Ashour Ends Home Hopes in Swiss Rollercoaster by Nathan Clarke 16TH APR 2015
- World Champion Ramy Ashour triumphed in a frenetic roller coaster of
an encounter with home favourite and World No.20 Nicolas Mueller during
the second day of first round action at the 2015 Grasshopper Cup, PSA
International 70 tournament.
In front of a sell-out crowd in Zurich's Puls 5 venue, Ashour, who beat
World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy last week to win the El Gouna
International in one of the greatest matches of recent times, got off
to a lethargic start, showing signs of rustiness following his
four-month injury-absence pre-El Gouna as he struggled to find his
rhythm on court.
Sensing his opportunity, Mueller pounced, producing some of his best
ever squash to race into a two-game lead to leave Ashour staring at a
first round exit before he produced a miracle comeback to win 3-2 after
an throughly enthralling 69-minutes.
“I think I was on my fourth or fifth wind my the end of that match but I just kept on digging and digging,” said Ashour.
“Nicky was playing amazingly well, which he always seems to do against
me, and the crowd were all fully behind him as well but I'm proud of
how I managed to stay positive and push to get the result.
“I had a brutal tournament in El Gouna last week and coming here was
not easy but the promoters are doing an amazing job looking after the
players and I'm really happy to be in Zurich for the first time and
delighted to win today.”
The turning point in the match came in the third game, when at 9-9
Ashour upped his level to save the match and grasp a foothold and
deliver a hammer blow to the local hero.
Mueller lifted himself again in the fourth and again found himself just
two points away from glory, levelling the game at 10-10, but again it
was Ashour who won the crucial points and the maverick Egyptian then
upped his game again to storm to a 6-0 lead in the fifth.
In a see-saw encounter Mueller brought it back to 5-6, but he couldn't
find the killer blow and saw his hopes of recording a huge upset vanish
as the 27-year-old from Cairo came back to win in dramatic
circumstances.
Ashour will now face compatriot Omar Mosaad in the quarter-finals in what promises to be a bruising all-Egyptian encounter.
