Willstrop Ends 10-Year Losing Streak While Qualifier Coll Conquers Farag To Reach Tournament of Champions Quarter-finals by Nathan Clarke
photos PSA
January 15, 2017
- England's 33-year-old James Willstrop ended a 10-year, 19-match
losing streak against perennial domestic rival Nick Matthew to knock
the 36-year-old from Sheffield out of the 2017 J.P. Morgan Tournament
of Champions with a 73-minute 11-6, 7-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-4 second round
victory in New York today (Jan 15).
The pair met for the 34th time last month when Matthew scored an
impressive straight-games win in the final of the British Grand Prix.
But under the chandeliers of Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall
Willstrop turned recent history on its head, producing a free-flowing
attacking performance that saw him pull out every tantalising trick in
his repertoire and recover from going 1-2 down in games to complete the
victory, his first over Matthew since the 2007 English Open Final.
"It's taken me a long time to notch that win against him, so I'm pleased," said Willstrop.
"Last month I didn't play well against him and I was more disappointed with the performance than the result.
"I think the squash today was as good as it has ever been between us
and we both played some very accurate stuff. I know what I'm capable of
and I've been trying to work out the way to break him down for a long
time. Today I did just enough to come through.
"And the best thing is I get to play here once again because I love
being here at this event. To be out there and performing well in a good
game of squash, it's just brilliant."
After the match Matthew said: "He deserved it - even when I was 2-1 up I didn't feel like I was on top.
"He was the aggressor today and I felt like I was chasing it. He's a
class player and we've played some massive matches, so that win was
coming some day. He's too good a player to have a record like
that."
Willstrop will now face tournament surprise package Paul Coll for a
place in the semi-finals after the 24-year-old qualifier from New
Zealand scored an unexpected win over World No.7 and ex-Harvard student
Ali Farag to reach the last eight of a PSA World Series tournament for
the first time in his career.
The physical powerhouse, who competes in Crossfit games for pleasure
when not in squash action, prevailed 3-1 to extend his unbeaten streak
on the PSA World Tour to 10 consecutive matches.
Coll came through qualification to defy the odds and claim the PSA M100
Channel Vas Championship in December - a victory that saw him become
the first Kiwi since 1995 to break the top 20 rankings - and continued
to enjoy a purple patch as he nullified the supremely talented Farag
11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7.
"I'm very happy - I'm was worried that I'd get knocked out in
qualification here so to reach the quarter-finals is very pleasing,"
said Coll.
"I know Ali from juniors and know he's a quality player who's very
talented with the racket, so I told myself just to focus on countering
what he does and take it from there.
"I've been training hard, like I always do, and it has started to pay
off recently. I just try to play the way I like to play. I love the
physical side of the game and I'm just embracing that and it's working
for me at the minute.
"Winning in December gave me a tonne of belief that I can compete with
these guys up at the very top and to be backing that up again this week
is a huge confidence boost."
World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad won a five-game war of attrition with
Australian Cameron Pilley to keep his tournament alive and set up a
meeting with Germany's Simon Rösner while in the Women's event 2016
runner-up and local New York crowd favourite Amanda Sobhy got her 2017
campaign off to an emphatic winning start by demolishing Australia's
Donna Urquhart 3-0 in just 24 minutes.
Sobhy put in a performance packed with typical aggressive shot making
as she out-gunned and out-though Urquhart to send out a strong signal
to the opposition as she looks to improve on last year's result.
"It's great to be back here in New York at one of my favourite events -
I love it here and just enjoy being out there in front of so many
supporting fans," said Sobhy.
"It fuels me that I got to the final here last year and I want to do
better. I've also lost two World Series finals and they say three's the
charm, so hopefully that'll be this week.
"It would be great to do well here. It's a goal to win this event. I've
been putting in the work and I know I'm fit enough to compete with the
top players and have the confidence to be the best, so hopefully that
can carry me through and help convert some of that into wins."
Results - Men's Second Round (Bottom Half): 2017 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions
James Willstrop (ENG) bt [4] Nick Matthew (ENG) 3-2: 11-6, 7-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-4 (73m)
[Q] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [6] Ali Farag (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7 (60m)
[8] Simon Rösner (GER) bt [Q] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 (41m)
[2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 3-2: 8-11, 11-4, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9 (82m)
Draw - Men's Quarter-finals (To be played Jan 16)
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v [5] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
Tarek Momen (EGY) v [3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Draw - Second Round
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [Q] Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY)
[12] Annie Au (HKG) v [6] Nicol David (MAS)
[5] Camille Serme (FRA) v [13] Joshna Chinappa (IND)
[15] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v [3] Nouran Gohar (EGY)
[4] Laura Massaro (ENG) v [10] Joelle King (NZL)
[16] Victoria Lust (ENG) v [8] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY)
[7] Amanda Sobhy (USA) v [11] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) v [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY)
