Prague Open 2017
12-17 Dec, Czech Rep, $5k

Mohammad started the match better and he was soon 4/1 up. He managed to keep his lead at 7/4, 8/5 and 9/7 only to get a bit nervous at the end which Emyr used very well. He won next 4 points to get the first game and 1/0 lead.

Second game started exactly the same way as the first. Mohammad raced to 4/1 lead but this time he managed to keep the lead not only to 7/3 but to 10/5, gameball. Emyr played three briliant rallies which saved three gameballs only to serve out at 8/10 to give the last point to his opponent.

After winning the second Mohammad got more confident and dominated the third. He kept Emyr behind him and punished anything loose with nice nicks in the front. The fourth game was close all the way to 6/6. Emyr won next two points to 8/6. Mohammad came back with three points of his own to get the lead back at 9/8. Emyr levelled, 9/9.

Mohammad chased what looked like Emyr´s winning drop in front left. He flicked it crosscourt and Emyr was just watching the ball rolling out of the nick. This time Mohammad used his first chance and after Emyr´s shot hit the tin he started celebrating his 5th PSA title.

Mohammad Alsarraj: Very happy with my performance in this tournament. It is a great way to finish this year. And also it was great to win this tournament which makes it a perfect start to be living in Prague. I hope the crowd enjoyed it as much as me and Emyr did. Really enjoyed the match.

Emyr Evans: Not the result I wanted today but I have had a great week and credit to Mohammad winning. He played the big points really well. Hopefully I will be back soon. It was a very enjoyable tournament. I came last year and enjoyed it then as well.

Qualifying:

Finals:
[1] Taminder Gata-Aura (Eng) 3-0 [5] Michael Babra (Swe)            11/5, 11/4, 11/8 (19m)
[6] Balasz Farkas (Hun) 3-2 [4] Chris Leiper (Sco)       10/12, 11/9, 11/6, 9/11, 11/5 (67m)
[3] Stuart Macgregor (Eng) 3-2 [7] Jakub Solnický (Cze) 11/7, 6/11, 11/9, 2/11, 11/8 (68m)
[2] David Zeman (Cze) 3-0 [8] Carl Remle (Swe)                  11/6, 11/2, 11/3 (21m)

Round One:
[1] Taminder Gata-Aura (Eng)3-0 Marek Panáček (Cze)       11/8, 11/2, 11/7 (17m)
[5] Michael Babra (Swe) 3-1 Matouš Sochůrek (Cze)    1/11, 11/5, 11/8, 11/7 (41m)
[6] Balasz Farkas (Hun) 3-0 Vojtěch Ryba (Cze)       11/3, 11/4, 11/4 (18m)
[4] Chris Leiper (Sco) 3-1 Ondřej Vorlíček (Cze)     11/4, 5/11, 11/3 11/8 (47m)
[3] Stuart Macgregor (Eng) –3-0Filip Strouhal (Cze)      11/2, 11/4, 11/5 (19m)
[7] Jakub Solnický (Cze) 3-0 Petr Nohel (Cze)          117, 11/4, 11/5 (23m)
[8] Carl Remle (Swe) 3-0 Matyáš Dufek (Cze)         11/2, 11/8, 11/6 (17m)
[2] David Zeman (Cze)3-0– Benjamin Bergel (Cze)       11/4, 11/6, 11/4 (24m)

Mohammad started better and got 1/0 lead but Lyell came back strong in the second to level. Lyell made too many mistakes in the third and gave the game to Mohammad. The fourth was close and tense from the beginning.

Lyell was able to get a 9/6 lead towards the end but Mohammad scored 4 points in a row to get his first matchball. Lyell save it but he was not able to return a rolling forehand volley crosscourt nick from Mohammad when he had his second chance at 11/10.

The home crowd was much more interested in the second semifinal where Czech no. 1 Daniel Mekbib met Emyr Evans from Wales.

Emyr started the match with two great nicks and from the beginning it was obvious this is not going to be Daniel´s day. He wasn´t able to keep his usual high pace and made too many mistakes.

Emyr played well, was very solid, didn´t give Daniel anything easy and it was enough today to earn him a place in his first PSA final tomorrow. I am sure Daniel will try to forget about today´s match as quickly as possible.

Mohammad Alsarraj: Very happy to be through and very excited to play the final tomorrow and I hope me and Emyr will play a good final tomorrow so the crowd can enjoy.

Lyell Fuller: Disappointed.

Emyr Evans: So happy to make my first final. I knew before the match that I had to play well for any chance of winning, looking forward to playing Mohammad tommorow, last time we played was in juniors.

Daniel Mekbib: Worst match of my season so far. Dissapointed with everything. The only good thing now is that I won´t play any more this year.

Last match between second seed Faraz Khan and Emyr Evans was very entertaining and full of attacking shots to the front. Faraz´s drops were really tight in the first and he got a 1/0 lead.

Emyr came back strong. He was hitting the ball very hard and also attacked the front a lot and started to control most of the rallies. He got to 2/1 lead but Faraz fought hard and managed to turn the score in the fourth to level.

His efforts in the fourth took a lot out of him and Emyr started the fifth very well and got a good a good lead and although Faraz managed to save three matchballs Emyr got a final point he needed with a hard backhand crosscourt.

Mohammad Alsarraj: Today was another great match I have played and Miko was playing in a good quality which made me struggle, but eventully I managed to close the match.

Daniel Mekbib : Happy with my performance today, I tried to make it hard for him, because he had a couple of matches in his legs already and it worked perfectly for me. Sadly he was either cramping or injured after the first game, so I hope he gets well soon.

Emyr Evans: Happy to get the win today. It wasn´t my best performance but he has got a lot of good shots so he makes it tough for you. Looking forward to semis against Daniel.

Top seed Mohammad Alsarraj was put under a lot of pressure by 16 years old wild card Viktor Byrtus. Viktor was able to keep Mohammad´s high pace in the rallies but at the crucial moments in tie-breaks Mohammad´s experience prevailed over local hope.



Czech no. 1 Daniel Mekbib was the only succesful of the 3 home players. He faced probably the most difficult of the 4 qualifiers Hungarian Balasz Farkas. They played a good game with lots of attacking shots but Daniel was more solid towards the end of the games which proved decisive as Balasz usually made a couple of mistakes which cost him those games.

Mohammad Alsarraj: First of all I enjoyed the match so much. Viktor played well which made the crowd excited and I hope that they enjoyed the match as much as us inside the court.

Viktor Byrtus: It was my first real test in a PSA event and I took it quite well. Iam happy with my performance and I hope that I can play more of these matches soon. I hope the crowd enjoyed it.

Miko Äijänen: I think I played quite well. Too much errors in the first two games probably because I was a bit nervous but I think my game opened up a bit in last two games.

Charlie Lee: Nice to win when not playing as well as I’d like.



Lyell Fuller: Happy to win in 3 against Carl who had nothing to lose as coming in as the lucky loser. Enjoyed the match and looking forward to tomorrow.

Daniel Mekbib: Happy to win against Balasz, he is a very good and dangereous player. Lost focus a little bit in the third game, but pushed really hard in the fourth. Looking forward to tomorrow´s quaterfinals.

Stuart Macgregor: Very happy to win this match 3/0. I had nothing to lose in this match as I was not the expected player to win. I played my best squash, and now I´m through to my first quarter final. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Emyr Evans: Happy to get through in 3 today, he’s a dangerous play so you can´t afford to lose any concentration. Looking forward to playing Faraz tomorrow.



Faraz Khan: Good to get thru against a fit young player, who was a bit unlucky not to get a game. Looking forward to the next round.

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