04-Mar, Finals:  

[2] Raneem El Welily (Egy) 3-1 [1] Nicol David (Mas)
                               14/16, 12/10, 11/7, 11/7 (57m)

[4] Nick Matthew (Eng) 3-0 [1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (Egy) 
                               11/7, 11/2, 11/7 (62m) 

Welily makes it this time

"I thought I'd forgotten the World Open final until it was 2/1 and 10/6 again," said Raneem El Welily after beating Nicol David to claim the Windy City Open title.

Then, in Cairo, David came back to win, but not tonight, not in Chicago.

Top seed David took the first, a game which went point for point until Welily led 10/8, but David held firm, as she does, to take it 16/14. The second was a carbon copy, Welily leading 10/8 again but this time she managed to finish it off 12/10.

David was having to do a lot of work though, often seeming doing court sprints as Welily fired in shots to all corners of the court. The effort was surely going to tell, and it did.

The Egyptian led throughout the third, taking the lead 11/7, and a 3/0 start in the fourth. David fought back, levelling at 4-all but still having to work hard for it, but Welily pulled away again, reaching match ball with a deep drive that David couldn't chase down.

One match ball was saved, but only the one today as Nicol tinned on the next rally and Raneem was the Windy City champion.

"I'm absolutely thrilled to win this," said Raneem, "it's not been an easy tournament for me, and all credit to Nicol she played an amazing match, but I'm glad I was able to push on and finish it off this time."

Matthew stops Shorbagy run

Nick Matthew made sure there was only one Egyptian winner, as he beat Mohamed Elshorbagy in straight games in the men's final, foiling the world number one's bid to win four world series events in a row.

The first game was a monster 27-minute affair, and once Matthew had taken that it seemed to take away what energy Shorbagy had left, the Englishman taking charge of the last two games, making just two errors in the whole match.

"You always go into a match with a game plan but it's another thing being able to execute it against someone like Mohamed because he plays at such a fast pace and takes away your thinking time," said Matthew, who becomes the oldest player to win a world series event

"But I felt I played well when under pressure today. I was patient and picked my times to attack well and I'm just delighted to get another World Series win."

"I'm really enjoying my squash at the minute," he said. "I guess I'm in the twilight of my career - the end is closer than the beginning - but I managed to take my change tonight against someone who has been in incredible form recently.

"I'm sure we're going to have a few more battles to come before I retire and hopefully I can come back here next year to defend the title."
 

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11/7, 11/9, 14/12 (61m)

[6] Tarek Momen

 12/10, 11/8, 11/4 (42m)

 Marwan Elshorbagy

11/7, 11/2, 11/7 (62m

[4] Nick Matthew

12/10, 7/11, 5/11, 11/7, 11/9 (74m)

 Marwan Elshorbagy

 11/6, 11/8, 11/5 (44m)

[5] Peter Barker

11/7, 9/11m 11/6, 11/5 (79m)

[2] Gregory Gaultier

 11/5, 11/6, 14/12 (49m)

[2] Gregory Gaultier

25-Feb, Qualifying Finals: 

Alan Clyne (Sco) 3-2 Adrian Waller (Eng)         6/11, 11/8, 11/8, 8/11, 11/3 (80m)
Omar Abdel Meguid (Egy) 3-2 Joe Lee (Eng)    8/11, 7/11, 11/5, 11/8, 11/2 (69m)
Mohamed Abouelghar (Egy) 3-0 Mazen Hesham (Egy)     11/9, 12/10, 11/5 (30m)
Zahed Mohamed (Egy) 3-2 Adrian Grant (Eng)  8/11, 11/5, 4/11, 11/8, 11/8 (65m)

Gregoire Marche (Fra) 3-0 Shaun Le Roux (Rsa)              11/9, 11/5, 14/12 (61m)
Cesar Salazar (Mex) 3-1 Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas)        11/9, 7/11, 11/9, 11/7 (69m)
Greg Lobban (Sco)  3-1 Tom Richards (Eng)              6/11, 11/7, 11/8, 11/8 (70m)
Henrik Mustonen (Fin) 3-0 Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned)      11/1, 11/3, 14/12 (27m)

24-Feb, Qualifying Round One:

Adrian Waller (Eng) 3-2 Diego Elias (Per)       11/9, 11/13, 11/5, 8/11, 11/9 (76m)
Alan Clyne (Sco) 3-2 Mohamed Reda (Egy)    11/13, 11/1, 11/6, 9/11, 11/4  (78m)
Joe Lee (Eng) 3-0 Todd Harrity (Usa)                                 11/2, 11/7, 11/4 (33m)
Omar Abdel Meguid (Egy) 3-1 Clinton Leeuw (Rsa)  10/12, 12/10, 11/9, 11/9 (64m)

Mazen Hesham (Egy) 3-0 Chris Gordon (Usa)                       11/4 11/7 11/6 (27m)
Mohd Abouelghar (Egy) 3-2 Mahesh Mangaonkar (Ind) 11/2, 11/5, 7/11, 3/11, 11/6 (60m)
Zahed Mohamed (Egy) 3-1 Peter Creed (Wal)           11/9, 11/4, 8/11, 11/3 (49m)
Adrian Grant (Eng) 3-0 Campbell Grayson (Nzl)               11/5, 12/10, 11/2 (43m)

Gregoire Marche (Fra) 3-1 Lucas Serme (Fra)        11/8, 7/11, 11/1, 11/5 (60m)
Shaun Le Roux (Rsa) 3-0 Philip Demeulenaere (Usa)        11/4 11/4 11/8 (19m)
Cesar Salazar (Mex) 3-0 Faraz Khan (Usa)                     11/2, 11/9, 11/8 (29m)
Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas) 3-1 Eddie Charlton (Eng)             11/6, 11/7, 11/1 (38m)

Greg Lobban (Sco) 3-0 Leo Au (Hkg)                             11/2, 11/4, 11/4 (43m)
Tom Richards (Eng) 3-0 Ryan Cuskelly (Aus)                  11/9, 11/9, 11/4 (45m)
Henrik Mustonen (Fin) 3-0 Robert Downer (Eng)             11/8, 11/6, 12/10 (29m)
Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) 3-0 Yoni Ellous (Ned)            11/5, 11/4, 12/10 (31m)

12/10, 12/10, 11/6 (39m)

[5] Alison Waters

11/9, 13/11, 12/10 (52m)

[8] Nour El Tayeb

14/16, 12/10, 11/7, 11/7 (57m)

[2] Raneem El Welily

  11/7, 11/9, 11/4 (29m)

11/4, 11/2, 11/5 (31m)

[6] Camille Serme

[6] Camille Serme

11/8, 8/11, 8/11, 11/9, 11/3 (58m)

 [2] Raneem El Welily

9/11, 11/6, 11/3, 11/9 (39m)

[2] Raneem El Welily

25-Feb, Qualifying Finals:

Samantha Teran (Mex) 3-0 Coline Aumard (Fra)                     11/8, 11/7, 11/7 (37m)
Sam Cornett (Can) 3-2 Misaki Kobayashi (Jpn)      9/11, 7/11, 11/7, 12/10, 11/9 (54m)
Delia Arnold (Mas) 3-2 Deon Saffery (Wal)            8/11, 10/12, 11/8, 11/7, 11/8 (75m)
Amanda Landers-Murphy (Nzl) 3-1 Emily Whitlock (Eng) 3/11, 11/8, 11/8, 11/4 (46m)

Tesni Evans (Wal) 3-0 Milou van der Heijden (Ned)                  11/5, 11/6, 11/5 (29m)
Heba El Torky (Egy) 3-0 Latasha Khan (Usa)                       14/12, 11/8, 15/13 (36m)
Victoria Lust (Eng) 3-2 Mariam Metwally (Egy)      7/11, 11/4, 11/5, 10/12, 11/6 (56m)
Line Hansen (Den) 3-0 Siyoli Waters (Rsa)                             11/9, 11/6, 11/5 (33m)

24-Feb, Qualifying Round One:

Coline Aumard (Fra) 3-2 Aisling Blake (Irl)      11/8, 10/12, 11/5, 8/11, 11/5 (57m)
Deon Saffery (Wal) 3-0 Laura Pomportes (Fra)                 11/5, 13/11, 11/9 (33m)
Amanda Landers-Murphy (Nzl) 3-0 Hollie Naughton (Can)    11/7, 11/9, 11/7 (25m)
Milou van der Heijden (Ned) 3-0 Melina Turk (Can)             11/3, 11/3, 11/5 (17m)
Latasha Khan (Usa) 3-0 Yathreb Adel (Egy)                        11/9, 11/9, 11/9 (40m)
Mariam Metwally (Egy) 3-2 Donna Urquhart (Aus)  9/11 11/3 11/2 4/11 11/9 (48m)

03-Mar, Semi-Finals: 

Top seeds through to women's final,
it's Mo and Matthew in men's ...
 
Raneem El Welily became the first 2015 Windy City Open finalist as she won a topsy-turvy semi-final against Camille Serme in just short of an hour's play.

The French sixth seed started well, leading the first 7-2, but Welily fought back to take the lead 11-8. Serme was ahead throughout the second as she levelled 11-8, then converted a 7-2 lead in the third 11-8 to take the lead.

Welily was making too any errors, and at 8-4 in the fourth Serme looked to have the match in the bag. Again Welily fought back though, and when Serme tinned an opportunity for match ball when leading 9-7, Welily seized the opportunity to level the match 11-9.

That seemed to take the wind out of Serme's sails and the Egyptian dominated the decider, taking it 11-3 to reach the final.

"In the fourth I was on the plane home," admitted Welily. "In order to win I had to change my approach completely and really push."

Top seed Nicol David joined Welily in the final, winning three tough games against Nour El Tayeb.

There was nothing to choose between them in the first, David managing to take the last two points to lead 11-9. Tayeb started the second with a 3-0 lead but David pegged that back to lead 7-4 then 10-8, but needed four game balls to double her lead 13-11.

Tayeb was never out of it, led throughout the third but couldn't convert from 10-8 up as David took the last four points to reach yet another world series final.

"I just had to stick to my game," said David, "and really had to fight hard not to let her get those points at the end of each game."

In the men's semis, top seed Mohamed Elshorbagy beat his younger brother Marwan in straight games.

"It was tough mentally tonight to stay fully focused but I knew I had to do a professional job and get to the final as fresh as I possibly could," said the elder Elshorbagy.

"I had to play well. My brother proved that he didn't get to this stage by luck and I'm looking forward to having him in my corner tomorrow for the final because he a great source of support for me.

"It's great to be in another major final. I've had a good year so far and I'm looking forward to competing for another title tomorrow."

England's Nick Matthew got the better of defending champion Gregory Gaultier in a tough four games.

"Greg seemed to get better as the games went on today and I was hanging on in there at points but fortunately I managed to sneak it," said Matthew.

"It was a tough match. He's the defending champion and he's been in great form this week so I'm just happy to have got through and off court in four games."
 

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02-Mar, Quarters:
Shorbagys set up Chicago semi-final

Mohamed and Marwan Elshorbagy will contest their first World Series semi-final after the Egyptian pair won their quarter-final matches in the first session of play at the University Club of Chicago.

First up, Marwan got the better of compatriot Karim Abdel Gawad in five games, Gawad losing out in a fifth game that required a lot of decisions by the referees.

"I'm in the semi-final of a World Series event and I'm only 21-years-old, I'm very, very happy," said Marwan

Then top seed Mohamed also beat a fellow Egyptian, although Tarek Momen had chances in both the second and third games before the world #1 closed out the match.

"I had to play so well to beat Tarek and I'm happy to get through especially because I now get to play my brother in the semi-final of a world series event for the first time," said Mohamed.

Nick Matthew won his all-English matchup with Peter Barker in straight games and now faces his French rival Gregory Gaultier, the defending champion who saved a couple of games balls in closing out his three-nil win over Omar Mosaad.

In the women's quarters France's Camille Serme eased past yesterday's giant-killer Emma Beddoes, the Englishwoman seemingly suffering aster her efforts last night. Serme will meet second seed Raneem El Welily, who recovered from a game and 2-6 down to get past Low Wee Wern.

Top seed Nicol David avenged her ToC defeat at the hands of Alison Waters, but the 3-0 scoreline was harsh on the Englishwoman, who led 10-6 in the first and 10-8 in the second only to see David produce typical comebacks.  "She's had a few wins over me recently so I knew I would have to work hard to win today," said David.

David now meets Nour El Tayeb, who beat fellow Egyptian Nour El Sherbini in straight games. "I made a game plan today and stuck to it - and thankfully I was able to come through the match," said Tayeb.
 

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01-Mar, Round Two (bottom)
Beddoes bags quarter-final place

On a day which featured three all-English matches, it was Emma Beddoes who stole the headlines as she beat third seed and defending champion Laura Massaro in a thrilling five-setter at the University Club of Chicago.

Massaro, leading 2-1, saw leads slip away in the fourth and fifth games as Beddoes fought her way back into it to claim her best-ever victory, with Massaro left to reflect on a number of refereeing decisions that went against her at the business end of the fifth. Beddoes now meets Camille Serme, who ended the winning streak of Sarah-Jane Perry in four games.

"I can't quite believe I've just won," said Beddoes. "I don't think that either of us were playing our best out there - but to win is just brilliant."

Low Wee Wern won a see-saw encounter with veteran Rachael Grinham and meets second seed Raneem El Welily, who beat fellow Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy in four close games.

In the men's draw Peter Barker celebrated a rare win over compatriot James Willstrop, who levelled the match twice but ran out of steam in the fifth.

“Although on paper I’m the higher seed, James is a former World No.1 so it certainly wasn’t going to be an easy match and with him coming back I tried to make it very physical out there," said Barker.

Barker now meets another Englishman Nick Matthew, who took just under an hour to repeat last month's British Nationals win over Daryl Selby.

Omar Mosaad made quick work of his match with Alister Walker to set up a meeting with defending champion and second seed Gregory Gaultier, who beat Cameron Pilley with a uniform 1/6, 11/6, 11/6 scoreline.

28-Feb, Round Two (top:)  
Shorbagy survives again on a
good day for Egypt in Chicago

It was the top halves of last sixteen in the men's and women's draws today, all on the Glass Court, and while all the women's matches went to seeding with Nicol David, Alison Waters, Nour El Tayeb and Nour El Sherbini progressing, there were upsets and drama aplenty in the men's matches.

In the first men's match of the day Karim Abdel Gawad came from two-one down to upset in-form Colombian Miguel Rodriguez to become the first of four Egyptian winners.

"Very, very happy to have managed to get a win," said Gawad. "In the fifth I had to use all my concentration to make sure I kept my level up."

Tarek Momen got past Swiss Nicolas Muelller in four games, then there were contrasting wins for brothers Marwan and Mohamed Elshorbagy.

Marwan went through as third seed Amr Shabana was forced to retire injured during the pair's second game, and to finish the day world #1 Mohamed was taken to a second consecutive five-setter, finally edging past Saurav Ghosal to set up a semi-final against Momen.

"All credit to Saurav for an amazing performance today because he put me under a lot of pressure from the start," said Elshorbagy. "I'm not feeling at my best physically but I'm going to fight for every point in every match and I'm really glad to have won and still be in this tournament."  
 

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27-Feb, Round One (bottom):
Seeds safely through to round two

No upsets on day two in Cathedral Hall as the second World Series event of the year reached the last sixteen stage in both draws.

The English quartet of Nick Matthew, Daryl Selby, Peter Barker and James Willstrop all won through in the same quarter to guarantee an English semi-finalist, while second seeded defending champion Gregory Gaultier recorded the quickest win of the day as he eased past Henrik Mustonen in 23 minutes.

"That was the hardest first round match I could have had," said Matthew in the wake of  his 3-0 win over Borja Golan, "I felt I played well and I was happy to get off with a 3-0 win."

In the women's draw Laura Massaro kept her title defence on course with a tough four game win over Delia Arnold, and faces compatriot Emma Beddoes in the next round. Second seed Raneem El Welily faces fellow Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy for a place in the quarters.

The longest match was a hard-fought 3-1 win for Low Wee Wern over world junior champion Habiba Mohamed.
 

26-Feb, Round One (top):
Shorbagy survives as Lust and Torky advance

The main draw of the second World Series event of the year got under way at the University Club of Chicago with the top half of the draws, half on the all-glass court in Cathedral Hall, half on the traditional court.

The biggest drama was saved to last as world #1 Mohamed Elshorbagy found himself embroiled in a marathon all-Egyptian encounter with Fares Dessouki, and found himself two games to one down.

Shorbagy levelled, and held a slight advantage in a tense decider, but couldn't finish it off despite his opponent cramping up as the top seed reached 10-9, and then had to save a match ball himself at 11-10 before finally taking the match 13-11 after 101 minutes.

Shorbagy now meets Saurav Ghosal, who also won 13-11 in the fifth, and is joined in the second round by brother Marwan, along with fellow Egyptians Am Shabana, Tarek Momen and Karim Abdel Gawad.

In the women's draw two qualifiers progressed as Victoria Lust beat Nouran Gohar and Heba El Torky got the better of Dipika Pallikal.
 

The draw for the 2014 Windy City Open presented by Guggenheim Partners and EquiTrust Life Insurance Company has pitted some of the sport's most talented players against each other in a bruising first round schedule.

Getting underway in the unique and beautifully intimate setting of Cathedral Hall at the prestigious University Club of Chicago on Thursday February 26, the opening round of action will see a series of highly anticipated encounters take centre stage with the standout contest seeing World No.9 Omar Mosaad face World No.10 Simon Rösner in what is certain to be a thrilling battle.

2014 runner-up Nick Matthew, the World No.4, will face the difficult task of playing Spanish World No.12 Borja Golan in his opening encounter while World No.6 Peter Barker will have to be at his best to get past a resurgent Stephen Coppinger, the South African who dumped both then World No.9 Daryl Selby and World No.12 Tarek Momen out of November's PSA World Championship.

World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy will also have to negotiate a difficult opening match against the dangerous and ever improving Fares Dessouki in a draw that could provide plenty of shocks from the off.

"We're delighted to have such a strong field of world class players competing here at the University Club in 2015 and are looking forward to what promises to be the best ever Windy City Open," said Tournament Director John Flanigan.

"It's fantastic that the first ever PSA World Series event in the MidWest has such an impressive line-up of stars.

"The depth of talent and the match-ups in this draw guarantee that no player has an easy path to the latter stages and I'm really looking forward to seeing the action unfold."

2014 Event