2012

Happy New Year 2013!

Happy New Year 2013! We wish all the best, luck and health to the squash community and all people around the world …


No events – good time for practicing yourself!

No events at the moment – good time for practicing yourself: View the Double World Champion Nick Matthew who explains how to hit the forehand volley drop …


World Series Finals 2012!

Not far away: The World Series Finals 2012 (2nd to 6th of January 2013). Get some animation from last year’s final match as Amr Shabana beat Greg Gaultier in 5 games …


Rosner replaces Ramy in World Series Finals!

Simon Rosner, the world No15 from Paderborn, will replace Egypt’s world champion Ramy Ashour in next week’s ATCO PSA World Series Finals to become the 1st German to earn a place in the flagship PSA World Tour championship.

A hamstring injury sustained by Ashour in the Qatar PSA World Championship in Doha earlier this month has led to the withdrawal of the 25-year-old from Cairo who will reclaim the World No1 ranking in January.

“I am so happy to be in the World Series Finals – something that no one from Germany has achieved before. I guess I have to keep the Christmas food and sweets to the minimum now – not easy in a baker’s family,” said Rosner on hearing the news.

“I hope Ramy is not injured too badly and that he will be back for the next tournaments in January,” added the six-time German national champion.

Action will take place on a special, state-of-the-art, ASB Z-Court – leading to an action-packed weekend featuring the semi-finals and final. Sky Sports will be televising the semi-finals and finals live.

Revised 1st pool round (Wednesday 2nd January):
Pool A
[4] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) v [7] Peter Barker (ENG)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [5] Amr Shabana (EGY)
Pool B
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) v [6] Karim Darwish (EGY)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [8] Simon Rosner (GER)

2nd pool round (Thursday 3rd January):
Pool A
[5] Amr Shabana (EGY) v [7] Peter Barker (ENG)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [4] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Pool B
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) v [3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
[6] Karim Darwish (EGY) v [8] Simon Rosner (GER)

3rd & final pool round (Friday 4th January):
Pool A
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [7] Peter Barker (ENG)
[4] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) v [5] Amr Shabana (EGY)
Pool B
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) v [8] Simon Rosner (GER)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [6] Karim Darwish (EGY)


The video of the Olympic Squash Bid!

The video of the Olympic Bid is out now. Nicol David and Ramy Ashour featuring for Squash and the Olympics. All squash fans should help spreading the news and share …


Ashour v Shorbagy Mega Rally!

At 9-all in the 4th game of the final of the World Championship in Doha – Ramy Ashour and Mohamed El Shorbagy played possibly the best rally you’ve ever seen …?


Ashour took World Championship title in style!

In a sensational all-Egyptian clash which went to the wire, Ramy Ashour (le) triumphed over outsider Mohamed El Shorbagy (ri) in today’s final of the Qatar PSA World Championship in Doha to become world champion for the second time since 2008.

Ashour, who 24 hours earlier dethroned England’s defending champion Nick Matthew to ensure his status as World No1 next month, had to be at his best to see off his 21-year-old opponent, the youngest player in the PSA world top 25.

The final brought to a magnificent climax the premier PSA World Tour championship which boasts a $325,000 prize-fund, the second biggest in the sport’s history, and was being hosted by Qatar for the third time since 1998.

Eighth seed El Shorbagy, who upset England’s world number James Willstrop in a 112-minute semi-final, got off to an excellent start – romping from 4-2 up to win the opening game in a single hand in just 10 minutes. It was the first game the youngster had taken off Ashour after two 3/0 defeats since 2009.

Ashour, who was clearly not yet in the match, stayed on court throughout the break before the 2nd game – trying to refocus himself for the next stage.

The tactic clearly worked as the fifth seed and 2008 champion recovered from the loss of the 1st two points in the game to build up an 8-4 lead and Ashour drew level to forcefully mark his return to the match.

Shorbagy’s response was to demand a new ball and promptly returned to the court before his opponent to warm it up for the third game. It was he who took the early advantage, but Ashour again resumed control, reeling off seven points in a row en-route to taking the game and moving 2/1 ahead.

The effect of Shorbagy’s near-two-hour-long semi looked to be taking its toll – but the world final debutant refused to surrender to his experienced fellow countryman. Shorbagy led 4-1 and 7-4 in the fourth – but from 5-8 down, Ashour pulled the game back to nine-all, just two points away from the title.

Shorbagy responded in fantastic style, surviving what PSA SquashTV commentators Joey Barrington and Paul Johnson called “an outrageous rally”, to get to match-ball – which he duly converted to take the climax into a fifth game decider.

“The final has truly come alive,” added Barrington.

It was nip and tuck through the fifth – Ashour leading 4-1 and 7-5 before Shorbagy clawed back to eight-all. An unforced error by Shorbagy, followed by a stroke against the underdog, took Ashour to his first match-ball.

Within seconds Ashour had converted his advantage – and the beaming 25-year-old from Cairo bent down to one of the camera positions in the court’s front wall to kiss the TV camera lens!

“Mohamed – he was amazing today. I’m really proud of the fact that this was an Egypt final”, said new world champion Ashour after his 2-11, 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8 victory in 90 minutes.


Ashour dethrones Matthew in Doha!

The 2nd semi-final – also an England v Egypt affair – showed Ramy Ashour (ri), champion in 2008 and runner-up in 2009 and defending champion since 2010 Nick Matthew (le).

After 4 tough games and 72 minute
s of play, Ashour took the victory to ensure the 3rd all-Egyptian final in the World Championship’s history. In all 3 Ashour was involved, won in 2008 in Manchester against Karim Darwish and lost in 2009 to Amr Shabana in Kuwait.