Miguel Rodriguez won an incredible rally after losing his shoe during a mighty battle at the Black Ball Squash Open to reach the quarter-finals in Cairo.
The Colombian cannonball prevailed 11-9, 11-6, 4-11, 6-11, 11-5 over 85 minutes in his round two match, winning in borrowed kit against home hope Tarek Momen after losing his luggage in transit on his way to Egypt.
At least he had his racket as he continued to carve his name as one of the sport’s great current entertainers to beat the Egyptian.
“I came with no expectations,” he said afterwards. “I had many issues before coming here but I was feeling great and confident. I knew it would be a battle.”
Last year, Mostafa Asal lent Mohame ElShorbagy some socks at the El Gouna International. But in Cairo, it was Mohamed ElSherbini who came to the rescue before the event. Now, the Colombian is set to continue with the same kit with some washing before his last eight match.
"What do the rules say about playing with one shoe???" 😂
Even a wardrobe malfunction can't stop @MiguelSquash#BlackBallOpen pic.twitter.com/YJ8NR5bT1o
— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) April 12, 2024
The moment of the match was reserved for midway through the second game when Rodriguez lost his shoe, picked it up in one swoop and carried on the point.
Rules state that if any object, other than a player’s racket, falls to the floor during a rally, play must stop. But presumably as the shoe was already on the ground, play went on. In the end, Rodriguez was canny enough to even win the point.
He said later: “I was about to hit the ball with the shoe. It was slippery but when Tarek put the ball in the middle I was very smart to stop the rally and win the point.”
Elsewhere, Egypt’s Youssef Ibrahim produced one of his best performances in recent times to knock out No.6 seed Joel Makin in four games.
No.6 seed Salma Hany put on a clinical performance to defeat fellow Egyptian Salma Eltayeb in straight games.