Category: "tournaments"

England’s James Willstrop (ri) produced a tactical master-class to subdue Egypt’s fiery entertainer Ramy Ashour (le) to win the North American Open squash in Richmond, Virginia.

The top seed admitted that his priority was to contain Ashour’s shot-making opportunities in the 2nd World Series event of the year – but his own play at the front of the court was immaculate to take the 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 victory.

Willstrop’s volley-drops, especially, worked to perfection on both sides of the court. At 6ft 4in, the Englishman is the tallest player competing on the PSA World Tour and Ashour, like so many opponents, struggled to place the ball beyond Willstrop’s reach.

“He has come back after injury to play here in Richmond and it’s good for the game to have him back. I am pleased with my whole week, not just today, and it’s great to win the title again here in Richmond.”

Willstrop’s performances this week have propelled him back to the world number one position in March. Willstrop was celebrating his 6th PSA Tour final in his last eight events – and has now racked up his 4th Tour title since November, and the 16th of his career.

“I don’t think many people expected that,” tweeted world champion Matthew. “James played a tactical master-class and deserved the win.”

Final:
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (51m)

Egyptian genius Ramy Ashour (le) showed he is back on top form by crushing world champion Nick Matthew (ri) to reach the final of the North American Open in Richmond.

Ashour, the 24-year-old world No5, has impressed all week on his comeback after injury. But against Matthew, he stepped up a level with a performance that left England’s reigning champion exhausted after 2 games.

The Egyptian fought back from 7-10 down in the 1st game to win 12-10 and produced a phenomenal recovery to win the 2nd 13-11 after being 4-8 down. Matthew was demoralised after blowing two crucial leads and fell away badly in the 3rd as Ashour took the 12-10, 13-11, 11-3 victory in 52 minutes.

The Egyptian was diving around the court to retrieve what looked like certain winners and played shots behind his back and conjured up a succession of astonishing winners due to the enjoyment of the Richmond crowd. Indian number one Saurav Ghosal Tweeted: “That proves Ramy is an alien – he plays squash from another planet.

Ashour meets top seed James Willstrop in the final and will have another point to prove with the Englishman returning to the top of the PSA world rankings in March.

Willstrop wore down French No4 seed Gregory Gaultier with a commanding performance in a 97-minute marathon. After the opening 2 games took almost an hour to complete, the Englishmen’s strength was clearly evident as he won the 3rd and 4th to take the 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 11-5 win.

The 28-year-old from Leeds – who is celebrating the 30th Tour final of his career, and his 6th over the past 8 events – added: “I am very satisfied to beat the world number three and looking forward to the final. “It’s been a long time since my last one. It’s great to have Ramy back in action this week, hitting nicks from everywhere and entertaining the crowds.”

Final:
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) v [4] Ramy Ashour (EGY)

Semi-finals:
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [3] Greg Gaultier (FRA) 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 11-5 (97m)
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [2] Nick Matthew (ENG) 12-10, 13-11, 11-3 (52m)

England’s James Willstrop will return to the top of the PSA world rankings in March after reaching the semi-finals of the North American Open. The top seed’s quarter-final opponent, Egypt’s Amr Shabana, was forced to concede the match in Richmond early in the 2nd game – after just 12 minutes – because of a knee injury. By reaching the last four, Willstrop earned enough ranking points to regain the world No1 position from English world champion Nick Matthew. “It’s great news to be back on top”, Willstrop said.

Willstrop meets French ace Greg Gaultier who overcame young Egyptian qualifier Karim Abdel Gawad, winning 11-6, 11-2, 11-6 in 39 minutes. “I am feeling good this week,” said the Frenchman.

In the other semi-final, Matthew meets Ramy Ashour in a re-run of the last three NAO finals. Ashour won in 2009 but Matthew has won the last two events – and is hunting down a hat-trick of titles this year. Ashour confirmed his return to peak fitness with a devastating 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-3 victory over fellow Egyptian Karim Darwish. Ashour said: “It’s never easy to beat Karim. We had breakfast together, but as soon as reached the court we know that we have a job to do.”

Matthew, who had struggled to hit top form in the first two rounds, beat battling German Simon Rosner in four hard games (11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6). The current world No1 dominated the opening 2 games and seemed as things end quickly as he led 8-4 in the 3nd, but Rosner recovered fought backt to win the game 11-9. But the effort clearly took its toll as Matthew stayed in front throughout the 4th.

Semi-final line-up:
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) v [3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [4] Ramy Ashour (EGY)

Quarter-finals:
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [6] Amr Shabana (EGY) 11-5, 2-0 ret. (12m)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 11-6, 11-2, 11-9 (39m)
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [5] Karim Darwish (EGY) 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-3 (56m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6 (63m)