2016

Gohar and Sobhy with shocking results at ToC!

A number of surprise results lit up the quarter-final stage of the 2016 Women’s J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions. Egypt’s Nouran Gohar (ri) and USA No.1 Amanda Sobhy catching the eye after they both rose to cause stunning upsets against World No.1 Laura Massaro and England No.2 Alison Waters, respectively.

World No.10 Gohar had lost to Lancashire’s Massaro in all six of the pair’s previous meetings on the PSA World Tour but a virtuoso performance from the young Egyptian saw her end her losing streak with a 10-12, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 11-9 victory and add Massaro’s name to her list of scalps this season, which also includes Malaysian superstar Nicol David and World No.4 Camille Serme. “I’m so, so happy, I can’t feel anything right now,” said Gohar.

Sobhy will meet the Egyptian in the semi-final fixture after she achieved an impressive straight games victory (12-10, 11-3, 11-9) over last year’s runner-up Waters. “It feels great, I’m really relieved that I managed to win in the end,” said a delighted Sobhy.

Results: J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions – Women’s Quarter-Finals
[8] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [3] Laura Massaro (ENG) 10-12, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 11-9 (77m)
[10] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt [6] Alison Waters (ENG) 12-10, 11-3, 11-9 (38m)
[7] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [4] Camille Serme (FRA) 11-4, 11-9, 8-11, 8-11, 11-8 (74m)
[2] Nicol David (MAS) bt [5] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 11-6, 10-12, 10-12, 11-3, 11-5 (56m)

Draw: J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions – Women’s Semi-Finals
[8] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [10] Amanda Sobhy (USA)
[7] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [2] Nicol David (MAS)


Castagnet to meet Elshorbagy in ToC semi!

French No.2 Mathieu Castagnet (ri) overcame former World No.5 Borja Golan in a 72-minute encounter in the quarter-final of the 2016 Men’s J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York’s Grand Central Terminal – reaching the last four of a PSA World Series event for the first time in his career.

Castagnet put in a fine to take the 11-9, 13-11, 11-4 victory to set up a meeting with World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy in the last four. “I can’t believe it. I’m going to try to sleep and think of something else so I can prepare for my match. I need to prepare for the next round and try to reach the final by beating the World No.1,” a delighted Castagnet said after the match.

Defending champion Elshorbagy continued his attempts to retain the ToC crown with a superb 4 games triumph against compatriot Omar Mosaad. The man from Alexandria, playing the day before his 25th birthday, conceded the first game to the older Egyptian to claim a 9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 12-10 victory in 76 minutes. “Omar is a great guy and a great player. We’re great friends on and off court as well, but I’m happy to beat him,” said Elshorbagy.

The Women’s event saw Camille Serme join compatriot Castagnet in the latter stages of the tournament after she came through a hard-fought encounter with England’s Emily Whitlock in her second round fixture.

Serme is paired up with Egypt’s Nour El Sherbini in a mouthwatering quarter-final tie and it was the latter who triumphed in the duo’s most recent meeting at November’s Qatar Classic.

Results: Men’s quarter-finals, top half:
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [5] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 12-10 (76m)
[7] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt Borja Golan (ESP) 11-9, 13-11, 11-4 (72m)

Draw: Men’s quarter-finals, bottom half (head-to-heads):
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [6] Simon Rösner (GER) – (21:1)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [8] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) – (2:0)

Results: Women’s 2nd round, bottom half:
[4] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [16] Emily Whitlock (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 11-5, 8-11, 13-11 (52m)
[7] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [Q] Mariam Metwally (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-5 (27m)
[5] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [15] Joshna Chinappa (IND) 3-0: 11-9, 11-3, 11-9 (25m)
[2] Nicol David (MAS) bt [9] Annie Au (HKG) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-9 (27m)

Draw: Women’s quarter-finals (head-to-heads)
[10] Amanda Sobhy (USA) v [6] Alison Waters (ENG) – (0:2)
[3] Laura Massaro (ENG) v [8] Nouran Gohar (EGY) – (6:0)
[4] Camille Serme (FRA) v [7] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) – (5:4)
[2] Nicol David (MAS) v [5] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) – (29:2)


Rösner beats Willstrop in ToC thriller!

In the men’s draw hard-hitting German Simon Rösner (ri) pulled off one of the most impressive wins of his career to defeat 2010 champion James Willstrop (le) and book his place in the quarter-finals against the current World Champion Gregory Gaultier from France.

Rösner and Willstrop treated the capacity crowd to an 80-minute thriller which came to a crescendo during a 4th game that saw the German squander four match balls before saving 3 game balls to finally to secure the win 9-11, 11-4, 11-3, 16-14.

“I had a few tough defeats at the end of 2015 and was maybe losing a little bit of confidence so to be moving well on court again and winning a big match like this is very important for me. I’m really happy that I managed to close it out in the end and move into the quarter-finals here,” Simon Rösner said.

Further results: Men’s 2nd Round
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Fares Dessouki (EGY) 11-5, 11-9, 11-2 (62m)
[8] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 12-10, 12-14, 11-9, 12-10 (78m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 11-8, 11-9, 11-3 (48m)

Draw: Men’s Quarter-finals (head-to-heads)
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v [5] Omar Mosaad (EGY) – (5:2)
[7] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v Borja Golan (ESP) – (3:5)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [6] Simon Rösner (GER) – (21:1)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [8] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) – (2:0)


Sobhy downs defending champion El Welily!

Team USA’s 2015 triple-PanAm Games Gold medal winning hero Amanda Sobhy (ri) pulled off the biggest win of her career, and arguably one of the most significant triumphs in the history of US Squash, as she eliminated defending champion and World No.2 Raneem El Welily (le) 11-5, 6-11, 11-5, 11-6 in the 2nd round of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions – taking place in her home city of New York.

“It’s definitely one of, if not the single, biggest wins of my career. She’s a phenomenal player, she won here last year and she’s been World No.1 but I felt relaxed and knew I had my coach, my friends and the crowd behind me so I was excited to go in there and do my best,” said Sobhy

“I’m a little shocked to be honest because the last three times we’ve played it has not gone well for me at all and to get the win today was way above what I expected. I knew I had nothing to lose against her and I couldn’t have done any worse than the last time we played in Hong Kong (when Sobhy lost 3-0 in 22 minutes) so I just went out there and tried to stick to the game plan. I had to go out of my comfort zone and mix up the pace to get her on the back foot and I’m very, very pleased that it paid off.

El Welily, who held the World No.1 mantle from September to December, was a hot favourite to retain the title she won in convincing fashion twelve months ago but it was Sobhy, playing without fear, who wrote her name into TOC folklore. After taking the opening game 11-5 she pressed on the front foot throughout the encounter, and despite dropping the second, looked every bit the genuine title contender her current career high ranking of No.8 suggests.

Further results – Women’s 2nd round (Top Half)
[6] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [14] Delia Arnold (MAS) 11-5, 11-8, 11-6 (29m)
[8] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt Heba El Torky (EGY) 7-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-5 (41m)
[3] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [Q] Coline Aumard (FRA) 11-3, 8-11, 11-2, 12-10 (51m)

Draw – Women’s 2nd round (Bottom Half)
[4] Camille Serme (FRA) v [16] Emily Whitlock (ENG)
[7] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [Q] Mariam Metwally (EGY)
[5] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) v [15] Joshna Chinappa (IND)
[2] Nicol David (MAS) v [9] Annie Au (HKG)


David, Massaro and Welily in from at ToC!

On the opening day of Women’s action at the 2016 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, which for the 1st time in tournament history is offering equal prize money across both the Men’s and Women’s draws, title favourites Nicol David, Laura Massaro and Raneem El Welily, the defending champion, signalled their intentions to triumph on the sport’s grandest stage with a trio of dominant first round performances.

After enduring a series of disappointing results during the second half of 2015 recently deposed No.1 El Welily, for whom victory here 12 months ago laid the foundations for her surge towards dethroning Nicol David and ending the Malaysian’s nine-year rankings reign, hinted at a timely return to form as she breezed past Tesni Evans. The victory sees her move closer to a potential semi-final encounter with in-form Massaro, who took out home hope Olivia Blatchford with a composed performance.

“I’m really happy to be back here in New York,” said El Welily, who came through 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 after 30 minutes. “It’s a great crowd, great venue and great atmosphere to play in and I’m happy with how I played today.

David, who at World No.3 is at her lowest ranking in ten years, returned to form in December with a decisive victory at the 2015 Hong Kong Open and she picked up from where she left off prior to the Christmas break with a destructive victory over England’s Victoria Lust, dropping just seven points throughout the 25 minute match.

Results Women’s 1st round
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [Q] Tesni Evans (WAL) 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 (30m)
[10] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt [Q] Deon Saffery (WAL) 11-5, 11-4, 11-9 (25m)
[14] Delia Arnold (MAS) bt Rachael Grinham (AUS) 7-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-6 (37m)
[6] Alison Waters (ENG) bt Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 (37m)
[8] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [Q] Yathreb Adel (EGY) 11-5, 11-7, 11-6
Heba El Torky (EGY) bt [12] Joelle King (NZL) 9-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-9 (42m)
[Q] Coline Aumard (FRA) bt [11] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 14-12, 11-9, 11-4 (56m)
[3] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [Q] Olivia Blatchford (USA) 11-6, 11-3, 5-11, 11-7 (38m)
[4] Camille Serme (FRA) bt Donna Urquhart (AUS) 11-7, 11-5, 11-9 (31m)
[16] Emily Whitlock (ENG) bt [Q] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) 11-5, 11-6, 11-9 (36m)
[Q] Mariam Metwally (EGY) bt [13] Dipika Pallikal (IND) 11-7, 12-10, 11-6 (34m)
[7] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [Q] Samantha Teran (MEX) 16-14, 11-2, 11-1 (27m)
[5] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt Low Wee Wern (MAS) 11-9, 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7 (50m)
[15] Joshna Chinappa (IND) bt [WC] Kanzy Emad El Defrawy (EGY) 8-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 (59m)
[9] Annie Au (HKG) bt Joey Chan (HKG) 11-9, 11-7, 12-10 (35m)
[2] Nicol David (MAS) bt Victoria Lust (ENG) 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 (25m)

Draw: Women’s 2nd round
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) v [10] Amanda Sobhy (USA)
[6] Alison Waters (ENG) v [14] Delia Arnold (MAS)
[8] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v Heba El Torky (EGY)
[3] Laura Massaro (ENG) v [Q] Coline Aumard (FRA)
[4] Camille Serme (FRA) v [16] Emily Whitlock (ENG)
[7] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [Q] Mariam Metwally (EGY)
[5] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) v [15] Joshna Chinappa (IND)
[2] Nicol David (MAS) v [9] Annie Au (HKG)


Elshorbagy on course in New York!

World No1 Mohamed Elshorbagy (le) beat Australian fellow Cameron Pilley (ri) 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 in an intense paced match to out gun the 33-year-old in an exhibition of ferocious hitting.

“Cameron has been playing really well lately so I knew it would be difficult tonight and I’m really pleased that I managed to get throgh in 3 games,” said Elshorbagy.

Further results men’s 2nd round (top half)
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 (47m)
[5] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Nicolas Müller (SUI) 11-5, 11-4, 12-14, 11-7 (73m)
[7] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt Max Lee (HKG) 10-12, 11-8, 10-12, 11-2, 11-4 (73m)
Borja Golan (ESP) bt Leo Au (HKG) 11-6, 11-5, 11-13, 4-11, 11-4 (80m)

Draw: men’s 2nd round (bottom half)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Fares Dessouki (EGY)
[6] Simon Rösner (GER) v James Willstrop (ENG)
[8] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) v Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)


Home hopes done – favorites gone through!

The second day of 1st round action at the 2016 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York saw local wild card player Todd Harrity crashing out of the tournament losing 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8 to 21-year-old Egyptian talent Fares Dessouki.

World No.3 Nick Matthew (ri) began his campaign by navigating a tricky encounter with Peruvian teenager Diego Elias (le), the current World Junior Champion. Elias stuck with the ever-physical Matthew throughout the duration of their 65-minute battle, but Matthew’s experience overcame the 16-years-younger Elias 11-5, 8-11, 11-3, 11-8. “I’ve seen him play and I’ve trained with him before but he surprised me tonight with how well and how long he managed to stick with the pace and hang in the match,” said Matthew.

Further results: Men’s First Round (Bottom Half)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Ramit Tandon (IND) 11-4, 11-6, 11-3 (32m)
James Willstrop (ENG) bt Alister Walker (BOT) 11-7, 3-0 retired (12m)
[6] Simon Rösner (GER) bt Tom Richards (ENG) 11-8, 11-7, 11-1 (40m)
[8] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 11-5, 11-1, 11-3 (30m)
Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt [Q] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7 (69m)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Daryl Selby (ENG) 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 3-11, 11-8 (75m)

Draw: Men’s Second Round
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v Cameron Pilley (AUS)
[5] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v Nicolas Müller (SUI)
[7] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v Max Lee (HKG)
Borja Golan (ESP) v Leo Au (HKG)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Fares Dessouki (EGY)
[6] Simon Rösner (GER) v James Willstrop (ENG)
[8] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) v Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)


Golan downs Rodriguez in ToC opener!

On the opening day of action at the 2016 Men’s J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions staged in the iconic setting of New York’s Grand Central Terminal it was Spaniard and World No19 Borja Golan (le) who made the headlines as he downs crowd-favourite and World No5 Miguel Angel Rodriguez (ri) 11-6, 11-6, 11-5. “I’m really happy to win today,” said Golan.

In the opening match Australian Cameron Pilley, who just made his maiden World Series final in Hong Kong last December, continued his recent resurgence with a comfortable straight-games victory (11-4, 11-3, 11-3) over Egyptian Tarek Momen. I finished 2015 in some of the best form of my career and with three of the biggest wins I’ve ever had,” said the 33-year-old.

Further results: J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions – Men’s First Round (Top Half)
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [Q] Adrian Waller (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-2 (30m)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt [Q] Raphael Kandra (GER) 3-1: 11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 11-1 (45m)
[5] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [Q] Lucas Serme (FRA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (52m)
[7] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt Stephen Coppinger (RSA) 3-1: 7-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-6 (59m)
Max Lee (HKG) bt [Q] Farhan Zaman (PAK) 3-1: 9-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-9 (43m)
Leo Au (HKG) bt [Q] Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 (55m)

Draw: Men’s First Round (Bottom Half – Played Jan 8)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [Q] Ramit Tandon (IND)
Fares Dessouki (EGY) v [WC] Todd Harrity (USA)
James Willstrop (ENG) v Alister Walker (BOT)
Tom Richards (ENG) v [6] Simon Rösner (GER)
[8] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) v Cesar Salazar (MEX)
Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) v [Q] Nasir Iqbal (PAK)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v Daryl Selby (ENG)
[Q] Diego Elias (PER) v [2] Nick Matthew (ENG)