RESULTS: ATCO PSA World Series Finals, London, England
1st pool round:
Group 1:
[7] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) bt [6] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 11-7, 11-5 (22m)
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [3] Karim Darwish (EGY) 11-6, 11-5 (25m)
Group 2:
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [8] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-5, 13-11 (40m)
[4] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [5] Peter Barker (ENG) 7-11, 11-8, 11-7 (45m)
England’s James Willstrop celebrated his new world number one ranking in perfect style tonight in London by beating Egyptian Karim Darwish in the first pool round of the ATCO PSA World Series Squash Finals at The Queen’s Club.
The flagship PSA World Tour event, which features the eight players who earned the most points from the nine PSA World Series championships in 2011, will play three days of pool matches leading to the semi-finals on Saturday and grand final on Sunday.
In his first match since topping the Dunlop PSA World Rankings for the first time at the beginning of this month, Yorkshireman Willstrop gave a convincing display to overcome Darwish, the world No5 from Cairo, 11-6, 11-5 in 25 minutes.
“It’s phenomenal to be world number one,” said the 28-year-old from Leeds after his tenth straight Tour win over the Egyptian since 2006. “The way I played at the end of 2011 to earn the ranking – I couldn’t have hoped for more.
“I had a good rest over the Christmas break and felt relaxed coming on to court. Karim and I have had so many matches in the past – it’s just great to beat a top player 2/0.
“To get this first threat out of the way and do so well is a great start.”
In the other match in Group 1, Egyptian Mohamed El Shorbagy despatched fellow World Series Finals newcomer Mohd Azlan Iskandar, the world No10 from Malaysia, 11-7, 11-5 in just 22 minutes.
El Shorbagy was a late addition to the field after the withdrawal of fellow countryman Ramy Ashour, the 2007 champion. The 20-year-old world No6 from Alexandria is a student at the University of the West of England – and had to sit an exam this afternoon in Bristol before racing back to London to play his opening match!
After tweeting mid-afternoon “On the train to London – finished my exam early so got an earlier train – feeling excited for tonight”, El Shorbagy later added: “Can’t believe how well I played…it’s just one of those days where everything was just coming your way!”
There was further Egyptian success later in the evening when four-time world champion Amr Shabana fought back from game down to beat Londoner Peter Barker, the world No7, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7 in 45 minutes.
Shabana, at 32 the oldest player in the field, is making his eighth successive appearance in the World Series Finals. Despite reaching the final both in 2008 and 2011, the mercurial former world No1 from Cairo is looking for his first title – and success at Queen’s would mark his first ever title triumph in England.
In the other Group 2 match, Gregory Gaultier demonstrated some excellent pressure squash early on in the first game and had Dutch opponent Laurens Jan Anjema struggling right from the start.
The Frenchman’s powerful lengths were forcing loose balls from the Dutchman, and Gaultier looked under no pressure to give up his comfortable spot on the tee. The second game was closer however, and Anjema was able to force Gaultier to a tie-break after a marked improvement in his length and width.
The world No3 from Aix-en-Provence – a finalist in all three previous appearances in the event and twice a winner of the title – always looked the more dangerous on the attack though, and closed out the match 11-5, 13-11 after 40 minutes.
