Ashour and ElShorbagy Lead Egyptian Charge into World Championship Second Round by Sean Reuthe
photos PSA
October 27. 2016
- Egyptian duo Ramy Ashour and Mohamed ElShorbagy will head a 13-strong
Egyptian contingent in the second round of the 2016 Wadi Degla PSA
Men’s World Championship after they both claimed opening day victories
in Cairo.
Ashour, a three-time winner, sported a full length calf support as he
looked to step up his recovery from an injury sustained at last month’s
Al Ahram Open, and the 29-year-old from Cairo put in a dominant display
to claim an 11-3, 11-5, 11-4 triumph against United States No.1 Todd
Harrity.
“Every time I try to get up and get excited and think that I can win
the tournament, something comes and slaps me in the face,” said Ashour
referring to the injuries that have ravaged the past two years of his
glittering career.
“I know that, eventually, if things go well and I keep playing for a
little bit more, I’ll get back to where I was because I am a human
being. I’m going to get this excitement and temptation in my blood.
“I was surprised that he hit so many tins today, he hit about five or
six tins, so it was interesting. I know he plays fast so I had to up
the pace, he lunges and then he gets back up in an elastic way."
Ashour will take on South Africa’s Stephen Coppinger in the next round
as he looks to continue his title charge, while his compatriot,
ElShorbagy, saw off the challenge of Australian qualifier Rex Hedrick.
The hard-hitting Egyptian, twice a runner-up in 2012 and 2014 to
Ashour, injected pace into proceedings from the outset which World
No.58 Hedrick was unable to live with as ElShorbagy went a game to the
good, dropping just five points in the process.
A dogged Hedrick responded though and pushed the Bristol-based
25-year-old all the way to a tie-break, but ElShorbagy drew on his
energy reserves to push through by the narrowest of margins, before
just having the upper hand in the third to close out an 11-5, 12-10,
11-9 victory – setting up a second round fixture with Finland’s Olli
Tuominen.
“I'm really happy to win, I'm not the best first round player, I always
struggle a little bit but I felt fresh today,” said ElShorbagy.
“He coped with the atmosphere pretty well, I understand it's a bit
tough playing me in Egypt and in the first round of the World
Championship it was tough for him. He surprised me in the second game
and even in the third game he came back and nearly won the game.
"If you know you're living for another day you are happy. I woke up
today and found so many shocking results. That's what happens in the
World Championship, anything can happen, and I'm just glad that I'm
here for another day.”
The in-form Karim Abdel Gawad will join his fellow Egyptians in round
two after he stormed back from two games down to defeat England’s
Nathan Lake.
Having never previously reached the main draw of the prestigious
tournament, Lake played like a World Championship veteran as he
controlled the court, mixing patience with deadly accuracy to go 2-0 up
against the World No.4.
But a tense third game went the way of Gawad and from then on he
powered on, using his experience on the big stage to his advantage to
complete the win and escape a shock exit, setting up a meeting with
Mohamed Abouelghar.
The likes of World Championship runner-up Omar Mosaad, World No.6 Ali
Farag and World No.7 Marwan ElShorbagy are also through to round two
after the trio rose to wins on day one.
Elsewhere, English duo Nick Matthew and James Willstrop only just
emerged unscathed from the opening round after they were pushed hard by
New Zealand’s Campbell Grayson and Jaymie Haycocks.
Matthew began strongly to take the opening game but he was dragged into
a real battle as Grayson upped his game and played with increased
accuracy to level the match.
But it was the experienced head of Matthew that came back in the third
to gain the advantage and he held firm to withstand a charge in the
fourth, sealing the match at the second time of asking.
“I’m very relieved that didn’t go to five,” said Matthew.
“I’m very happy to survive – I’ve negotiated this one and they’re all on the glass from now on so I’m looking forward to it.”
There was no such luck for Australian No.1 Cameron Pilley and
compatriot Ryan Cuskelly though as they fell to respective shock losses
against Karim Ali Fathi and Jens Schoor.
Defending champion Gregory Gaultier, meanwhile, was victorious on the
opening day of action, beating New Zealand's Paul Coll to ensure that
he will go head-to-head with Indian No.1 Saurav Ghosal for a place in
the third round.
Draw - Second Round (Top Half) - To be played Friday October 28
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v Olli Tuominen (FIN)
Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) v Karim Ali Fathi (EGY)
[10] Ali Farag (EGY) v James Willstrop (ENG)
Mohamed Reda (EGY) v [8] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
[6] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
Chris Simpson (ENG) v [16] Max Lee (HKG)
[12] Simon Rösner (GER) v Cesar Salazar (MEX)
Leo Au (HKG) v [4] Nick Matthew (ENG)
Draw - Second Round (Bottom Half) - To be played Saturday October 29
[3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) v [15] Fares Dessouky (EGY)
[9] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v Daryl Selby (ENG)
Stephen Coppinger (RSA) v [5] Ramy Ashour (EGY)
[7] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v Ben Coleman (ENG)
[Q] Youssef Soliman (EGY) v [11] Tarek Momen (EGY)
[Q] Jens Schoor (GER) v Tsz Fung Yip (HKG)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
