Müller Delight As Home Hero Kickstarts Grasshopper With Victory by Nathan Clarke photos PSA
April 13, 2016
- Local hero Nicolas Müller came through an epic battle with Australian
Ryan Cuskelly, ranked fifteen places above him on the World Rankings at
No.16, to delight a capacity crowd and move into the quarter-finals of
the 2016 Grasshopper Cup, the PSA M70 tournament taking place in
Zurich's Puls5 venue.
Müller lost out in the first round
last year after an agonising battle with Ramy Ashour but this time he
was on the winning side of a gargantuan encounter, coming through from
2-1 down after 95 minutes of thrilling squash to win 10-12, 11-8, 9-11,
11-8, 11-7.
Müller started strongly but saw his early first
game advantage wiped out as Cuskelly came from behind to take the early
ascendency but with the crowd behind him Müller staged a remarkable
resurgence in the fourth game and held his nerve in the fifth to seal a
huge win - his first main draw win on the PSA World Tour since January.
"The
atmosphere was amazing here last year when I lost to Ramy but it was
even better tonight and the crowd just pushed me so much, I don't think
I would have been able to do it without them," said Müller.
"The
first game I was up and had game ball and even though I lost I knew I
had made him work a lot and in the third I was feeling good and the
crowd was a huge push."
"I'll go away and prepare myself for a big battle now on Friday."
Müller
will now face defending champion Gregory Gaultier in the last eight
after the French World No.2 began his bid to win the tournament for a
second consecutive time with a 3-1 win over Malaysian qualifier
Nafiizwan Adnan.
The current World Champion didn't have it
all his own way against Adnan and was forced to work hard from the off
against the tenacious 29-year-old before showing his class to come
through 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5.
"We've played a number of times and today I think he played the best that he has against me," said Gaultier.
"I
was struggling to find solutions and find my length but sometimes you
have to deal with these things. I did what I could today and managed to
get the win and I think we gave a good show for the fans.
"Last year was my first time playing here and I enjoyed it and won. I promised to come back so I wanted to live up to my word."
On
the first day of action debutant competitors Ali Farag, who downed Leo
Au, and Chris Simpson were the other winners, with Simpson securing an
impressive 3-0 win over top ten ranked Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet.
"Mathieu
and I are the same age but that was only our second match on the PSA
World Tour so it was nice to play him as it was a new challenge," said
Simpson.
"The last time we played he beat me in five and I
was two-up and those kind of matches scar you and you don't forget
them. He's made a massive surge in the rankings recently and been
playing very, very well and I'm trying to chase that and today I was
very happy with how I played.
"I started a little slow but after I woke up I felt like my game was on form and my tactics worked well."
Results - First Round (Top Half) [1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 3-1: 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5 (53m) [WC] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt [8] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 3-2: 10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 (95m) [7] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Leo Au (HKG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 (35m) Chris Simpson (ENG) bt [3] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 3-0: 14-12, 11-9, 11-9 (63m)
Draw - First Round (Bottom Half) [4] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO) [Q] Adrian Waller (ENG) v [5] Cameron Pilley (AUS) [6] James Willstrop (ENG) v Gregoire Marche (FRA) [Q] Paul Coll (NZL) v [2] Simon Rösner (GER)
The action is taking place live at Puls5, Zurich and tickets can be purchased at https://www.starticket.ch/de/tickets/squash-gc-cup-2016-20160413-1800-20160417-1700-giessereihalle-puls-5-zurich
