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Sturbridge Capital Motor City Open 2023 |
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Sturbridge Capital Motor City Open 2023
Men's Draw
01 Jan- 05 Feb
Detroit, USA, $80k |
ROUND TWO
02 Feb |
QUARTERS
03 Feb |
SEMIS
04 Feb |
FINAL
05 Feb |
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[1] Paul Coll (NZL)
15-13, 11-7, 8-11, 11-1 (65m)
[9/16] Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) |
Paul Coll
10-12, 3-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 (74m)
Fares Dessouky |
Fares Dessouky
11-5, 11-5, 11-3 (26m)
Mazen Hesham |
Mazen Hesham
11-3, 11-4, 6-11, 11-3 (48m)
Diego Elias |
[5] Fares Dessouky (EGY)
9-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-6 (52m)
[9/16] Cesar Salazar (MEX) |
[7] Miguel Rodriguez (COL)
9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 (68m)
Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) |
Miguel Rodriguez
11-7, 11-7, 12-10 (45m)
Mazen Hesham |
[4] Mazen Hesham (EGY)
11-8, 11-3, 3-11, 11-6 (41m)
[9/16] Mohamed Elsherbini (EGY) |
[3] Tarek Momen (EGY)
11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 13-11 (59m)
[9/16] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) |
Tarek Momen
11-5, 4-11, 11-9, 11-4 (61m)
Youssef Soliman |
Tarek Momen
2-10, 11-6, 11-7 (50m)
Diego Elias |
[6] Youssef Soliman (EGY)
11-4, 12-10, 11-2 (38m)
[9/16] Adrian Waller (ENG) |
[8] Grégoire Marche (FRA)
11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 14-12 (70m)
[9/16] Shahjahan Khan (USA) |
Grégoire Marche
11-5, 11-5, 11-4 (26m)
Diego Elias |
[WC] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
10-12, 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 (52m)
[2] Diego Elias (PER) |
[1] Paul Coll (NZL) bye
[9/16] Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) bt Lucas Serme (FRA) 12-14, 11-4, 11-4,
11-1 (46m)
[9/16] Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 4-11, 6-11, 11-9,
13-11, 11-9 (81m)
[5] Fares Dessouky (EGY) bye
[7] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) bye
Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) bt [9/16] Nathan Lake (ENG) 15-13, 14-12, 11-5
(46m)
[9/16] Mohamed Elsherbini (EGY) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 11-7, 11-4, 8-11,
11-9 (48m)
[4] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bye
[3] Tarek Momen (EGY) bye
[9/16] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) bt Henry Leung (HKG) 11-8, 11-6, 4-11, 11-7
(36m)
[9/16] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Faraz Khan (USA) 11-9, 11-2, 11-3 (29m)
[6] Youssef Soliman (EGY) bye
[8] Grégoire Marche (FRA) bye
[9/16] Shahjahan Khan (USA) bt Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) 15-13, 11-7, 11-5
(38m)
[WC] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt [9/16] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) 8-11,
10-12, 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 (55m)
[2] Diego Elias (PER) bye |
Final
Elias Wins Third Consecutive Motor City Open Title
Diego Elias capped his 350th PSA World Tour match in perfect style as he
defeated Mazen Hesham to become the first man to win a hat-trick of
Sturbridge Capital Motor City Open titles.
Coming into tonight's final, the Peruvian World No.4, a Motor City Open
champion in 2020 and 2022, had made no secret of how at home he feels at
the Birmingham Athletic Club, and tonight the capacity crowd was treated
to another outstanding display.
The No.2 seed made a cautious start to game one and was content to play
low-risk squash, letting Hesham attack as the Peruvian inched to a 5-3
lead. However, after settling, Elias played brilliant tight squash to
limit Hesham’s famed attacking skills and take a run of six points as he
claimed the first game 11-3.
The second followed a similar pattern, with Elias happy to contain
Hesham before pressing on, moving 2-0 up thanks in no small part to
fantastically accurate work in the front corners.
In an exciting third game, the crowd witnessed some of the very best of
Mazen Hesham, with the increasingly confident looking Egyptian opening
up the contest with an impressive 11-6 win.
No doubt wary of Hesham’s 3-2 victory after having been 2-0 down to
Tarek Momen in November's Malaysian Open final, Elias started at a
furious pace in the fourth game.
The Peruvian looked razor sharp as he took the first four points and
never once let up, storming to a hat-trick of titles with another
dominant 11-3 victory.
Afterwards, Elias said: “It feels great [to win a third title]. I love
being here, I love this court and the people here. They make it really
amazing and make it feel like home. I’m really happy with my performance
this week.
“After [winning the Tournament of Champions] I knew it was going to be
really tough playing this week and I’m very proud of myself.
“Mazen played really well in the third game and I knew the start of the
fourth was going to be very important and I’m just happy I got the lead
at the start and then I was more relaxed.”
Hesham added: “I want thank everyone who came out today. I think I did
well this week; I had a tough tournament last week. I’m pleased with my
performance and want to congratulate Diego, he’s a good friend on and
off court.”
For both Elias and Hesham, attention turns immediately to their next
event, the Silver-level Pittsburgh Open, which takes place 8-12 February
at the Rivers Club and will be streamed live on PSA channels.
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Semi Finals
Elias to hunt title hat trick against Hesham
Defending champion Diego Elias reached his fourth consecutive Sturbridge
Capital Motor City Open final after beating Egypt’s Tarek Momen in a
brilliant display.
The Peruvian World No.4, who is looking to make it a hattrick of Motor
City Open titles, will face Egypt’s Mazen Hesham in the final tomorrow
after the No.4 seed coasted past compatriot Fares Dessouky.
Elias, 28, had spoken before tonight’s clash with 2019 World Champion
Momen about how well the court’s features suit his four-corners game,
and from the first ball the No.2 seed looked in sharp form.
In a thrilling opener that saw both players throw everything at each
other, it was Elias who edged into the lead courtesy of a 12-10 win.
The Peruvian put in an uneven performance in game two, opening up a 5-1
lead before being reeled in to 5-4, only to pull away again to go 2-0 up
with an 11-6 victory.
Elias’ brilliant retrieval skills were tested early on in the third game
by strong attacking play by Momen and, with the scores level at 5–5,
both men had the chance to push on.
It was Elias, though, who was able to do so, with the Peruvian pressing
home his advantage to end the match with an 11-7 win.
“I’m feeling great and feeling fast,” Elias said afterwards.
“I think I’m playing good squash at the moment. It’s always tough
playing Tarek, he’s a former World Champion and I always struggle
against him. I’m happy with my performance today and am looking forward
to another final!
“[The crowd makes] a huge difference. I love this club, I love playing
here. I’ve been coming here for the last eight years and I just feel at
home here.”
Standing in his way tomorrow is the formidable Hesham, who also scored a
straight-games victory.
Hesham went into the match with a 4-0 losing record against Dessouky but
quickly stormed into a 2-0 lead with a pair of 11-5 wins, with
Dessouky’s movement appearing troubled.
‘The Falcon’, though, will have known to be wary in the third, with
Dessouky showing his powers of recovery in coming from 2-0 down to dump
top seed Paul Coll out of Detroit in yesterday’s quarter final.
Hesham made sure he left nothing to chance against the struggling No.5
seed, keeping up his relentless pace to bring the match to a swift
conclusion with an 11-3 victory in the third game.
“To be honest, I could see in the beginning that Fares was not sure
about his movement, but I had to keep my head down and try to keep going
in the match because he can come back at any time,” Hesham said.
The Motor City Open final takes place tomorrow (February 5), with play
beginning at 17:00 (GMT-5). All the action from the Birmingham Athletic
Club will be streamed live and free on the PSA website, and on
SQUASHTV.
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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Quarter Finals
Dessouky Stuns Coll; Elias, Hesham and Momen Progress
Fares Dessouky fought back from two games down to beat top seed Paul
Coll and progress to the semi-finals of the Sturbridge Capital Motor
City Open.
No.5 seed Dessouky, who just days ago was knocked out in straight games
by Coll in the Tournament of Champions quarter final, looked to be
heading out when he went 2-0 down, with Coll coasting to an 11-3 win in
the second.
The Egyptian, however, responded well, edging the third game 11-9 and
then played a brilliant attacking game to take the fourth 11-5.
In a bad-tempered fifth game, it was Dessouky who clinched the
encounter, taking the match with an 11-9 on a stroke decision that was
furiously contested by the New Zealand No.1.
Afterwards, Dessouky said: “I enjoyed this battle so much. Today, I was
coming to push hard and see where it went. When I was 2-0 down, I pushed
really hard to win that and I’m so happy with my performance.”
Dessouky will meet compatriot Mazen Hesham in the semi final after the
No.4 seed got the better of Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez in an
entertaining battle.
Hesham, who had also lost to today’s opponent in the Tournament of
Champions quarter final, made a strong start to the match with a pair of
11-7 wins before sealing his spot in a first Motor City Open semi final
with an exhilarating 12-10 victory in the final game.
Afterwards, Hesham said that revenge had been on his mind in the
build-up to the match and that he was pleased with the calm manner of
his performance.
In the bottom half of the draw, No.3 seed Tarek Momen came through a
testing encounter, that was interrupted briefly by injury and the
exuberance of the crowd, with fellow Egyptian and No.6 seed Youssef
Soliman.
Momen went into the match with a 6-0 head-to-head record against Soliman
and looked in little danger as he took the opening game 11-5.
Soliman responded in the second to draw level with an 11-4 win, but was
unable to consistently apply pressure to the 2019 World Champion, with
Momen recovering from an uneven start to game three to win 11-9 and then
closing out the match with an 11-4 in the fourth.
Afterwards, Momen said: “I’m ok with [my performance]. I’m definitely
pleased to get the win because I was in a bit of trouble in that third
game.”
Momen will play No.2 seed and defending champion Diego Elias in the semi
final after the Peruvian breezed past France’s Gregoire Marche in 26
minutes.
The semi finals will take place tomorrow (February 4), with play
beginning at 17:00 (GMT-5). All the action from the Birmingham Athletic
Club will be streamed live and free on the PSA website.
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 2
Day of Comebacks Sees Seeds Safely Through
Diego Elias
No.2 Seed and last week's Tournament of Champions winner Diego Elias was
one of a number of players who were forced into a rearguard by lower
ranked opponents on day two of the Sturbridge Capital Motor City Open.
World No.4 Elias looked in trouble when Egypt's Mohamed Abouelghar - who
beat defending Motor City Open champion Elias in the final of the 2019
edition - took a fiercely contested first game 12-10, before the
Peruvian settled to close out the match with 11-7, 11-6, 11-9 wins.
Elsewhere, both Colombia's Miguel Rodriguez and Egypt's Fares Dessouky
came back from one game down to beat Aly Abou Eleinen and Cesar Salazar,
respectively.
Today also saw New Zealand's Paul Coll enter the tournament, with the
top seed beating Qatar's Abdulla Al Tamimi 3-1.
The quarter finals will take place tomorrow (February 3), with play
beginning at 18:00 (GMT-5). All the action from court 3 will be streamed
live and free on the PSA website.
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
Abouelghar Fights Back to Seal Place in Motor City
Open Round 2
Egyptian wildcard and 2019 champion Mohamed Abouelghar's return to the
tour continued to gather steam as he battled back from two games down to
beat Mexico's Leonel Cardenas and set up a second round Motor City Open
clash with defending champion Diego Elias.
Elsewhere, Cardenas' compatriot Cesar Salazar launched a comeback of his
own as he too came back from two games down to win, beating Egypt's
Karim El Hammamy 3-2.
Round two gets underway tomorrow (February 2) with play beginning at
17:00 (GMT-5). Action from court 3 will be streamed live and free on the
PSA website. |
Preview
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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