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Egyptian World No1 Ramy Ashour mastered the tenacious challenge of England’s Nick Matthew to win the Davenport North American Open for the 2nd time after 2009. Ashour, appearing in his fifth consecutive final of the PSA World Series squash event, continued his long unbeaten run to take the 11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7 victory after 65 minutes of high class entertaining squash.
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Tennis star Roger Federer met recently in Rotterdam with his women’s squash equivalent, Malaysian Nicol David, a seven-time world champion and key mover in the campaign to get her sport added to the Olympic line-up for 2020.er Federer has taken a swing for sister racquet sport squash as he announced his support for the sport’s bid to become part of the 2020 Olympics.
Federer gave his public support to that effort as he received a squash racquet during a brief meeting with David. “I used to play squash with my dad a lot,” he said. “It would be amazing to get squash into the Olympics.”
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Ramy Ashour overcame spirited resistance from Simon Rosner before clinching his place in the last four of the Davenport North American Open in Virginia
Mar 01 2013
Event favourite Ramy Ashour overcame spirited resistance from unseeded Simon Rosner before clinching his place in the last four of the Davenport North American Open, the second PSA World Series event of the year at the Westwood Club in Richmond, Virginia.
The tall German (pictured, foreground, with Ashour) matched Ashour’s genius for long spells of the match and fought back superbly in the third to stop the Egyptian winning in straight games, hitting three superb winners at the front before trapping his opponent in the back right corner.
World number one Ashour took a huge tumble but returned to the court to continue. The crowd gasped in admiration at the quality of the squash and the stupendous retrieving.
Ashour, the reigning world champion, now faces defending champion James Willstrop in the semi-finals after the Englishman enjoyed a rest day following the withdrawal of Karim Darwish through injury.
Ashour said: “That was a great game and there are lots of guys around who are capable of playing top-quality squash. Simon is obviously one of them.
“James is a great player and I’m looking forward to another good match. We always enjoy putting on a great show for this wonderful crowd in Richmond.”
Ashour has featured in the last four finals, winning in 2009, losing to Nick Matthew in 2010 and 2012, and finishing runner-up to Willstrop last year.
There will also be English interest in the other semi-final when Matthew, the world No2 from Sheffield, takes on in-form Gregory Gaultier.
French ace Gaultier is on the trail of a first Davenport North American Open success. Runner-up to Willstrop in 2008, the 30-year-old world number four advanced to the semi-finals with a polished performance to beat Egypt’s Amr Shabana in just 34 minutes.
Winning 11-4, 11-4, 11-3, Gaultier continued his run of impressive form in recent weeks. Gaultier was too tight, too accurate and too consistent for four-time world champion Shabana.
As the tournament moved into the closing stages, so Gaultier moved up to a new level of quality. Striking the ball cleanly and matching Shabana for inventiveness at the front of the court, he booked his place in the last four with a third consecutive straight-games victory.
It was too one-sided to be a classic, but Gaultier was generous in his praise of his opponent. “Amr is without doubt the best squash player in the world,” said the Aix-en-Provence based Frenchman. “He is the one you always look to if you are having some difficult moments, because watching him helps you to get things right in your own mind.
“I will always watch him on TV. He is the player you should watch if want to learn how to hit the ball correctly.”
Gaultier now faces rival Matthew full of confidence after beating England’s former world champion in straight games in the final of the recent Swedish Open.
Matthew overcame spirited resistance from England team-mate Peter Barker to win 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 in 49 minutes.
The 32-year-old Matthew admitted to a few lucky miss hits in the final game, saying: “I was amazed at the number of winning miss hits I hit in that third game so I ought to apologise to Peter for that.”
Matthew was being unnecessarily polite, however, because his all-round game was solid.
Both players showed excellent court coverage, producing some astonishing retrievals, and at the front of the court they showed that Egypt does not have a monopoly on hitting nicks.
Barker matched his opponent in the early stages of each game, but it was Matthew who finished strongly on each occasion.
Matthew added: “It was a really tough game. Peter has been out with an injury and I think that was the probably the main reason I was able to push through from something like 6-6 in each game.
“Obviously he hasn’t had the court time you need to build up your levels of fitness but he played very well and will only get better in the coming weeks and months.”
NAO action picture by Dan Bogosh
Quarter-finals:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8 (53m)
[3] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [5] Karim Darwish (EGY) w/o
[4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [7] Amr Shabana (EGY) 11-4, 11-4, 11-3 (34m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [6] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (49m)
Semi-final line-up:
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [3] James Willstrop (ENG)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [4] Gregory Gaultier (FRA
- See more at: http://www.psaworldtour.com/news/20130301/ramy-survives-rosner-battle-in-richmond_2281852_3093176#sthash.KlPvZEDR.dpuf
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NSW Squash MEMBERSHIP 2013
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including In-House and Tournament Players,
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Squash Clinics
This week the centre conducted coaching clinics for juniors from beginner to intermediate standards. The three day clinics saw a number of junior put in some remarkable efforts and show amazing improvements in court skills by the last session on Wednesday. There were two lucky winners during the session with Casey Alexander and Adam Bain winning sporting goods during the clinic.
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Competitions
Tuesday and Thursday competitions move into week four this week and players are showing a return to early form with some tough encounters this week.
The five games format has been well received by players and some interesting results have been recorded due to the longer match time.
Results Tuesday John Clerke def Peter Witjes 3/69 to 2/57, Alan Dunn def Ross Gentle 5/75 to 0/53 with Alan producing pin-point drives to the back court keeping Ross on the defensive throughout.
Best match of the night was between Aden Smith and Kylie Ford who made some amazing returns to figure strongly until the fifth and deciding game. Early lengthy rallies enabled Aden to gain a controlling advantage to close out the match 4/75 to 1/53.
Thursday match ups Paul Burkeman def Ross Gentle 3/54 to 2/49. Daniel Stewart def Jeff Edwards 3/53 to 2/53. Ross Cavanagh-Rose def Aden Smith 3/50 to 2/48.
Wednesday night mixed social competition gets underway this week and nominations are still open for anyone who would like to make that switch to a solid workout and start their fitness campaign to a healthier lifestyle. There are different levels for all players and you can work at your own pace in a new games format and feel the benefits and improvement each week.
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In the all-Egyptian final (you tube) the more experienced Ramy Ashour beat his 21 yo compatriot Mohamed El Shorbagy 2-11, 11-6, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8 in a thrilling 90 minutes match. After 2008 it’s the 2nd World Championship title for Ashour who will also take the No1 spot in the January 2013 rankings. Egypt’s 21-year-old Mohamed El Shorbagy downed James Willstrop in the brutal semi-final match 11-9, 9-11, 14-12, 4-11, 11-8. In the 2nd semi-final – also an England v Egypt affair – showed Ramy Ashour beating defending champion Nick Matthew in 4 tough games (you tube)and 72 minutes of play. Ashour took the victory and ensured the 3rd all-Egyptian final in the World Championship’s history.
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Year in Review
In 2012 one of the highlights at the centre was the opening of our new look and revitalised swimming complex. Patrons can relax by the pool or enjoy BBQ with friends and take advantage of the easy access into the pools.
The NSW State Junior Championships were held in Coffs Harbour for the second time and once again proved Outstanding. Players from the North Coast region put in strong challenges for representative positions which further indicates that our region is at the forefront of junior development.
The North Coast Open Tournament proved to be one of the highlights on the Squash Australia Tour and certainly brought plenty of visitors to Coffs Harbour and the centre for squash at the top level and the attractions that the Coffs Harbour region has to offer. Players and supporters are sure to be back in 2013.
Local players who have excelled include Keelan Birch who continues to impress in the junior and senior ranks and Ryan Marshall another junior who won the Country Championships in Bathurst. Jakob Dillon moved to top position in Friday Juniors after taking out Term 4 and Jacob Ford who was elevated to the top division will be one to watch in the Under 13 Age Group in 2013. Nathan Jeffrey has continued to be the dominant senior players and won the club championships for a second year in 2012.
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Squash is getting popular again
A record 26 nations took part in the 2012 teams championship which is being hosted by Fédération Française de Squash from 12-17 November.
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FAQ – ASK DON ABOUT SQUASH RULES
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Tournaments & Developments
A significant move in the number of tournaments coming onto the calendar late in the year is giving rise to better preparation and match play for improvement prior to the commencement of the 2013 Squash Circuit. Events at both senior and junior levels in Southern Qld and Sydney are providing a welcome buzz to what would normally be a quieter time where players work on fitness and skills in the lead up to Christmas.
In November there are PSA and WSA senior events scheduled at Ipswich and Caboolture with supporting graded events and juniors are well catered for with Qld Southern Region hosting junior selection events at Sandgate and Maroochydore.
In 2013 NSW and ACT will host the major tournaments of Australian Junior Open at Thornleigh and Australian Age Championships in Canberra. This will be welcome news for parents who need to budget for these big events each year.
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Was this dummy spit justifiable?
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Women’s record six-time world champion Nicol David has stressed:
“I would happily swap my six world titles for one Olympic gold medal.”
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