“All credit to Diego for how he fought back, especially in the second, but certainly a few things for me to work on ahead of the second round,” Nick Matthew said. 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)
