Matthew Beats Ashour In Five To Win $70K Case Swedish Open from PSA Media
photo courtesy Squashpics.com
February 9, 2014
- England's Nick Matthew regained exclusive rights to next month's
World No.1 Squash Ranking after securing a dramatic five-game victory
over Ramy Ashour in today's final of the Case Swedish Open, the PSA
World Tour International 70 event celebrating its 11th successive year
at Linköping Sporthall in Linköping. The three-time World
Champion from Sheffield uniquely shared the top world ranking this
month with Gregory Gaultier – but despatched the event's defending
champion in straight games in the semi-finals to move ahead of his
French rival. And in his sixth
appearance in the Swedish Open final since 2004, Matthew today
recovered from a game down to upset the top seed from Egypt 11-13,
11-6, 11-8, 6-11, 11-4 in 91 minutes to claim his first complete match
win over Ashour, the World No.1 throughout 2013, since May 2012. "I'm proud to be
Swedish Open Champion," said 33-year-old Matthew later. "It was
one of the toughest matches I ever played – it tested everything;
Physical, Mental, Technical & Tactical." PSA SquashTV
commentator Joey Barrington succinctly summed up the performance which
guaranteed Matthew's sole status as World No.1 in March: "The way
he played was absolutely exemplary." Ashour made his PSA
Tour debut in Sweden after an injury layoff since December. But,
while disappointed with the loss, the 26-year-old from Cairo was
delighted to survive the tournament unscathed. "I was really pleased
with my performance," Ashour told the crowd after the trophy
presentations. "I am just glad to get to the final and give it
100%. I was happy to finish the tournament without coming out
disappointed. "Nick was very consistent. He's in top form right now." Ashour summed up his
feelings later to his Twitter followers: "Not happy to lose, but
happy to come out of the court in one piece 'injury free', and Nick was
the better player today." Matthew's triumph marks his fourth Swedish Open title – and takes his career Tour title haul to 29.
RESULTS: Case Swedish Open, Linköping, Sweden Final:
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) 11-13, 11-6, 11-8, 6-11, 11-4 (91m)
