Ramy Ashour (ri) stayed strong to take his 2nd North American Open title as Nick Matthew (le) tried everything in the book to take his 3rd (photo: Dan Bogosh) Egyptian World No1 Ramy Ashour mastered the tenacious challenge of England’s Nick Matthew to win the Davenport North American Open for the 2nd time after 2009.
Ashour, appearing in his fifth consecutive final of the PSA World Series squash event, continued his long unbeaten run to take the 11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7 victory after 65 minutes of high class entertaining squash.
Matthew, who had beaten Ashour in the 2010 and 2011 finals, produced a spirited recovery to win the third game, but Ashour turned on the style again to clinch a second Richmond title.
The 25-year-old from Cairo – both the world number one and reigning world champion – completing his 31st consecutive victory in his 9th PSA Tour final in a row, Ashour kissed the floor and the trophy.
“Nick is a great player and we seem to feed off this rivalry. We have met in so many finals and, whoever wins, the other one gets back to work to raise their game to meet the challenge,” said Ashour.
Final:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [2] Nick Matthew (ENG) 11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7 (65m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [3] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8 (54m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 11-6, 11-3, 8-11, 11-7 (63m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8 (53m)
[3] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [5] Karim Darwish (EGY) w/o
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [7] Amr Shabana (EGY) 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 (34m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [6] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (49m)
2nd round:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-8, 11-6, 12-10 (42m)
Simon Rosner (GER) bt [8] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 4-11, 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9 (82m)
[5] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 7-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 11-2 (45m)
[3] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 11-7, 11-7, 11-1 (39m)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (40m)
[7] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 11-8 (51m)
[6] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4 (55m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Tarek Momen (EGY) 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 (44m)
1st round:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Chris Simpson (ENG) 11-4, 12-14, 11-4, 11-6 (43m)
Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [Q] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 (27m)
Simon Rosner (GER) bt Stephen Coppinger (RSA) 11-8, 10-12, 11-5, 11-8 (64m)
[8] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [Q] Shawn Delierre (CAN) 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-8 (48m)
[5] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [Q] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 11-5, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10 (65m)
Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 7-11, 11-6, 11-13, 11-9, 11-9 (59m)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [Q] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 11-1 (44m)
[3] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 11-3, 11-6, 11-8 (28m)
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Joe Lee (ENG) 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (36m)
Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Shahier Razik (CAN) 11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 11-3 (46m)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [Q] Yasir Ali Butt (PAK) 11-3, 7-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-7 (55m)
[7] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (37m)
[6] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [Q] Campbell Grayson (NZL) 10-12, 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 (53m)
Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt Max Lee (HKG) 12-10, 11-7, 11-7 (38m)
Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [Q] Christopher Gordon (USA) 11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 19-21, 11-5 (85m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-4, 11-3, 11-3 (40m)
