Plenty of Fireworks in Men's NetSuite Openers from Daily Squash Report September 25, 2015 - Grit and high drama were the order of the day in opening night $125K NetSuite Open action in San Francisco.
World No 3 Greg Gaultier was pushed to the brink by former Harvard star
Ali Farag, with the Frenchman holding his nerve in the fifth game
overtime and pulling it out 12-10.
Top-seeded Nick Matthew struggled against Egyptian upstart Mazen Hesham before stablizing and winning 11-4 in the fourth.
Third seed Miguel Rodriguez needed 78 minutes and the full five to subdue Cesar Salazar.
Fourth seed Ramy Ashour, in his return to US competition, cruised past Tom Richards in three.
Eighth seed James Willstrop recovered from a 12-14 fourth game to squeak past Nicolas Mueller 11-9 in the fifth, in a thriller.
Cameron Pilley surprised sixth seed Peter Barker in three.
And in a 101-minute battle-royal, qualifier Ryan Cuskelly beat 7th seed
Mathieu Castagnet 11-7 in the fifth. The contentious match included
multiple conduct warnings to both players, and concluded with a conduct
stroke awarded against Castagnet at match point.
Results - NetSuite Open PSA M100 First Round:
[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Mazen Hesham (EGY) 3-1: 11-6, 12-10, 6-11, 11-4 (55m)
[5] Simon Rösner (GER) bt [WC] Mike Lewis (USA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-2, 11-3 (17m)
Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [6] Peter Barker (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 11-9 (38m)
[3] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [Q] Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-2: 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-2 (78m)
[4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Tom Richards (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-5 (34m)
[Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt [7] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 3-2: 11-5, 9-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7 (101m)
[8] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-2: 11-5, 7-11, 11-9, 12-14, 11-9 (64m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Ali Farag (EGY) 3-2: 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 8-11, 12-10 (90m)
Draw - NetSuite Open PSA M100, Quarter-finals: [1] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [5] Simon Rösner (GER) Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [3] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) [4] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) [8] James Willstrop (ENG) v [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
