raquetas - but
the Frenchman's 21-minute victory over world No11 Omar Mosaad in
Mexico was his quickest title triumph on record, by a significant
margin!
The
PSA International 70 championship is the biggest Tour event ever to
be held in Mexico - and was staged in spectacular style on an all-glass
court sited in the Plaza de los Martires in Toluca,
overlooked by the city's historic cathedral.
World
No3 Gaultier reached the final - his third in a row on the Tour - in
stunning form. After arriving in Mexico fresh from victory in the
NetSuite Open in San Francisco - also a PSA International 70 event -
the 29-year-old from Aix-en-Provence conceded just two games en-route to
the Toluca climax.
By
contrast, Egyptian Mosaad was taken to five games in his two previous
matches - first beating No2 seed Karim Darwish in a 64-minute
quarter-final upset, then overcoming German number one Simon Rosner
in a 75-minute semi.
The
experienced Gaultier clearly took full advantage - crushing the tall
24-year-old from Cairo 11-6, 11-8, 11-5 to extend his unbeaten run over
Mosaad to four wins in 30 months.
Over the past 11 years, Gaultier has won PSA Tour titles all over the
globe, from home soil in France through to the USA, Qatar, Pakistan,
Macau and now Mexico. At least ten of his final victories have taken
more than an hour - one recorded at 84 minutes - but his Toluca triumph
is the first achieved in less than half an hour!
Mosaad Ends
Rosner Run In Mexico
Unseeded
Egyptian Omar Mosaad earned an unexpected place in the final of the
Abierto Mexicano de Raquetas - but had to fight back from two games down to
end fellow non-seed Simon Rosner's run in Mexico.
The PSA
World Tour International 70 squash championship is the biggest Tour event
ever to be held in Mexico - and is being staged in spectacular style on an
all-glass court sited in the Plaza de los Martires in Toluca,
overlooked by the city's historic cathedral
World No11
Mosaad claimed his place in the semi-finals after upsetting Cairo compatriot
Karim Darwish, the event's No2 seed.
But it was
German number one Rosner, the new world No16, who had the initial upper hand in
the semi - before Mosaad held his nerve in the next three games to take them all
by a two-point margin to win 9-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 after 75 minutes.
Celebrating
his 19th appearance in a Tour final, Mosaad now faces favourite Gregory
Gaultier.
The world No3
lined up against No4 seed Peter Barker - against whom he boasted a
pre-match 9/2 head-to-head advantage, but to whom he lost in their most recent
clash in the British Open in May.
But Frenchman
Gaultier rapidly notched up his his tenth win - and made amends for his recent
defeat to the Englishman by despatching Barker 11-1, 11-4, 11-1 in 37 minutes to
reach his third successive PSA Tour final in less than four weeks.
Gaultier,
winner of the NetSuite Open in San Francisco two weeks ago, looks to be
in the form of his life - and, never having lost before to Mosaad, should
confidently expect to convert the 48th Tour final of his career into his 22nd
title.
Rosner
Celebrates 'Huge Win' In Mexico
German number
one Simon Rosner celebrated his career-high world No16 ranking this week
by beating top-ranked Spaniard Borja Golan in the quarter-finals of the
Abierto Mexicano de Raquetas in Mexico in a victory he described as a
"huge win".
The PSA
World Tour International 70 squash championship is the biggest Tour event
ever to be held in Mexico - and is being staged in spectacular style on an
all-glass court sited in the Plaza de los Martires in Toluca,
overlooked by the city's historic cathedral
Golan, ranked
two places lower than 24-year-old Rosner, reached the last eight after upsetting
third-seeded Egyptian Amr Shabana in the opening round.
But Rosner is
enjoying the best form of his life and, for the second time in less than two
weeks, beat his European rival 11-7, 5-11, 12-10, 12-10 in 64 minutes.
"Pulled out
another win against Borja tonight!" tweeted the Paderborn star later. "Won 3:1
in a really tight match! Really happy to be in the semis! Huge win!"
Rosner's
opponent in the semi-finals will be Omar Mosaad after the Egyptian pulled
off the night's biggest upset.
The world No11
from Cairo celebrated the first victory over higher-ranked compatriot Karim
Darwish for more than two years when he defeated the No2 seed 9-11, 11-9,
11-6, 2-11, 12-10 in 64 minutes.
It will be
Rosner and Mosaad's first Tour meeting for more than a year - with the Egyptian
holding a 2/0 head-to-head advantage.
The other
semi-final will be the one predicted by the draw - with French favourite
Gregory Gaultier taking on Peter Barker, the No4 seed from England.
Gaultier, the
world No3, beat Egypt's Mohamed El Shorbagy for the fourth time in a row
- but the unseeded 21-year-old extended his higher-ranked opponent for 76
minutes before going down 7-11, 11-5, 13-11, 11-4.
"Lost to Greg
in 4..Had a game ball in the 3rd and could have been 2/1 up!!!" El Shorbagy told
his Twitter followers later. "Again getting closer and closer!! Can't wait for
Hong Kong now!!"
Londoner
Barker took four games to get the better of unseeded Nicolas Mueller,
ultimately beating the top-ranked Swiss player on the PSA Tour 11-8, 7-11, 11-3,
11-6 in 50 minutes.
Gaultier has a
9/2 head-to-head lead over Barker - but in their most recent meeting, in the
British Open in May, it was the Englishman who prevailed to record one of
the best wins of his career.
Seeds Tested
In Toluca
The top two
seeds took their places in the quarter-finals of the Abierto Mexicano de
Raquetas in Mexico - but both were tested in the opening round of the new
PSA World Tour International 70 squash event being staged on an all-glass
court in the Plaza de los Martires in Toluca.
French
favourite Gregory Gaultier was stretched for 72 minutes by qualifier
Saurav Ghosal - and dropped his first game in five Tour meetings with the
Indian number one before coming through 11-1, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9.
"Lost 3-1
tonight...11-9 in the 4th," said Ghosal later on Twitter. "Really disappointed
not to take it to the 5th :( good performance but I so wish I won!"
World number
three Gaultier will now take on Egypt's Mohamed El Shorbagy, the world
No7 who defeated Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema, ranked two places lower,
11-8, 11-9, 11-4 in 34 minutes.
"Really happy
to win in 3 against Anjema!" El Shorbagy tweeted later. "Always tough playing
him but I am glad that I played really well and couldn't have played better!!"
Second seed
Karim Darwish prevailed in straight games - but the world No5 from Egypt was
taken to tie-breaks in two of the games before overcoming Botswana's world No12
Alister Walker 11-5, 12-10, 13-11.
Darwish will
now line up against fellow countryman Omar Mosaad after the tall
24-year-old from Cairo defeated Mexican wildcard Alfredo Avila 11-9,
11-7, 11-6.
But there was
Egyptian disappointment elsewhere in the event when four-time world champion
Amr Shabana was forced to retire injured midway through his match with
Spain's Borja Golan. The No3 seed from Cairo drew level after Golan took
the opening game, but the left-hander shook hands with the Spaniard after the
third to concede the match.
The Spanish
number one will now take on the top-ranked German Simon Rosner. On the
day the 24-year-old from Paderborn celebrated a new career-high world No16
ranking, he faced English qualifier Chris Simpson, who was also
delighting in a best ever ranking of 37.
Simpson took
the opening game and went on to take Rosner the full distance - but the German
star ultimately triumphed 11-13, 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7 after 70 minutes to take
his anticipated place in the last eight round.
Both players
described the game as 'brutal' - Rosner tweeting "Got through a brutal opener
against Chris Simpson 3:2..he played some great Squash-looking forward to
tomorrow's match!!"; while Simpson's Twitter report read: "Another brutal 5
setter, unfortunately I was on the wrong end, went down 11/7 in the 5th to world
no 16 Simon Roesner tonight."
The younger El
Shorbagy brother Marwan El Shorbagy was also in first round action after
coming through the qualifiers. The 19-year-old world junior champion took
England's fourth seed Peter Barker to five games - but the experienced
Londoner ultimately prevailed 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-4.
El Shorbagy
senior was quick to report on the match on Twitter: "My brother just lost to
Peter Barker 3/2!! So happy and proud of him!! Playing such a physical match
in the altitude against a top 8 player!"
Marwan himself
latter added: "Disappointed to lose 3-2 to Peter Barker but satisfied
with my performance! Looking forward to my next tournament next week in Dayton!"
Barker
progresses to face the Swiss number one Nicolas Mueller, an 18-16, 11-5,
7-11, 13-15, 11-3 winner over Finnish qualifier Olli Tuominen.
"Won my match
against the "flying finn" Olli Tuominen in 5 hard fought games," said
Muller on FaceBook. "18/16 first game! Nice to finally win a match again in 5!!
Now I can relax and watch the matches on the show court, as there are some
massive first round matches...."
