Peruvian charges into Cartagena main draw
By NATHAN CLARKE
Peruvian World Junior Champion Diego Elias secured an emphatic victory in the final round of qualification at the 2016 SquashColombia Open to defeat top seeded Nicolas Müller and reach the main draw of the lucrative 16-man tournament, joining fellow Latin Americans Caesar Salazar and Miguel Angel Rodriguez in the first-round field.
Elias overcame a gap of 11 places on the World Rankings to see off No.28 Müller in straight-games in a performance that bodes well for his hopes of springing a surprise victory over India’s World No.20 Saurav Ghosal, who competes for the first time since December due to injury, when the first round of the tournament gets underway on Feb 16.
Mexican Salazar, the World No.29, joined Elias in the main draw after coming through a highly competitive qualification battle with Campbell Grayson of New Zealand to set up a first round match with UCS Swedish Open runner-up Tarek Momen.
Fellow Mexican Alfredo Avila came within touching distance of making the main draw, falling to a narrow 12-10 loss in the fifth game against Egyptian Zahed Mohamed.
Scotland’s Alan Clyne completed the 16-man field with a polished 3-0 win over England’s Charles Sharpes and will face home-favourite and the highest-ranked South American player of all time, Miguel Angel Rodriguez, the World No.6 and Pan-American Games squash champion twice in a row.
$115,000 Men’s PSA Squash Colombia Open 2016, Plaza de la Aduana, Cartagena, Colombia
First Round Draw:
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v [WC] Andrés Herrera (COL)
[7] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) v Tom Richards (ENG)
[5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) v Borja Golan (ESP)
[3] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO)
[4] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [Q] Cesar Salazar (MEX)
[6] Cameron Pilley (AUS) v Stephen Coppinger (RSA)
[8] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v [Q] Diego Elias (PER)
[2] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v [Q] Zahed Mohamed (EGY)
Qualifying Final Results:
[6] Diego Elias (PER) bt [1] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-0: 11-8, 11-1, 11-7 (35m)
[3] Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt [7] Campbell Grayson (NZL) 3-1: 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9 (70m)
[4] Alan Clyne (SCO) bt [8] Charles Sharpes (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-3, 11-3 (34m)
[2] Zahed Mohamed (EGY) bt [5] Alfredo Avila (MEX) 3-2: 11-9, 11-4, 8-11, 7-11, 12-10 (90m)
First Qualifying Round:
Nicolas Müller (SUI) bt Eric Galvez (MEX) 7-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-0 (61m)
Diego Elias (PER) bt Erick Herrera (COL) 11-8, 11-1, 11-2 (24m)
Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt Dairo Sandoval (COL) 11-3, 11-5, 11-7 (30m)
Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt Ben Coates (ENG) 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (31m)
Alan Clyne (SCO) bt Arturo Salazar (MEX) 11-2, 6-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6 (61m)
Charles Sharpes (ENG) bt Stuart Hadden (IRL) 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 (38m)
Alfredo Avila (MEX) bt Christopher Gordon (USA) 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 (37m)
Zahed Mohamed (EGY) bt Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) 11-9, 14-12, 11-8 (39m)
Picture from social media