R1 : Elnawasany 3-0 Tandon, Ibrahim 3-1 Lake, Waller 3-1 Marche, Mosaad 3-0 Khan

A couple of upsets to finish R1 as Adrian Waller and Yahyia Elnawasany join Youssef Ibrahim and Omar Mosaad in the next round

Yahya Elnawasany (Egy) 3-0 Ramit Tandon (Ind) 13-11, 11-5, 11-5 (28m)
Youssef Ibrahim (Egy) 3-1 Nathan Lake (Eng) 9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 (45m)
Adrian Waller (Eng) 3-1 Gregoire Marche (Fra) 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7 (61m)
Omar Mosaad (Egy) 3-0 Shahjahan Khan (Usa)  11-7, 11-5, 11-7 (37m)

Adrian Waller (Eng) 3-1 Gregoire Marche (Fra) 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7 (61m)

Adrian : The first two games were a bit scrappy, neither of us were putting any kind of rhythm on there. I think it’s partly due to the conditions, it’s very cold. We were constructing a few good rallies, but then the other player would come back.

You have got to play good squash on there. You can’t just see what happens and run! The aggressive play is the best strategy, you need to be positive, and the court allows you to do that, you get a lot of rewards.

We were both trying to do that, with limited success. And the cut to my eye was just a silly accident, I did that myself, my racquet flicked up and hit me in the eye, my own racquet, very bizarre!

I actually won 2 quick points at the restart which helped me to win that game. But because of the conditions, it was literally two games and two games…

A little bit bizarre but happy to win, I’m sure that tomorrow I’ll feel a bit more comfortable. Playing Paul, I played him last in New Zealand, he beat me 3/0. He played very well that week, but let’s see, it’s the end of the season, a lot of tired bodies out there, I’ll try to get a good start and see, you never know what’s going to happen…

Omar Mosaad (Egy) 3-0 Shahjahan Khan (Usa)  11-7, 11-5, 11-7 (37m)

Omar : Amr Khaled is training me and pushing me and it looks like my squash is back to my best momentum. He knows me very well, and he knows how to press the buttons to get the best out of me.

Sometimes we have tough matches like when I lost against Asal 11/8 in the 5th; it’s a bit frustrating but it proves you are on the right tracks.

This event is the last one of the season, so I want to give it all that I have, tomorrow, against Saurav Ghosal, I’ll will push 100%. We are the same age, he is maybe one year older than me, but we know each other’s game well.

Tomorrow will be about who is playing the best squash, with the best tactic, and you know, now, anyone can beat anyone if he is in a good day…

Youssef Ibrahim (Egy) 3-1 Nathan Lake (Eng) 9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 (45m)

Nathan (on Twitter)
Disappointed to lose today but learning from each one of these kind of matches.

Youssef : I feel pretty good. My last tournament was the last one where I started to play completely free and moving as well as I want to without thinking about any pains or niggles. I was moving really well today, but I think my squash wasn’t the best.

Nathan dictated his game plan for most of the match and credit to him for that, but I was able to win the second and the fourth otherwise it would have been a toss of a coin. He’s been playing really well with some good squash lately and to beat him in four is a positive for me moving forward.

I was 6-4 up and then I made some crucial errors and the momentum shifted his way and he was playing really well and it was hard to get a point off him. It was close and I knew I wasn’t doing anything too badly wrong, but mentally it was just about keeping it together and I was able to do that.

Yahya Elnawasany (Egy) 3-0 Ramit Tandon (Ind) 13-11, 11-5, 11-5 (28m)

Yahya :  It happened to me several times this season, being up 2/0 against good players and then lose in 5. I guess it’s part of the learning process, you get 2/0 up, you get all excited and end up losing!

Today was a bit of a stressful day, I had an exam this morning in Cairo, then I rushed back to Gouna (about 5hours drive) to be able to compete here today!

I was a bit anxious in the first game, at the start, I was not focused on the match yet, I was thinking about a lot of things. And also, today, I remembered last year’s match I had a match ball, and I ended up losing so I was very nervous on there today.

Ramit is so skillful, I am so happy I managed to get my first good win this season!
Tomorrow a great experience, I’m playing Joel Makin, it’s been a while since I played a top player, really looking forward to it, it’s going to be a good experience for me.