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Houston Open 2023
Men's Draw
11 - 15 Jan
Texas, USA, $110k |
ROUND TWO
12 Jan |
QUARTERS
13 Jan |
SEMIS
14 Jan |
FINAL
15 Jan |
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2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG)
11-9, 11-7, 11-6 (39m)
[9/16] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) |
Mohamed ElShorbagy
11-8, 12-10, 14-12 (59m)
Youssef Soliman |
Mohamed ElShorbagy
9-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-8 (52m)
Mazen Hesham |
Mohamed ElShorbagy
11-6, 11-7, 11-2 (49m)
Mostafa Asal |
[6] Youssef Soliman (EGY)
11-6, 11-9, 11-7 (51m)
[9/16] Mohamed Elsherbini (EGY) |
Leonel Cardenas (MEX)
11-6, 7-11, 11-9, 13-11 (52m)
[7] Nicolas Müller (SUI) |
Leonel Cardenas
11-6, 11-8, 11-4 (28m)
Mazen Hesham |
[4] Mazen Hesham (EGY)
11-7, 1-11, 11-4, 11-6 (42m)
Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) |
[3] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY)
11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7 (50m)
[9/16] Raphael Kandra (GER) |
Marwan Elshorbagy
11-8, 11-8, 11-9 (40m)
Grégoire Marche |
Marwan Elshorbagy
11-7, 11-8, 4-11 retired (98m)
Mostafa Asal |
[8] Grégoire Marche (FRA)
3-11, 4-11, 11-3, 11-2, 11-8 (70m)
Auguste Dussourd (FRA) |
[5] Victor Crouin (FRA)
11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 5-11, 11-4 (70m)
[9/16] Omar Mosaad (EGY) |
Victor Crouin
11-5, 11-7, 11-8 (57m)
Mostafa Asal |
[9/16] Moustafa El Sirty (EGY)
11-4, 11-6, 11-5 (40m)
[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) |
[2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bye
[9/16] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 11-5, 11-4, 14-12
(37m)
[9/16] Mohamed Elsherbini (EGY) bt Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) 11-7,
11-13, 11-6, 11-4 (65m)
[6] Youssef Soliman (EGY) bye
[7] Nicolas Müller (SUI) bye
Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt [9/16] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 11-7, 13-11,
11-7 (58m)
Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) bt [9/16] Sébastien Bonmalais (FRA) 11-5, 11-1,
11-4 (34m)
[4] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bye
[3] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) bye
[9/16] Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [WC] Arhan Chandra (USA) 11-6, 11-6,
13-11 (31m)
Auguste Dussourd (FRA) bt [9/16] Shahjahan Khan (USA) 11-7, 11-9, 4-11,
11-4 (54m)
[8] Grégoire Marche (FRA) bye
[5] Victor Crouin (FRA) bye
[9/16] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Todd Harrity (USA) 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6
(54m)
[9/16] Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) bt Nathan Lake (ENG) 9-11, 11-9, 11-8,
11-7 (58m)
[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bye |
Final
World No.1-to-be Mostafa Asal Claims Houston Open
Title
Egypt's World No.1-to-be, Mostafa Asal has claimed the Houston Open 2023
title at the Houston Squash Club after beating England's former World
No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy in straight games.
After overcoming No.3 seed Marwan ElShorbagy in controversial
circumstances in yesterday’s semi-finals, Mostafa Asal guaranteed
himself the top spot in the next PSA World Rankings but had one more
match to play in Houston, as he took on the older ElShorbagy brother,
Mohamed, for the title.
Both players came out to solid starts in the match, moving the ball
accurately into the back two corners with both looking to intercept on
the volley to take the ball in short. Asal was able to find more
attacking opportunities at the mid-stage of the game and ran through to
a 9-5 lead before hitting two thunderous cross-court nicks to take the
opening game 11-6.
ElShorbagy was looking to capture his 49th PSA title this afternoon and
came back at Asal in the second game with serious intensity. The England
No.1 drifted slightly as Asal established a 7-5 lead, but ElShorbagy
produced two quality rallies to draw level. ElShorbagy then disagreed
with his backhand kill being called ‘not good’ by the referees and lost
his concentration, which allowed Asal to move forward and convert the
game 11-7 and take a massive 2-0 lead and place one hand on the trophy.
The end came quickly for the 2017 World Champion as Asal’s hard-hitting
pace was relentless. He rattled off point after point to charge towards
the finish line, setting himself up with eight championship balls as he
reached 10-2. A backhand drop from ElShorbagy found the tin to seal the
match and the tournament for the 21-year-old, who now has 12 PSA titles
to his name.
Here’s what Asal had to say after his win:
“I’m so happy for this tournament and for Jahanzeb [Khan, the promoter].
Thanks to all the sponsors and all the guys here that make this event
alive. As I said, if we have three or four Jahanzebs, we could be an
Olympic sport. He’s doing so many great things for squash, thanks for
all he is doing and all his efforts and I want to thank all the
community here for coming today.
“I'm so happy to claim this spot [talking about becoming World No.1].
Mohamed [ElShorbagy] knows this spot very well for sure. I've always
been looking up to him, he was my idol since I was a kid, I would always
go to events in Egypt to watch him and cheer for him, so to play with
him at any point is a pleasure for me.
“Today, as you could see, nothing [bad] was happening on the court, it's
all about respect. Other players are creating my reputation so it's
tough to play against them but to play against this beast and and this
idol is a pleasure and I want to that him for his support. He’s the only
player who supports me, he is the only player who was messaging me to
tell me that I am right and that I will get there, so I couldn’t thank
him more.”
The PSA World Tour heads to New York next for the J.P Morgan Tournament
of Champions, taking place from 18 - 26 January. The action will be live
on SQUASHTV from the second round onwards.
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Semi Finals
Mostafa Asal Secures World No.1 Spot As He Reaches
Houston Open Final
21-year-old Egyptian Mostafa Asal is guaranteed to become the World No.1
in the next PSA World Rankings after overcoming compatriot Marwan
ElShorbagy in controversial style in the Houston Open semi-finals.
With so much on the line for Asal, the tension was heightened between
the two Egyptians from the opening exchanges in the first game. Both
players started off with attritional rallies with the middle of the
court seeing a lot of action and traffic. The World No.2 was ahead for
most of the game with refereeing decisions deciding the majority of the
points. Asal managed to close out the game 11-7, winning seven of those
points on stroke decisions.
The second game followed a similar pattern with both players trying to
hold their ground in the middle of the court and looking to find space
to test each-others movement. The score reached 8-8 in the crucial game
and it was the younger Egyptian, Asal, who played the big points better
and let out a might roar after his drop shot wasn't retrieved by
ElShorbagy.
The street-wise ElShorbagy responded in the third game and started to
use different angles to break up the rhythm of Asal and string points
together to breathe more life in the contest. Unfortunately, however, at
10-4 game ball to ElShorbagy, there was contact between the two players
in the middle of the court which sent ElShorbagy to the ground, with
loud screams of pain coming from the World No.6.
ElShorbagy was helped off court and after being given time to treat his
injury, he was subsequently unable to return to court and the match was
awarded to Mostafa Asal. That win for the top seed ensured his place in
the final and that he will become the youngest World No.1 since the
great Jansher Khan in 1988 in the next PSA World Rankings on Monday.
Asal’s will be up against the older ElShorbagy brother and former World
No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy in tomorrow’s final, after ‘The Beast’ needed
four games to defeat crowd favourite Mazen Hesham.
In similar style to his first two matches in the tournament, ElShorbagy
came out of the traps firing in the opening game. Volleying the ball at
every opportunity and trying to make the match as hard as possible,
physically, for the well-supported Mazen Hesham. ElShorbagy led 8-4, but
the skills of Hesham can never be ignored. He rattled off several
winners to run through and steal the first game 11-9.
The second game was tight throughout with both players unable to pull
away from each other on the scoreboard. The quality of the squash was of
the highest quality as ElShorbagy was looking to work the ball deep to
set up his attacking opportunity, whereas Hesham was firing the ball
short left, right and centre. 'The Falcon' saved a game ball at 10-9 but
was unable to carry any momentum into the tiebreak as 'The Beast'
levelled, winning 12-10.
The physicality of the opening two games were certainly taking its toll
on both players in the third and fourth games, but more so for No.4
seed, Hesham. He was still able to produce outrageous winners but the
pressure from ElShorbagy was relentless. The former World No.1 kept his
focus to take the games 11-7, 11-8 and reach yet another PSA World Tour
final. He's set up a mouth-watering final clash with the World No.1 to
be, Mostafa Asal.
“You can never write me off, never ever, you can never write ‘The Beast’
off,” said ElShorbagy.
“I was 9-6 up in the first and I had no right to lose that game, but
it’s what you do and how you come back after losing a tough first game
like that. When I was 6-1 down I had a walk to the towel and told myself
to breathe, think, everything is happening too fast, calm down, see
what’s going on, where is he getting winners from and try to find a way
back.
“I just fought. I was 1-0 & 6-1 down in a semi, it’s not easy to come
back, especially against someone like Mazen [Hesham], who can get quick
winners. As I said you can never write me off, I came back and won and
I’m in another final this season and I can’t wait to be there tomorrow.
“A lot of people said last season that I was done, I was gone, there is
no way back for ‘the Beast‘. I don’t know where those people are
anymore. It's very easy to sit behind a keyboard and just comment here
and there when you have no idea how it is at the top. People said when I
moved to England Squash that they were getting an old man, but I
promised that I would go back to World No.1 and I'm on my way there and
I want to get there, nothing is going to stop me.”
The Gold event final gets underway tomorrow (January 15) with play
beginning at 13:00 and will be streamed live on SQUASHTV and other
broadcast partners.
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Quarter Finals
Asal Storms Into Semi-Finals
Egypt’s top seed Mostafa Asal produced a professional
performance to overcome France’s Victor Crouin to reach the semi-finals
of the Houston Open 2023.
Mostafa Asal in action. Photo by Collin Poon Kong
‘The Raging Bull’ came out to a blistering start to dominate the
Frenchman with Crouin not able to get in front of Asal at any point.
Asal hit with great pace to pin Crouin in the back corners and pick off
loose balls that were forced.
After Asal secured the first game 11-5, some refereeing decisions
started to creep into the encounter with Crouin eager to put his stamp
on the match. Asal held his ground however and was punished with strokes
against him for loose drives. The No.5 seed was becoming more frustrated
during the game, allowing Asal to move forward and take a 2-0 lead,
winning 11-7.
For more information on the event, Where available see the
PSA Live Scores page, or
follow on
PSAChallengerTourLivestreams,
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram
&
TikTok. Selected
events will also be streamed live on
SQUASHTV.
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Round 2
Mohamed ElShorbagy Digs Deep To Defeat Dangerous
Soliman
Mohamed ElShorbagy in action. Photo by Collin Poon
Kong
The World No.4 turned 32 yesterday but showed no signs of ageing as the
pace that he came out to in the first game was electrifying. His
movement and hitting were completely in sync as he took the game to his
younger opponent. Soliman found an avenue back into the game and
levelled at 8-8 by hitting crisply to the back of the court. This
pressure wasn’t enough for Soliman however as ElShorbagy (as he so often
does) played the big points extremely well, to win 11-8.
Soliman matched ElShorbagy as the hard rallies continued. Both players
were putting considerable work into one another with severe hitting to
both the front and back corners. It was Soliman who earned the first
game ball at 10-9, but was unable to convert as ElShorbagy found another
gear and after levelling up, the former World Champion hit an
unbelievable volley drop followed by an ace to take a 2-0 lead.
The third game started positively for Soliman, with the Egyptian leading
8-4 and looked sure to be taking the match into a fourth game. The
stubborn ElShorbagy had other ideas however and started to mount his
comeback. Once ‘The Beast’ got on a roll, he was never going to be
stopped. The No.2 seed was able to physically back up tough rally after
tough rally and stole the game away from Soliman to win 14-12 and move
into the semi-finals.
“I’m very happy, Youssef [Soliman] is a high-quality player I had to
produce my best squash to win,” said ElShorbagy after his win.
“He didn’t have a very good start in the first game, I was 6-1 up and I
relaxed and he came back to show what a quality player he is. It was
tough all the way through, the second game could have gone either way,
the third game could have gone either way, just a bit of experience here
and there, I played the big points better and I’m glad to win.
“When I was down in the third game I just thought to not let him win it
easy. The mentality there is to think about the fourth game and think
about if I’m going to lose this game, I need to make it as tough as
possible to invest in the fourth game but obviously it was a big bonus
to win in three.”
For more information on the event, Where available see the
PSA Live Scores page, or
follow on
PSAChallengerTourLivestreams,
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram
&
TikTok. Selected
events will also be streamed live on
SQUASHTV.
|
Round 1
Mexico’s Leonel Cardenas Gatecrashes Houston Open
Quarter Finals
Unseeded Mexican Leonel Cardenas scored another upset on day two of the
Houston Open 2023 as he overcame No.7 seed and World No.13 Nicolas
Mueller from Switzerland to reach his first Gold event quarter final.
Elsewhere, all other seeds progressed through to the quarter finals,
including French duo Victor Crouin and Gregoire Marche who came through
brutal five-game encounters against Egypt’s Omar Mosaad and fellow
Frenchman Auguste Dussourd respectively.
For more information on the event, Where available see the
PSA Live Scores page, or
follow on
PSAChallengerTourLivestreams,
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram
&
TikTok. Selected
events will also be streamed live on
SQUASHTV.
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Preview
Asal Given Chance To Become World No.1 As Farag Withdraws
From Upcoming Houston Open
Mostafa Asal
World No.2 Mostafa Asal has been handed a golden chance to reach the
summit of the PSA world rankings due to the withdrawal of the current
World No.1 Ali Farag. Prior to Farag’s withdrawal, Asal would have
needed to win the event had Farag reached the semi-finals or better, but
now Asal only needs to reach the final to become World No.1 on January
16.
Farag is still struggling with a knee problem that he sustained during
the U.S. Open 2022. Farag was forced to withdraw from the Platinum event
final with Diego Elias and looked to be carrying the injury at the
Grasshopper Cup soon after. Since then, Farag has not featured in a PSA
event.
‘The Raging Bull’ now becomes the top seed for the event and bids to
claim his third title of the season after victories at the Grasshopper
Cup and the Hong Kong Open. He is seeded to meet in-form Englishman
Mohamed ElShorbagy, who has now moved to No.2 seed in the event. Mazen
Hesham has also moved to a more favourable position as he is now the
No.4 seed and moves into the top half of the draw.
France’s Gregoire Marche has become a top eight seed for the event and
will now receive a bye in round one before facing either Shahjahan Khan
or compatriot Auguste Dussourd in round two. Fellow Frenchman Sebastien
Bonmalais is now a 9/16 seed and faces Aly Abou Eleinen, who fills the
vacant spot in the draw.
You can watch all the action from the Houston Open 2023 live on
SQUASHTV, with live scores available here.
Updated Draw: Houston Open 2023
[2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) Bye
Cesar Salazar (MEX) v [9/16] Baptiste Masotti (FRA)
[9/16] Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) v Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP)
[6] Youssef Soliman (EGY) Bye
[7] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) Bye
Leonel Cardenas (MEX) v [9/16] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)
[9/16] Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) v Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY)
[4] Mazen Hesham (EGY) Bye
[3] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) Bye
[WC] Arhan Chandra (USA) v [9/16] Raphael Kandra (GER)
[9/16] Shahjahan Khan (USA) v Auguste Dussourd (FRA)
[8] Gregoire Marche (FRA) Bye
[5] Victor Crouin (FRA) Bye
Todd Harrity (USA) v [9/16] Omar Mosaad (EGY)
[9/16] Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) v Nathan Lake (ENG)
[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) Bye
For more information on the event, Where available see the
PSA Live Scores page, or follow
on
PSAChallengerTourLivestreams,
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram
&
TikTok. Selected
events will also be streamed live on
SQUASHTV.
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