Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) celebrates his 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9 over Egyptian Hisham Ashour in the 1st round of the Tournament of Champions 2012 Colombian qualifier Miguel Angel Rodriguez (pic) upended Hisham Ashour in a hard-fought 5-game thriller (11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9) on the 2nd day of 1st round play in the Tournament of Champions to secure a surprise place in the last 16 in New York. Rodriguez faces another Egyptian Amr Shabana in the 2nd round. The 2-time title-holder defeated fellow countryman Mohd Ali Anwar Reda in 3 straightforward games (11-7, 11-8, 11-7).
In the day’s opening match, top seed Nick Matthew defeated Wael El Hindi in 4 games (11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7). Matthew’s next opponent is compatriot Adrian Grant, who survived a 83-minutes encounter against Scottish Alan Clyne (11-5, 16-14, 9-11, 11-5).
Further 1st round results (top half): Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-7, 11-3, 11-8 (47m); [7] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) bt Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) 11-4, 10-12, 11-7, 11-5 (41m); Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt [Q] Stephen Coppinger (RSA) 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-4 (51m); [3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Borja Golan Santin (ESP) 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 (60m).
