Egypt’s
World No.1s Ali Farag and Raneem El Welily are the 2019 DPD Open Squash
champions after they claimed respective wins over Mohamed ElShorbagy and
Nour El Sherbini in Eindhoven, Netherlands today.
The PSA World Tour Gold tournament was held at the brand new DPD
headquarters in the Dutch city to mark the grand opening of their new
distribution centre and it was the two Egyptian World No.1s who took
home the inaugural titles.
World No.1 El Welily claimed her second successive PSA title, following
her win last month at the Black Ball Squash Open, after producing an
incredible comeback from 2-0 down to win 10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8
against reigning World Champion El Sherbini.
El
Welily, who had gone to five games in all of her matches in Eindhoven,
held numerous game balls in the first, but El Sherbini battled back to
rattle off the points in quick succession, eventually taking the opener
on a tie-break.
The three-time World Champion then doubled her lead in the second, with
both players showing some unbelievable skill on court much to the
delight of the packed-out crowd. However, El Welily showed her
incredible mental strength to battle back in style and claim her 21st
PSA title.
“The five-setters really paid off eventually,” said 30-year-old El
Welily. “To come back from 2-0 down against Nour is almost impossible,
mentally at least, so I’m really happy with the way I managed to push
myself mentally and physically and show some character towards the end.
“After I lost the first when I was 10-5 up, I thought I blew it up, but
I just told myself it’s not the end of the world just keep pushing. You
need to come off court doing your best, if you mess things up sometimes
you fight hard to make things right again.”
Meanwhile,
World No.1 and World Champion Farag dominated against rival ElShorbagy
to claim the men’s title.
It was the first meeting between the two players since January’s J.P.
Morgan Tournament of Champions final when Farag won to take the World
No.1 spot from ElShorbagy and Farag ensured he continued his dominance
with a 3-1 win.
The first game looked as though it was going to set the tempo for the
rest of the match, with both players showcasing their ability to send it
all the way to a tense tie-break, which ElShorbagy claimed. However,
Farag came out firing in the second and never looked back as he
controlled the rest of the match against a below-par ElShorbagy to take
an 11-13, 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 victory.
“The first game was really tough and it was a tough one to lose,” said
the 26-year-old Farag afterwards.
“I’m glad I regrouped myself and Nour [El Tayeb] gave me a very good tip
after the first. It’s always a pleasure to share the court with someone
who is one of the greats of our sport and I’m looking forward to many
more battles in the future.
“He was No.1 when I was starting so Mohamed is always going to be
favourite. I don’t put much pressure on myself but obviously I’m very
happy with the way I handled things. I think I played good squash and
I’m looking forward to taking that on next week in El Gouna.”
The next PSA World Tour tournament will be the El Gouna International
which takes place in Egypt between April 17-26.
An Egyptian quartet will feature in the finals of the DPD Open Squash as
the world’s top four players – Raneem El Welily, Nour El Sherbini, Ali
Farag and Mohamed ElShorbagy – get set to do battle for the PSA Gold
titles in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
World No.1 Raneem El Welily and World No.2 Nour El Sherbini will go
head-to-head in the women’s final after they were both pushed all the
way to five games by compatriot Nour El Tayeb and France’s Camille Serme,
respectively. El
Welily avenged her defeat to El Tayeb at February’s PSA World
Championships by taking an 11-9, 7-11, 7-11, 11-2, 12-10 thrilling
victory, which sees her reach her 47th PSA final.
“Nour played really well and maybe better than me in some parts of the
match,” said World No.1 El Welily. “I just hung in there and tried to
push myself to fight until the end and I live to see another day.
“My attitude and personality on court they help me get to where I am
today and it’s definitely something I’ve been working on and I’m happy
to be in another final this season.”
El Welily and El Sherbini will contest their 12th successive PSA final
after the latter overcame France’s World No.4 Serme in another epic
five-game battle in the women’s draw at the DPD Hub in Eindhoven.
The two players have faced each other in the previous two tournaments,
with both of those encounters also going to five in the favour of the
Egyptian, and today proved to be no different as El Sherbini halted a
Serme comeback to be victorious by an 11-9, 11-4, 2-11, 3-11, 11-6
scoreline.
“It
is the third time that I have beaten Camille 3-2,” said 23-year-old El
Sherbini. “That shows how hard and tough the match is every time.
Unfortunately, we have played the last three tournaments against each
other, back to back, but I’m really glad to be on the winning side.
“After being up 2-0, she really came back strong and was attacking
everything when I was a bit passive and flat. In the fifth I tried to
get myself back and be mentally strong and I’m really glad I came back
strong and won.”
The men’s final will also be contested by the World No.1 and World No.2
as Ali Farag and Mohamed ElShorbagy claimed respective semi-final wins
over Germany’s World No.4 Simon Rösner and Egypt’s World No.6 Karim
Abdel Gawad.
Reigning World Champion Farag was in top form to despatch Germany’s
Rösner in straight-games in 38 minutes and progress through to his
eighth PSA final of the season.
“Winning
that first game was really important because I know it could have been
totally different if I lost that one,” said 26-year-old Farag. “I think
my movement got me through today, I don’t think my squash was the best,
he was dominating the ‘T’ area for most of the time.
“I’m just glad I was moving well and picking up a lot of his balls. It’s
always tough against Simon, tough but very fair, so it’s always a joy to
play against him especially in front of this crowd.”
Meanwhile,
ElShorbagy played out a high-quality match with former World No.1 Gawad
to progress through to his second successive final after winning the
Grasshopper Cup earlier this month.
The two players brought the crowd to their feet with an emphatic display
with ElShorbagy taking an 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9 victory that will see
him face Farag tomorrow in their first meeting since 26-year-old Farag
took the World No.1 spot from him.
“He’s [Gawad] definitely the most talented squash player we have on tour
now,” said 28-year-old ElShorbagy. “You have to get the physicality into
the match and make him work hard. The players who like making squash
look easy don’t like playing players that make it look tough.
“This is the first time we play where he is No.1 and I’m No.2 now, so
it’s reverse pressure a little bit. I think he [Farag] is going to feel
what I always feel when I played him before. It’s going to be a new
experience for both of us, he has been having an unbelievable season. He
raised the bar for all of us and we are all trying to get to that level
and I’m sure it’s going to be a great match tomorrow.”
The finals will take place on Sunday April 14 at 15:00 local time
(UTC+2) and the action will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV (rest of
world) and Eurosport Player (Europe only).
El Welily Survives Sobhy Test to Reach DPD
Semi-Finals Egypt’s
World No.1 Raneem El Welily narrowly avoided defeat in the
quarter-finals of the DPD Open Squash as she claimed a 3-2 win over
United States World No.12 Amanda Sobhy in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
30-year-old El Welily was pushed all the way in a tense battle with
Sobhy as she secured a 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 4-11, 11-8 triumph against the
American in a thrilling match to reach the last four of the PSA World
Tour Gold tournament.
“I’ve been waiting for the day to play Amanda since she came back from
injury,” said El Welily following her victory. “She played so well and
was so sharp today to push me to my limit. At 8-8 in the fifth I was
hanging in and I was afraid she was going to fire something into the
nick like she did in previous points but I’m very happy that I managed
to stay in those rallies.
“It’s been a very good season for me, I’m definitely enjoying myself on
the court more than I did in previous years. I don’t want it to stop, I
really want to keep on playing and winning as much as I can, but mostly
enjoy it.”
El Welily will now face compatriot and World No.3 Nour El Tayeb in a
repeat of their PSA World Championship semi-final, where El Tayeb
prevailed.
World No.3 El Tayeb was in scintillating form to despatch English No.1
Sarah-Jane Perry in just 22 minutes in the first match of the day’s
play, including an 11-0 win in the third.
“SJ is one of the toughest on tour,” said 25-year-old El Tayeb. “We have
had so many battles and I’m sure she is still coming back from her elbow
injury and it’s not going to be the same again.
“I didn’t think it was easy, I know it’s less time on court, but I felt
like I was running and working hard. I’m very happy with my performance
and to be in another semi-final of a big tournament like this – I’m very
proud.”
Meanwhile,
France’s Camille Serme and Egypt’s reigning World Champion Nour El
Sherbini will clash at the third successive tournament after they
claimed respective wins over England’s Laura Massaro and Wales’ Tesni
Evans.
The last two times the two players have met it has gone to five-games in
the favour of El Sherbini and Serme will be hoping for a different
outcome tomorrow after she overcame former World No.1 Massaro in a
four-game battle.
“I’ve kind of looked up to Laura as a mentor since the beginning,” said
the Frenchwoman following her win.
“We’ve had really strong matches in the past and I know how strong she
is mentally, and she can always come back from any situation. After the
first game I knew not to think it was going to be easy because she can
come back strongly, and she did.”
El Sherbini meanwhile showed that she was at her best as she displayed a
formidable performance to despatch Welshwoman Evans in straight-games.
“I’m really happy to win in three,” said three-time World Champion El
Sherbini. “It may have looked easy, but it’s never easy playing Tesni.
The first two games were really close, I worked really hard to beat her
and I’m very happy with my performance. I’m looking forward to the next
round.”
In
the men’s draw, Egypt’s World No.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy overcame younger
brother, Marwan, to book his place in the semi-finals where he will take
on former World No.1 Karim Abdel Gawad.
The Egyptian brothers were meeting for the first time since they clashed
at the 2018 El Gouna International, which went in the favour of Marwan.
However, it was the older sibling who came out on top this time around
with a strong 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 victory.
“I had to [be sharp]. When he plays me, or Ali [Farag], or Tarek [Momen],
or any of these top guys, he can turn his engine on at any time,”
Mohamed said of his younger brother.
“He was once playing at a very high standard. You don’t just lose that
all of a sudden, and he can turn it on at any time. I had to be very
sharp from the first point, I had to be aggressive.
“I thought it was a high quality match. He definitely made me play at my
best today, and that is what I really had to do to beat him.”
Meanwhile, his semi-final opponent, Gawad, overcame New Zealand’s World
No.5 Paul Coll in a tight battle with the Kiwi saving six match balls
before the Egyptian was eventually able to close out a 7-11, 11-7, 11-6,
14-12 win in 75 minutes.
“I’m feeling great,” said former World Champion Gawad following his
match. “Coming back from 6-10, to 10-10 and then almost winning the game
shows how good he is and how mentally strong he is. I had to fight from
the first point to be able to beat someone like Paul today.”
The
other men’s semi-final will see Egypt’s World No.1 Ali Farag face
Germany’s Simon Rösner for a place in the final.
Farag ensured he followed in his wife’s, Nour El Tayeb’s, winning
footsteps as he got the better of 2018 British Open champion Miguel
Rodriguez over four-games to edge out the Colombian and advance to the
last four.
“In the first two I felt like I was finding my targets quite well,” said
26-year-old Farag following his win. “In the third he was coming back at
me and he found better targets. Then as I was losing the third, I said
to myself I needed to regroup and find the back corners again and I
think I did that well.”
He will go up against Rösner in the next round, who displayed a
masterclass of a performance to send out England’s No.1 Declan James in
straight-games.
“I played really focused from the first point today and I think that was
really good for my squash,” said 31-year-old Rösner. “Especially against
someone like Dec, who is a really confident player, if he gets leads he
can really destroy you. I was focused from the first point and I kept it
throughout the match which was really important.”
The semi-finals will take place on Saturday April 13 at 15:00 local time
(UTC+2) and the action will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV (rest of
world) and Eurosport Player (Europe only).
The third day of action at the DPD Squash Open, PSA Gold event saw all
eight matches go the way of the higher-ranked player, with World No.2
Mohamed ElShorbagy setting up a quarter-final clash with younger
brother, Marwan, in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
The Egyptian brothers will face each other for the first time since last
season’s El Gouna International, where Marwan got the better of his
older brother in the semi-finals before going on to win his first PSA
Platinum title at the event. Former
World No.1 Mohamed kickstarted his DPD Open Squash campaign with a
confident 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 victory over World No.36 Chris Simpson in the
second round of the event.
“He played really well,” said 28-year-old Mohamed ElShorbagy following
his victory. “He played really accurate, mixing the pace well and put me
under pressure at times.
“The second game when it was 8-8 was very crucial and when I went 2-0
up, I felt I had a big advantage there and I’m really happy to be
through.”
Meanwhile,
Marwan was forced to hold off a resilient Joel Makin as he overcame the
Welsh World No.15 by an 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8 margin in a
gruelling 83-minute battle to secure a place in the last eight.
“Joel has been playing at a top ten level,” said 25-year-old Marwan. “He
has beaten the World No.1, he has beaten a few players inside the top
ten so I knew that this match was probably going to be the toughest
first round match I could have got.
“He [Mohamed] has been having an up and down season. Ali has taken the
World No.1 from him and he is trying to get that back. They are having a
good battle for that. I am looking to fighting the two of them next
season.”
In the other men’s quarter-final, New Zealand’s Paul Coll will go
head-to-head with Egypt’s former World No.1 Karim Abdel Gawad after they
secured respective wins over Germany’s Raphael Kandra and France’s
Gregoire Marche on day three.
Egypt’s World No.6 Gawad held off a late charge from dynamic Frenchman
Marche to reach the last eight in five-games, while Coll displayed a
confident performance to down Kandra in straight-games.
“It was a very tough first round,” said former World Champion Gawad.
“He’s a very strong physical player, an amazing athlete and so it was
very tough for me today and I’m glad I won to get through to the
quarters.”
In
the women’s draw, Wales’ World No.9 Tesni Evans stands in World No.2
Nour El Sherbini’s way in the next round after the reigning World
Champion got the better of Malaysian icon Nicol David in straight-games
in a dominant performance at the DPD Hub in Eindhoven.
“It’s really hard to play Nicol when you know it is the last season for
her,” said 23-year-old El Sherbini following her win. “I always say it’s
really special to play against Nicol.
“She really did a lot for our sport and I learned a lot from her. I
always looked up to her when I was younger, so it’s really tough to play
against her.”
Evans, meanwhile, was pushed all the way to five in a tense battle with
Egypt’s Mariam Metwally. The two players faced each other just last
month at the Black Ball Squash Open with that match also going all the
way to five, as Evans used her mental edge to close out the victory.
“That was a really big match for me in many ways,” said Welshwoman
Evans. “I’m really happy that I dug in and showed some grit and
determination, which I think in the end that is what it came down to.
“The last few weeks I haven’t felt myself on court and my main strength
is my grit and I didn’t have it. That’s really hard to take when you
come off court and you haven’t given it everything, so it was a really
big match in so many ways.”
Former
World No.1 Laura Massaro narrowly avoided defeat against Canada’s Hollie
Naughton after the Englishwoman found herself staring down the barrel of
defeat at 2-0 down.
Massaro was forced to call upon all of her resilience to find a way back
against surprise package Naughton, who played some of her best squash in
the opening two games, however Massaro clawed her way back to win 8-11,
8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 in 49 minutes.
She will now face France’ World No.4 Camille Serme in the quarter-finals
after the Frenchwoman defeated Egypt’s Yathreb Adel in four games in the
first match of the day.
“I knew that I’ve got a good reputation for being a fighter,” said
former World No.1 Massaro. “I thought that if I’m going to go down then
go down fighting and luckily it was enough in the end.
“I would have liked to have not spent as long on court, but the priority
is to win your first match. Camille is a tough player and for once I
have no pressure on my shoulders so it will be nice to play that one.”
The quarter-finals will take place on Friday April 12 at 12:00 local
time (UTC+2) and the action will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV (rest of
world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and the official Facebook page of
the PSA World Tour (excluding Europe and Japan).
England’s
World No.17 Declan James delivered a huge upset to reach the
quarter-finals of the DPD Open Squash after he knocked out Egypt’s World
No.8 Mohamed Abouelghar on day two of the PSA World Tour Gold tournament
in Eindhoven.
The England No.1 produced one of the biggest performances of his career
to down Egypt’s Abouelghar in straight-games in just his second win over
a top ten player after defeating Egypt’s Marwan ElShorbagy last month at
the Citigold Wealth Management Canary Wharf Classic.
Nottingham-born James looked down and out in the opening stages of the
first game as Abouelghar took complete control with his artillery of
shots to take a 10-5 lead. However, the tall Englishman soon grew into
the game, capitalising on any loose shots that came from the racket of
the Egyptian to take the first game on the tie-break.
The Englishman then doubled his lead, with Abouelghar allowing errors to
affect his game, before the World No.17 was able to close out a 14-12,
12-10, 11-6 victory.
“I knew that I was playing well coming into this event,” said
25-year-old James.
“Me and my coach went back after Grasshopper and worked on a couple of
things and it seems to have made a difference quickly which I’m really
happy about.
“I held myself together, a couple of nerves towards the end of the
second, but I managed to convert. It’s only my second time beating a top
ten player so I’m still learning, but I’m proud of myself and just want
to do more this week.”
James will now face Germany’s Simon Rösner for a place in the
semi-finals, after he defeated talented Egyptian Mazen Hesham in
straight-games.
The German didn’t put a foot wrong in the opening two games as he put
Hesham, who defeated France’s Mathieu Castagnet yesterday, to the sword
to take an early advantage. The Egyptian came back in the third, but it
proved to be in vain as Rösner closed out on the tie-break.
“He is such a unique player,” said the 31-year-old German. “You don’t
know what you are going to get so you can’t prepare really. Even though
I was 2-0 up, I knew that he could come back at any time, so I just
tried to be on my toes, and I think it was good for my confidence today.
“It’s amazing to have a tournament here, just to see all of those
packages running around the belts is quite amazing and it’s a cool new
venue.”
The other quarter-final match up will see World No.1 Ali Farag take on
Colombia’s World No.7 Miguel Rodriguez after the Egyptian conquered
England’s former World No.1 James Willstrop in straight-games to
advance.
“I’m
happy I got the win today,” said reigning World Champion Farag. “He came
at me in the first and I guess he is more used to the court, but I’m
glad I got that one in my favour because the mentality would have been
different otherwise.
“It has been an amazing season, but I don’t want to stop here. There are
a few tournaments left and I want to do well in them.”
Farag will face Rodriguez in the next round after he overcame skilful
Englishman Daryl Selby in four-games.
Selby overturned multiple gameballs to take the opener, before Rodriguez
found his best shots over the course of the next three games to take the
match, with some exhibition style rallies between the pair impressing
the crowd.
"I really liked it and I'm happy with my performance,” said the
Colombian afterwards. “In the first game, he played unbelievably well.
He was patient, he was getting everything, and I had to come back
stronger in the second.
"I tried to stop myself playing in exhibition mode, but that's Selby's
fault! I think we had a little bit of fun in the second and third, but
overall I think it was a good performance.”
Meanwhile, in the women’s draw, World No.1 Raneem El Welily scrapped
through to the quarter-finals after a five-game battle with England’s
World No.22 Millie Tomlinson.
The two players had never met before on the PSA Tour, but the
26-year-old Englishwoman pushed the World No.1 all the way as El Welily
was forced to call upon her big match experience to dig her out of
trouble to claim a narrow 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5 victory.
“She was really attacking,” said the 30-year-old Egyptian after the
match. “Everything was going her way and in the nick all the time. It
was a very tough match for my first round here but I’m happy to be
through and survive the storm.
“I was just trying to manage the conditions. I’m very happy I took the
lead in that fifth, she almost came back but I’m happy to finish it in
the end.”
El
Welily will now face United States No.1 Amanda Sobhy for a place in the
semi-finals after she displayed a dominant performance to down England’s
former World No.3 Alison Waters in straight-games.
Meanwhile the other quarter-final match in the top half of the draw will
see England’s Sarah-Jane Perry battle against Egypt’s World No.3 Nour El
Tayeb.
Perry avenged her defeat from a week ago at the Texas Open against
former World No.1 Rachael Grinham in Eindhoven as she claimed a 3-1
victory, while El Tayeb was clinical to dispatch Belgium’s Nele Gilis in
straight-games in the Dutch city.
“I was very prepared,” said 25-year-old El Tayeb following her win. “I
knew that she could run and pick up everything, so I had to be ready for
that. Mentally I was prepared for a hard match and I think I played very
well and I’m very happy with my performance.
“The last tournament didn’t go as planned, but I think it was very
emotional losing in the final of the World Championships, but not an
excuse to go out in the first round at Black Ball. I made sure this time
that I was ready and prepared for the first round here. It is a learning
experience and I learned a lot from my first round loss at the last
tournament and I’m ready not to make the same mistakes any time soon I
hope.”
Dutch Hopes Fall on Day One The
opening day of action at the 2019 DPD Open Squash saw home hopes fall as
Dutch No.1 Milou van der Heijden slipped to defeat against England’s
Millie Tomlinson (right)
in round one in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
World No.31 van der Heijden was unable to deliver in front of her home
crowd on day one of the PSA World Tour Gold tournament as she succumbed
to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of World No.22 Tomlinson inside the setting
of the brand new DPD headquarters in Eindhoven.
The Englishwoman started strongly and never let up to take the first
two-games. A good spell from van der Heijden in the third saw the Dutch
player rattle off a flurry of points to pull a game back, however, it
was not enough to prevent Tomlinson from booking her place in the second
round, where she will now face Egypt’s World No.1 Raneem El Welily.
“I’m relieved,” said 26-year-old Tomlinson following her victory. “Milou
had a good win against me in San Francisco a few months ago, so it was
good to come out here and get my revenge.
“I tried to increase the pace a bit tonight, she called me out a lot
with her boast last time, so I was prepared for that today.”
Van der Heijden’s compatriot in the women’s draw Tessa ter Sluis was
also unable to make it a day to remember for the home crowd as she was
defeated in straight-games by Egypt’s Yathreb Adel, who will now face
France’s World No.4 Camille Serme in the next round.
Meanwhile there was joy for eight-time World Champion Nicol David, who
resides in Amsterdam, after she overcame Egypt’s World Junior Champion
Rowan Elaraby in four games to set up a mouthwatering second-round tie
against reigning World Champion Nour El Sherbini.
“I knew coming in here I had to be solid and in the second game when I
let my guard down, she took it,” said former World No.1 David following
her win. “I knew what I had to do in the third and fourth and I was very
pleased with my focus. I’m very pleased to be playing in front of a
Dutch crown and back in Holland again.”
Elsewhere in the women’s draw, former World No.1 Rachael Grinham rolled
back the years as she prevailed against America’s Olivia Blatchford
Clyne in a five-game thriller on the sidecourts at Squash Time in
Eindhoven.
The 42-year-old took a two-game lead, before Blatchford Clyne battled
back to draw level. However, it was the Australian who was able to close
out the victory to complete an 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 8-11, 11-6 win in 45
minutes and will now face England’s No.1 Sarah-Jane Perry in the next
round.
“Nowadays, I just try to enjoy my squash as much as I can, because the
more I’m relaxed, the more I play well,” said former World Champion
Grinham.
“I always try and tell myself not to go for too much, but in the fifth,
I told myself that I had to make her work hard for it and win the points
instead of me giving them away.”
She will be joined in the second round by Canada’s Hollie Naughton after
she upset higher seeded opponent Emily Whitlock to advance at the
tournament.
The Canadian enjoyed a five-game battle with the Englishwoman to secure
a second-round berth where she will face England’s former World No.1
Laura Massaro.
In
the men’s draw, Wales’ Joel Makin ended Dutch hopes as he put wildcard
Roshan Bharos to the sword in straight-games.
The Welshman was comfortable on court to dispatch the Dutch hopeful by
an 11-3, 11-4, 11-5 scoreline and will now face Egypt’s Marwan
ElShorbagy for a place in the quarter-finals.
"Me and Roshan played a bit of juniors together,” said the 24-year-old
Welshman. "I know Roshan because he trains in Bristol, which isn't too
far away from me. I know he's working hard there and trying to improve
his game.
"He's got some nice skills, so hopefully those will give him the points
to go up a little bit more now.”
Meanwhile,
England’s former World No.1 James Willstrop battled back from the brink
of defeat against Australia’s Cameron Pilley to book his place in the
second round.
The experienced duo had faced each other seven times in the past on the
PSA Tour, with Willstrop claiming all of those wins, however, it looked
as though Pilley was finally going to break that run when he went 2-1
up. Willstrop dug in deep though and showed his resilience to produce a
masterclass in the fifth game and take a 6-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5
victory.
Willstrop will now face World No.1 and reigning World Champion Ali Farag
in the next round.
“It was very hard against Cameron,” said the Commonwealth Games Gold
medallist. “I never know where he is going to put the ball, there is so
much hold and deception. He’s really hard to play against and we have
been playing each other for years.
“The energy levels will need to be topped up after the first two days.
It’s a great venue, great new tournament and the atmosphere is good
tonight and I’m looking forward to playing Ali [Farag] and hopefully it
will be another good atmosphere.”
Willstrop’s compatriot Declan James also enjoyed a strong performance in
round one, overcoming Egyptian World Junior Champion Mostafa Asal in a
comfortable straight-games victory.
The tall Englishman played with maturity to avenge his defeat to the
teenager at December’s Black Ball Open and will now face Egypt’s Mohamed
Abouelghar for a place in the quarter-finals.
“I tried to leave emotions out of it,” said James following his victory.
“I had a very professional attitude and I’m happy with the level of
squash I played.
“I’m playing Abouelghar tomorrow and I can’t wait. The last time we
played it was a hard 3-2 in Chicago. I can’t wait to be back on the
glass court having a huge battle because I feel that’s where I belong
now.”
He will be joined by Daryl Selby in round two after he overcame France’s
Lucas Serme in a gruelling 80-minute encounter, while George Parker was
unable to make it a clean sweep for the English after he fell to defeat
at the hands of Germany’s Raphael Kandra.
Meanwhile,
Egypt’s Mazen Hesham also claimed an important victory, overcaming
experienced Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet, to set up a second-round clash
against Germany’s World No.5 Simon Rösner.
The talented Egyptian dominated on court in the opening exchanges
against Castagnet to take a 2-0 lead, before the Frenchman began to
battle back in the third to reduce the deficit. However, Hesham was able
to remain mentally strong to close out the victory by an 11-8, 11-7,
4-11, 11-8 scoreline.
“I think playing Castagnet you can never give him an inch to get back
into the match because he will just keep on fighting and fighting,” said
the Egyptian following his round one win.
“If you have watched me recently then I am playing so much better than
the last few months. I’m getting back better and better slowly and
hopefully I can keep going up.”
The second round takes place on Wednesday April 10 at 12:00 local time
(UTC+2) and the action will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV (rest of
world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and the official Facebook page of
the PSA World Tour (excluding Europe and Japan).
Dutch Hope van
der Heijden Relishing DPD
Open Netherlands’
World No.31 Milou van der Heijden will be one of the home favourites in
action when the DPD Open Squash takes place in Eindhoven from April
9-14.
The PSA World Tour Gold tournament will host 48 of the best male and
female players when they descend on the Dutch city next month to battle
it out for the titles.
The tournament will be held at the new DPD headquarters in Eindhoven to
mark the grand opening of their new distribution centre and will feature
a total prize fund of $212,000 split equally between the men’s and
women’s draws. Home hope van der Heijden can’t wait to see squash come
back to the Netherlands.
“I’m very pleased,” said Dutch No.1 van der Heijden.
“Obviously for me to play in the event, but also for the Dutch squash
fans it is very exciting to have such strong draws in both events. I
think it’s going to be a great week.
“Everyone has been talking about it for a while, so it's exciting that
it is almost here now.”
The last time a major squash tournament was held in the Netherlands was
the 2011 PSA World Championships in Rotterdam and 28-year-old van der
Heijden – who resides in Eindhoven - is looking forward to performing in
front of her home crowd once again.
“The last time I played a PSA tournament in the Netherlands was
qualification of the World Championships in Rotterdam back in 2011, so
that is a long time ago. I think this will be completely different, as I
now get to play on the glass court in such a great venue.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a great experience and I hope the crowd will
get behind me, like other home crowds do at other tournaments.”
Van der Heijden recently captured her biggest PSA title to date after
she defeated France’s Coline Aumard in the final of the Annecy Rose Open
and she says she is hoping to carry that winning momentum into next
week’s tournament.
“Winning at the Annecy Rose was great, I played well during that
tournament. That is definitely the momentum I’m trying to keep going.
Every tournament is different though, but winning a tournament never
hurts your confidence I think.”
The Dutch player will begin her tournament against England’s World No.22
Millie Tomlinson in round one, with van der Heijden getting the better
of her English opponent earlier this season at the Oracle NetSuite Open
in San Francisco.
“Me and Millie have been playing each other since juniors. We’ve had
some battles, so, this time will be no different.
“Millie is strong all around and has been playing well. I will need to
be on top of my game and see where it can take me.”
Van der Heijden will be joined in the draw by women's wildcard Tessa ter
Sluis and Roshan Bharos, who takes the wildcard spot in the men's event.
Opening round matches of the DPD Open will be played on Tuesday April 9
at a purposely built squash arena at the DPD premises and at Squashtime,
a 15-court facility in Eindhoven, which is the home of Dutch National
Champion van der Heijden. From April 10-14 all matches will be played on
the glass court.
Tickets for the DPD Open are available for purchase through
Ticketmaster.
The draws for
the 2019 DPD Open Squash have been announced today, with some
blockbuster fixtures in store at the DPD Hub Eindhoven between April
9-14.
48 of the best male and female players will descend on the Dutch city
next month to battle it out for the PSA World Tour Gold titles. World
No.1 and World Champion Ali Farag is seeded to meet compatriot and World
No.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy in the final. The two players have become
familiar foes on the PSA World Tour this season, battling it out in
three finals already in 2018/19.
Farag will first have to negotiate through a tough field, which sees him
drawn on the same side as the likes of Colombia’s 2018 British Open
champion Miguel Rodriguez, compatriot Mohamed Abouelghar and Germany’s
World No.5 Simon Rösner, who he could face in the last four.
ElShorbagy meanwhile, could face a showdown with compatriot and former
World No.1 Karim Abdel Gawad for a place in the final. Also seeded in
the bottom half of the draw is New Zealand’s Paul Coll, who recently won
the Canary Wharf Squash Classic title and ElShorbagy’s younger brother,
Marwan.
Meanwhile
in the women’s draw, World No.1 Raneem El Welily and World Champion Nour
El Sherbini could lock horns in the final of the DPD Open, in their
fourth meeting in a final this season.
2019 Black Ball Open winner, El Welily could face compatriot and World
No.3 Nour El Tayeb in the semi-finals of the tournament. The last time
the two players came up against each other was in the last four of the
PSA World Championships in Chicago when El Tayeb put an end to El
Welily’s title defence.
Also situated in the top half of the draw is New Zealand’s World No.5
Joelle King and England’s World No.6 Sarah-Jane Perry.
El Sherbini, meanwhile, could face a rematch with France’s World No.4
Camille Serme in the semi-finals in Eindhoven. The two players have
faced each other in their last two tournaments with both matches going
to five-games and seeing the Egyptian triumph.
Also in the bottom half of the draw is England’s former World No.1 Laura
Massaro and Egypt’s World No.8 Nouran Gohar.
Home interest in the women’s draw comes in the form of Netherlands’
Milou van der Heijden and wildcard Tessa ter Sluis who will face
England’s Millie Tomlinson and Egypt’s Yathreb Adel, respectively, in
round one. The men’s wildcard will be decided on March 31 in a Play-Off
match between Roshan Bharos and Thijs Roukens. The winner of that match
takes on Joel Makin from Wales in the opening round.
Tickets for the DPD Open are available for purchase through
Ticketmaster.
World's Best To Line Up In Eidhoven
For DPD Open The world’s greatest squash players – including reigning World Champions
Ali Farag and Nour El Sherbini (right) – will line up in Eindhoven between April
9-14 as they do battle for the 2019 DPD Open, PSA World Tour Gold
titles.
Held at the new DPD Hub in Oirschot, the DPD Open will offer up a prize
purse of $212,000, which is split equally between the men’s and women’s
events. Farag and El Sherbini will look to replicate the form which saw
them claim the most prestigious titles in squash last week at the PSA
World Championships presented by the Walter Family.
Farag dethroned fellow Egyptian Mohamed ElShorbagy to rise to World No.1
earlier this month, and both players will feature in a top-class draw
that also features stars such as former World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad,
Germany’s Simon Rösner, Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez, Netherlands-based
Paul Coll, World No.8 Mohamed Abouelghar and former World No.3 Marwan
ElShorbagy.
The women’s draw will feature the entirety of the top 10, with World
No.1 Raneem El Welily headlining the draw ahead of El Sherbini, World
Championship runner-up Nour El Tayeb, France’s Camille Serme, New
Zealand’s Joelle King, English duo Sarah-Jane Perry and Laura Massaro,
and World No.8 Nouran Gohar.
Also included is Dutch No.1 Milou van der Heijden. Eindhoven-based van
der Heijden currently holds a career-high World No.29 ranking and will
head up home interest.
Dutch No.2 Tessa ter Sluis has been named the wildcard in the women’s
event, while the men’s wildcard will be decided by a playoff between the
top ranked Dutch male, Roshan Bharos, and World No.265 Thijs Roukens,
prior to the tournament starting.
Matches will be split between the DPD Hub and Squash Time Eindhoven
during round one, while all matches from the second round onwards will
be held on the glass court erected at the DPD Hub.
Tickets for the DPD Open are available for purchase through
Ticketmaster.
![[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bye Millie Tomlinson (ENG) bt Milou van der Heijden (NED) 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6 (46m) Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt Danielle Letourneau (CAN) 12-10, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8 (33m) [7] Alison Waters (ENG) bye [5] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bye Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Olivia Blatchford Clyne (USA) 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 8-11, 11-6 (45m) Nele Gilis (BEL) bt Julianne Courtice (ENG) 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (54m) [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bye [4] Camille Serme (FRA) bye Yathreb Adel (EGY) bt [WC] Tessa ter Sluis (NED) 11-3, 11-9, 11-4 (17m) Hollie Naughton (CAN) bt Emily Whitlock (ENG) 13-11, 7-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9 (56m) [6] Laura Massaro (ENG) bye [8] Tesni Evans (WAL) bye Mariam Metwally (EGY) bt Coline Aumard (FRA) 12-10, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6 (45m) Nicol David (MAS) bt Rowan Elaraby (EGY) 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 (37m) [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bye](../images/2019/dpd_open/dpd_open_logo.jpg){kind=link}