Ashour, Kawy And Gaultier Escape British Open First Round Exits, Sobhy Advances by Nathan Clarke photos squashpics.com
March 21, 2016
- The opening day of action at the 2016 Allam British Open saw the
high-profile trio of three-time World Champion Ramy Ashour, current
World Champion Gregory Gaultier and Women's World No.6 Omneya Abdel
Kawy narrowly avoid crashing out of the prestigious PSA World Series
tournament, dubbed the 'Wimbledon of Squash', at the very first hurdle.
Inside
Hull's Airco Arena 2013 British Open winner Ashour, the maverick
Egyptian who was making his competitive comeback following a four-month
injury enforced absence, found himself 2-0 down to Mexican qualifier
Cesar Salazar and facing an ignominious exit before he managed to
finally assert himself on proceedings and show glimpses of the form
that saw him become the most dominant force in squash during 2012.
Ashour
fell behind 11-1, 11-6 before finding his range and rhythm to canter
through the last three games and remind his world tour competitors that
he can still be a force to be reckoned with.
“I was just happy and grateful that I was moving and playing,” he said.
"I
think with my injuries I trying too hard and training too much - I was
always thinking more is better but I realise now that was wrong. I'm
getting smarter with my training now and I'm just grateful that I'm
here an table to hit the ball.
“At the moment I have no aim, no goal. I’m just trying to forget about what I want, or what I would like.”
Ashour's
come-from-behind victory was mirrored by current World Champion
Gaultier - who was also making his first appearance since suffering an
ankle-injury during January's Tournament of Champion - as he twice
overturned game deficits against Australian Cameron Pilley to reach the
second round.
The Frenchman was unconvincing as he trailed
1-2 in games before he managed to spark into life and take the last two
games 11-2, 11-7.
“Obviously I am pleased to win and come
through,” said Gaultier. “I didn’t know what to expect and I did the
best I could with the preparation time I had which wasn’t idea. I was
in great form in January and it was very hard to start over again after
the injury.
“Today wasn’t the best squash but I just did
what I could. At 2-1 down I was telling the coaches that I just wanted
to go back to France but they found the right words to motivate me and
thankfully it worked.
“I’m happy to still be in the tournament and hopefully I can play better in the next round.”
In
the women's draw there were impressive first round wins for title
favourites Nour El Sherbini and five-time winner Nicol David, who both
came through 3-0 over Nicolette Fernandes and Mayar Hany, respectively,
while Kawy matched the feats of compatriot Ashour by coming from
two-games down to defeat Welsh qualifier Tesni Evans.
A
serial semi-finalist on the PSA World Tour Kawy started sluggishly and
looked out of sorts during the opening two games before she showed why
she has consistently been one of the top ranking players on tour for
the past decade as she fought back to win three games in a row to keep
her competition alive, although she did require six match ball
opportunities.
"I knew I have won from being 2-0 down before so I kept talking positively to myself and I knew that I could win," said Kawy.
"In
the fifth game the points were all crucial and I'm just really thankful
that I came through it. She made a few mistakes and I was pushing
myself to hang in there and work as hard as I could to win those
points."
Former World No.2 Jenny Duncalf suffered the most
high profile first round upset on day one as she fell to qualifier Liu
Tsz-Ling of Hong Kong - the 24-year-old who ranks over 20 places below
Duncalf on the World Rankings.
“It’s like I’m in a dream,” said Liu afterwards.
“I’ve
never played her before and I knew that it would be a hard match. I
didn’t think much about winning or losing, I just stuck to playing my
game."
Results - First Round (Bottom Half): Men's 2016 Allam British Open [3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Adrian Waller (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 (43m) Ali Farag (EGY) bt [WC] Tom Richards (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 (40m) Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt [Q] Paul Coll (NZL) 3-1: 12-10, 13-11, 9-11, 12-10 (88m) [5] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-2: 1-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-3 (51m) [7] Simon Rösner (GER) bt Max Lee (HKG) 3-1: 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 (67m) Chris Simpson (ENG) bt [Q] Zahed Mohamed (EGY) 3-2: 11-5, 12-14, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7 (84m) Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt [Q] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 3-1: 11-3, 11-13, 11-3, 11-5 (54m) [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 3-2: 8-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-2, 11-7 (76m)
Draw - First Round (Top Half) To Be Played March 22 [1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v [Q] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) James Willstrop (ENG) v Tarek Momen (EGY) Daryl Selby (ENG) v [Q] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) [Q] Raphael Kandra (GER) v [6] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) [8] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v Saurav Ghosal (IND) Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v Borja Golan (ESP) Mazen Hesham (EGY) v Fares Dessouki (EGY) Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [4] Omar Mosaad (EGY)
Draw - First Round (Top Half) To Be Played March 22 [1] Laura Massaro (ENG) v [Q] Olivia Blatchford (USA) Line Hansen (DEN) v [15] Delia Arnold (MAS) [16] Emily Whitlock (ENG) v Victoria Lust (ENG) [WC] Fiona Moverley (ENG) v [5] Camille Serme (FRA) [8] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v Heba El Torky (EGY) [Q] Sarah Campion (ENG) v [9] Annie Au (HKG) [11] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v [Q] Mariam Metwally (EGY) [Q] Nele Gillis (BEL) v [3] Raneem El Welily (EGY)
