Shorbagy claims Colombia crown Top
seed Mohamed Elshorbagy claimed the title in the most
lucrative tournament ever held in South America as he beat fellow
Egyptian Omar Mosaad, the second seed, in a four game final
in Cartagena.
The
first wo games were shared before the World #1 dominated the third
and recovered from 4-7 down in the fourth to claim the title.
"I
want to congratulate Omar and his team for an amazing week," said
Elshorbagy.
"He has been having such a great season, he absolutely deserves to
be where he is in the rankings right now and I look forward to more
great matches with him in the future.
"This is by far the best tournament I’ve played in my life. I’ve
absolutely loved it."
The victory marks Elshorbagy's 19th PSA title, and his second of
the year.
Diego Elias (Per) 3-0 Nicolas Mueller (Sui)
11/8, 11/1, 11/7 (35m)
Cesar Salazar (Mex) 3-1 Campbell Grayson (Nzl)
11/6, 11/4, 8/11, 11/9 (70m)
Alan Clyne (Sco) 3-0 Charles Sharpes (Eng)
11/9, 11/3, 11/3 (34m)
Zahed Mohamed (Egy) 3-2 Alfredo Avila (Mex) 11/9, 11/4,
8/11, 7/11, 12/10 (90m)
14-Feb, Qualifying Round One:
Nicolas Mueller (Sui) 3-2 Eric Galvez (Mex)
7/11, 8/11, 11/6, 11/5, 11/0
Diego Elias (Per) 3-0 Erick Herrera (Col)
11/8, 11/1, 11/2
Campbell Grayson (Nzl) 3-0 Dairo Sandoval (Col)
11/3, 11/5, 11/7
Cesar Salazar (Mex) 3-0 Ben Coiates (Eng)
11/4, 11/4, 11/4
Alan Clyne (Sco) 3-2 Arturo Salazar (Mex)
11/2, 6/11, 11/6, 7/11, 11/6
Charles Sharpes (Eng) 3-0 Stuart Hadden (Irl)
11/7, 11/3, 11/9
Alfredo Avila (Mex) 3-0 Chris Gordon (Usa)
11/4, 11/9, 11/7
Zahed Mohamed (Egy) 3-0 Juan Camilo Vargas (Col)
11/9, 14/12, 11/8
Top
seeds through to Cartagena final
It will be top seeds Mohamed Elshorbagy and Omar Mosaad
who contest the final of the SquashColombia Open after they won
their all-Egyptian semi-finals in Cartagena.
World
#1 Elshorbagy faced his younger brother Marwan, coming through with
a four-game win after an hour's play.
"The hardest person I can play is my brother," said Mohamed.
"Today
we had to play against each other which was so difficult. Trying to
beat my brother is emotionally difficult and it takes so much out of
both of us. I thought he played so well, it’s the best he has ever
played against me."
Mosaad,
playing Tarek Momen in a repeat of their World semi-final of last
year, had to fight back from two games down, finally prevailing in
just short of 100 minutes.
"This
is the third time I have played Tarek in the last year," said
Mosaad. "He played really well in the first two games and I thought
that the match would be ending soon but in the third game I started
to play well.
"I changed my style and my tactics a little bit and it worked in the
third and fourth games. In the fifth I started to focus again and
take things step-by-step, point-by-point and I’m happy to make it
and reach the final."
An Egyptian champion is guaranteed in Cartagena as Mohamed and
Marwan Elshorbagy, Tarek Momen and Omar Mosaad all won their
quarter-finals matches.
Top
seed Mohamed Elshorbagy beat England's Tom Richards in straight
games, and will face Marwan for a place in the final after the world
#1's younger brother came from a game down to beat home favourite
and third seed Miguel Rodriguez.
"I had to change my tactic every point," said Mohamed.
"The outside court makes the sport more interesting and it makes it
more exciting. I absolutely love outdoor courts because I think that
it makes things interesting with regards to how other players are
going to deal with it mentally. I’m really happy with how I adapted
today."
Marwan was delighted with his win and looking forward to the
fraternal clash:
"It
was my first time playing Miguel today," he said. "I didn’t know
what to expect, he’s done so much for himself. He is having a great
career so far and everyone should be proud of what he has achieved
here. What he has done is amazing and I wish I could achieve what he
has already done and I’m sure he is going to achieve much more than
this.
"It’s going to be a great match against Mohamed of course. We will
both look forward to it and we’ve played so many times already. We
will both give it everything and hopefully we will entertain the
crowd."
In the bottom half of the draw second and fourth seeds Mosaad and
Momen beat Saurav Ghosal and Cameron Pilley, both in straight games.
17-Feb, Round One, Bottom: Seeds win through in Cartagena bottom half Indian World
#20 Saurav Ghosal prevented a huge upset in
round one bottom half after he came through an entertaining
five-game battle against 19-year-old Peruvian World Junior Champion
Diego Elias in Cartagena.
Ghosal’s experience and fitness
eventually made the difference as the 29-year-old took advantage of
a tiring Elias to close out the win with an 11-9, 2-11, 5-11, 11-8,
11-6 margin of victory.
"Diego is a fantastic player,” said Ghosal. “He’s the reigning
World Junior Champion and I’ve played him twice now in Colombia,
both in Bogota and here today.
"It’s been absolutely brutal. I had to
get him off the ’T’ because he is so good across the middle of the
court and he has very good shots.
"It is similar to what one of my role models, Jonathon Power,
used to do because he trains with him quite a bit. He’s an absolute
handful and I’m sure that we are going to have a lot more matches
together and hopefully we will entertain the people of Cartagena and
everyone around the world like this every time."
Second seed Omar Mosaad has also secured a quarter-final
berth after completing a straightforward 3-0 victory over fellow
Egyptian Zahed Mohamed.
Despite a hard-fought
finish to the encounter, the 27-year-old wrapped up the win by an
11-4, 11-4, 13-11 scoreline to advance to the last eight where he
will do battle with Ghosal.
"It’s really tough to play against Zahed, we usually train with
each other and he is a talented player," said Mosaad.
"To play
against him is really hard so I tried today to play really well,
especially in these conditions.
"I’m happy with my performance today.
Maybe I could have focused more in the third game but I think that
the key was that he changed his game a little bit in the third. I
tried to come back again and I’m happy to win in three."
Egypt’s Tarek Momen also sealed his spot in
the next round after coming back from a game down to beat tenacious Mexican Cesar Salazar.
"Today I was very focused and I knew that I was playing a very
dangerous opponent," said Momen.
"I wanted to get my revenge because
last time we played, he beat me 3-0. I was tired but the only thing
that kept me going towards the end was the fact that I knew that he
was tired as well. I’m very glad I won today, it was a very good
match and I hope I can feel better tomorrow."
Australian #1 Cameron Pilley advanced to the last eight
after he powered past South Africa’s Stephen Coppinger. The
World #14 will meet Momen for a place in the semi-final.
16-Feb, Round One, Top: Marwan and Miguel survive in Cartagena
The main draw got under way
in Cartagena with four matches in the top half which resulted in two
straight game wins, two marathons, two Shorbagys through to the
quarters and one upset.
Top
seed Mohamed Elshorbagy eased past wildcard Andres Felipe
Herrera in straight games, but his younger brother Marwan,
the fifth seed, needed all five games to get past Spain's Borja
Golan.
“I felt good on court today, it’s such an amazing venue,” said
Mohamed. "There are so many great players playing this tournament,
it’s a little bit humid and the conditions are hot so it’s a little
bit tricky, but playing in different conditions is something that we
all have to deal with."
Marwan
concurred: "It was tough for both of us out there," he said.
"The most important part of that was the mental part. I had to be
mentally very strong today."
Mohamed will now face England's Tom Richards, who upset
seventh seeded Aussie Ryan Cuskelly in straight games, while Marwan
meets Colombian favourite Miguel Rodriguez, the third seed
who also needed five games to get past Scottish qualifier Alan
Clyne.
"It
was a very intense match in difficult conditions due to the
humidity," said Rodriguez.
"All credit to Alan who played very well and he gave it his best
tonight. I’m pleased to win my first round and I’ve got a day off
tomorrow before I battle in the next round."
Twitter:
@squashcolombia
15-Feb, Qualifying Round One: Qualifying complete in Cartagena
It was a good day for the American contingent in Cartagena as
Peru's Diego Elias and Mexico's Cesar Salazar produced upset results
in the qualifying finals. They'll be joined in the main draw by
Scotland's Alan Clyne and Egypt's Zahed Mohamed.
Diego
Elias 3-0 Nicolas Mueller
It was a match with history, last time they played Diego was leading
2-0 and Mueller overturned the score to win 3-2.
But this time the Peruvian was solid and had a very high rythm, and
on the hot court,this made Mueller very uncomfortable, making a lot
of mmistakes.
Cesar Salazar 3-1 Campbell Grayson
Salazar
was very fast, always getting his oponent off the T, and
taking the key moments in each game.
Alan
Clyne 3-0 Charles Sharpes
Clyne was very superior to his oponent, and with his faster
movements he always managed to anticipate his opponent's moves.
Zahed Mohamed 3-2 Alfredo Ávila
This
was an extremely exciting match with both players showing
incredible physical strength.
The Egyptian led 2-0, being very precise on his drops, but Alfredo
never gave up any ball and Zahed started to feel the heat on the
court, so the Mexican took the momentum to level the score at
two-all and reached match ball in the decider.
But Mohamed was patient and managed to save it. At 11-10, the referee
saw a double bounce from Avila, a sad end for such an amazing match.
Match ball for Mohamed - can you tell ??
Twitter:
@squashcolombia
14-Feb, Qualifying Round One: Locals bow out in Cartagena Qualifying
for the $100k SquashColombia Open got under way in Cartagena with
victories for all the higher-seeded players - and defeat for the
three Colombian players.
Whils six of the matches finished in straight games, top seed
Nicolas Mueller had to fight back from two games down to deny Eric
Galvez and Alan Clyne was taken to five by Arturo Salazar.
Twitter:
@squashcolombia
Shorbagy tops Colombia Draw
The draw for the first ever Colombia Open has been made and will see
World #1 Mohamed Elshorbagy headline proceedings when the 16-strong
tournament gets underway in the coastal town of Cartagena in
February.
The tournament, the biggest ever to be staged in South America, will
be the most lucrative 16-man event ever with $115k in prize money up
for grabs and Elshorbagy will be favourite to take the title but
will face stiff opposition in a draw which also includes World #4
Omar Mosaad, World #7 Tarek Momen and home favourite and World #5
Miguel Angel Rodriguez - the highest ranking South American player
ever.
The 2016 Colombia Open promises to deliver a week of world class
action when it all gets underway on in the stunning location of
Plaza De La Aduana.
"Cartagena is one of the most picturesque cities in all of South
America and we feel certain that the tournament, which will be
played at sea-level, will become one of the most sought after on the
PSA World Tour," said Squash Colombia President Pablo Felipe Serna.
"As such we're delighted to see such a strong selection of players
wishing to come here and compete in the very first staging of the
tournament and very much look forward to watching some world class
squash action unfold here over what promises to be a thrilling
week."
Colombia
Open 2016
Colombia
Open 2016
