28-Feb-2012:
WILLSTROP WARMS UP
WITH RICHMOND WIN
By ALAN THATCHER
 James
Willstrop warmed up for the Canary Wharf Classic by winning
the Davenport North American Open in Richmond, Virginia.
Willstrop, who is bidding for a fourth Canary Wharf title this
year, is enjoying the best form of his career.
He has reached the final of six of his last eight tournaments
and has racked up four PSA World Series titles since November in
the game’s elite series of events.
He is returning to world No.1 in the March rankings but his
great rival Nick Matthew is top seed at Canary Wharf.
London’s premier squash tournament is being staged at the superb
East Wintergarden venue from March 19-23 and tickets have
already sold out for the semi-finals and final.
Squash fans are clearly intrigued by the massive rivalry between
England’s two leading players, who are both from Yorkshire.
Despite Willstrop’s current success, Matthew has beaten him 15
times in a row, including the final of the Tournament of
Champions in New York and the British National Championships in
Manchester.
They avoided meeting in the North American Open as Matthew
crashed to a rare straight-games defeat to Egyptian Ramy Ashour
in the semi-finals.
Willstrop went on to beat Ashour with a commanding performance
that denied his opponent any opportunities to display his
outstanding shot-making abilities.
Willstrop said: “I had to find a way to contain Ramy’s attacking
play. He will hit winners all day if you let him but I was very
pleased with the way I played.”
Willstrop had removed No.3 seed Gregory Gaultier of France in a
97-minute semi-final and added: “That gave me a lot of
confidence going into the final. It was a wonderful feeling over
Christmas knowing that I was going to be world number one for
the first time and I was very disappointed to lose it the next
month. It made me determined to win it back, and I was pleased
to play well enough to get back to number one in March.”
World champion Matthew Tweeted: “I don’t think many people
expected that result in the Richmond final. James played a
tactical master-class and deserved the win.”
He was realistic about his own form and shortcomings in
Richmond, especially in his loss to Ashour. The first two games
went to tiebreaks and Matthew, who blew leads of 10-7 in the
first and 8-4 in the second, admitted: “I have got some
important lessons to learn from that. It was hard to push on in
the third when I could and possibly should have been 2-0 up. I
was weak in the third, though.”
Egyptians in waiting ...
There are plenty of Egyptians lying in wait in the Canary Wharf
draw, including No.4 seed Mohamed El Shorbagy and his
younger brother Marwan. Marwan succeeded his bother as
world junior champion and both have made significant impact on
the senior rankings, with Mohamed rising to number six earlier
this year.
Mohamed has been drawn against wild card Joe Lee, from
Surrey, and Marwan meets fellow Egyptian Tarek Momen, who
enjoyed a shock victory over Matthew in Qatar last year.
Matthew meets Mohamed Ali Anwar Reda in the first round
and is seeded to meet England team-mate Daryl Selby in
the quarter-finals.
Willstrop has been drawn against his Leeds-based training
partner, Saurav Ghosal, the Indian number one.
East-Ender Peter Barker, the number three seed who has
been struggling injury since Christmas, is in line for a tough
quarter-final against German number one Simon Rosner, who
gave Matthew a hard time in Richmond. Fellow Londoner Adrian
Grant is scheduled to meet Mohamed El Shorbagy in the
quarters.
Tickets for the 2012 Canary Wharf Classic cost from £15 and are
available from Ticketmaster. The fabulous East Wintergarden
offers superb opportunities for corporate hospitality, with the
gallery restaurant offering “the best view of squash anywhere in
the world” according to Nicol.
The qualifying competition takes place at Wimbledon Racquets and
Fitness Club on March 17-18 with four winners joining the top 12
seeds in the main draw.
Buy Tickets |
The DRAW
TICKETS
Tickets for the 2012 Canary Wharf Classic cost from £15 and are
selling out fast ... BUY
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Nicol's View
Joint promoter Peter Nicol said: “It is an intriguing
draw with the top English players and so many talented Egyptians
coming over this year.
"I am sure it will guarantee another week of entertaining squash
for our loyal and knowledgeable audience at Canary Wharf.”
Hospitality Packages
The DRAW
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