Injured Egyptian ace pulls out of San Francisco and US Open
Injury has once again forced Ramy Ashour to pull out of two major events in the USA. He will miss the Netsuite Open in San Francisco and the Delaware Investments US Open in Philadelphia.
The 26-year-old Cairo-based player has suffered from a successive run of problems since a remarkable 49-match winning streak ended in injury against Nick Matthew during the 2013 World Squash Championship.
His latest setback sees him out of contention to win two of the most prestigious squash events played in America. He said:“I am very disappointed that I will not be able to play in the NetSuite Open this year due to my ongoing hamstring injury.
“I enjoy playing at the spectacular location on the amazing San Francisco Bay and hopefully next year I will be a part of this spectacular growing event again. Good luck to all of my colleagues.”
One of the greatest shot players ever to play the sport, Ashour continues to seek remedies for his has troublesome hamstring.
His latest withdrawal will deny him the chance to defend his NetSuite Open title or add a second US Open crown to his collection.
As a result, Ashour’s compatriot and four-time world champion Amr Shabana will move up to occupy the number two seed in the NetSuite Open, an International 70 event which takes place close to San Francisco Bay Bridge (right), and the number four seed in the US Open, a PSA World Series tournament.
The full amended draw for both tournaments is as follows:
NetSuite Open – 1st Round Draw:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Gregoire Marche (FRA)
Chris Simpson (ENG) v [7] Cameron Pilley (AUS)
[5] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v [4] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
[3] Peter Barker (ENG) v [WC] Julian Illingworth (USA)
Alister Walker (BOT) v [6] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
[8] Adrian Grant (ENG) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v [2] Amr Shabana (EGY)
US Open – 1st Round Draw:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [Qualifier]
Adrian Grant (ENG) v Laurens Jan Anjema (NED)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) v [Qualifier]
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v [7] Simon Rösner (GER)
[5] Borja Golan (ESP) v Adrian Waller (ENG)
Mazen Hesham (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v [3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY)
[4] Amr Shabana (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Max Lee (HKG) v Joe Lee (ENG)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v Stephen Coppinger (RSA)
[WC] Christopher Gordon (USA) v [8] Omar Mosaad (EGY)
[6] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Saurav Ghosal (IND)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v Alister Walker (BOT)
Chris Simpson (ENG) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v [2] Nick Matthew (ENG)
The NetSuite Open gets underway in San Francisco on September 24, with main draw action commencing on Friday September 26 while the 2014 US Open takes place at Drexel University, Philadelphia from October 9 – October 18.
Both tournaments will be broadcast live via SquashTV, the official streaming channel of the PSA: www.psasquashtv.com
Pictures from Squash Mad archive