What's been happening in the world of squash (23th to 29th of January 2017)

Ninth time is the charm for Ryan Cuskelly

Ryan Cuskelly won the biggest trophy of his career last week in Detroit, overcoming Motor City Open's defending champion Ali Farag in the final. The Australian not only made the semis for the first time in his ninth consecutive participation, but he took it two steps further. After losing the first game against world number 7 from Egypt in the final match of the tournament, Cuskelly got the next two, before a dramatic fourth game. “I was up 4-2 up and I thought about the finish line, which is silly.” he said (Source: themotorcityopen.com). “Next minute I was down 9-4 and I just tried to get back to playing normal squash for the next game. I'm pretty excited to win my biggest title in my favourite tournament on the Tour. I always told the guys here I'd win it someday, but I didn't expect it to be this year.” The 29-year old, who'd beaten Omar Mosaad and Stephen Coppinger en route to the final, had had an exceptional 2015-2016 season and started well in August with a semi-final in HK. But he'd had less success since then, especially in the World Championship where he lost to Jens Schoor in the first round.

The MCO was not an easy ride for the Shorbagy brothers: Marwan lost in the quarters to Diego Elias, who continues to impress. “He's such an unbelievable player,” said Ali Farag after beating the Peruvian in five games and 77 minutes in the semis. “It's very hard to get him off balance. He's got the maturity of a 30-year-old.” Even more surprising was the loss of Mohamed in the first round against Cesar Salazar, although one remembers the Mexican was very close to downing the world number 1 in the US Open a few months ago. After going 2-0 down El Shorbagy clawed one back but Salazar closed the match in four games. “My best win ever, for sure,” he said. “I tried to stay very focused and play long rallies because he loves to play quick points. My strategy was perfect in the first two games. He played better in the third, but in the fourth, I kept fighting, he made some mistakes, and I tried to push him knowing I had a chance.” The Egyptian will need to regroup for the Windy City Open, which starts on the 23rd of February in Chicago and where he will face in form Paul Coll in the first round. He didn't win any of his last five PSA events, which is his longest dry spell since November 2013.

Ryan Cuskelly won the biggest title of his career in Detroit (Photo credit: www.psaworldtour.com) 

World rankings: Karim Abdel Gawad closes the gap, Serme up to world number 2

Despite his early loss in Detroit, Mohamed El Shorbagy is sitting at the top of the world rankings for the fourteenth consecutive month, but man of the moment Karim Abdel Gawad is getting closer after this win at the ToC. Besides, he'd lost in the second round of the Windy City Open in February 2016 while the world number 1 had won in Chicago, therefore the current 2635 point gap could narrow even more. The other significant change is James Willstrop's comeback in the top 10 for the first time since December 2014. Thanks to his win in the MCO, Ryan Cuskelly regains the Australia number 1 spot he had very briefly reached in 2016 at world #15. Biggest risers of the month within the top 50 are Paul Coll, reaching a career high of #16 and Farhan Mehboob. Pakistanese is still far from his HWR of #9 but he's back in the top 50 for the first time since 2011!

ToC champions Camille Serme and Karim Abdel Gawad are getting closer to the world number 1 spot (Photo credit: Mike Pepper)

In the women's rankings, Tournament of Champions' winner Camille Serme continues her rise and is now world number 2. “It means a lot,” said the 27-year-old Frenchwoman. (Source: www.psaworldtour.com). “I'm excited by that because it takes me one step closer to my ultimate dream. But I know the road is still long and the last step is always the hardest one.” Such as Gawad, Serme can target the number 1 spot because Nour El Sherbini, who is less than 3000 points ahead of her has a lot to defend over the next few weeks. “But it doesn't make me forget about the others behind,” Serme added. They include Nouran Gohar who exchanged places with the Frenchwoman, but also Englishwoman Sarah-Jane Perry who breaks into the top 10 for the first time ever (#8) thanks to her semis in NYC. Salma Hany Ibrahim moves up eight places at #20, and there are now a total of six Egyptian ladies in the top twenty.

Around the world

There were a lot of PSA events last week, here is a recap of what happened around the world --- Richie Fallows won his first $10,000 title in Toulouse, beating Kristian Frost in straight games in the final. The Dane had had a brutal semi-final against Jan Van den Herrewegen which lasted 114 minutes (longest match on the tour in 2017). “I am looking above, this is only a step for me. I am looking to do well in bigger events in the future,” Fallows said. “I've been having good results in the last couple of months, and I feel like I've made quite a few improvements.” --- Kanzy El Dafrawy continues her run. After her win last week in Delaware, she won another 10k in Cincinatti but had to overcome the fierce resistance of fellow Egyptian Zeina Mickawy in the final (14-12 in the fifth game!). It's Dafrawy fifth title in three months. --- It took Andrew Schnell seven years on the tour to win a title but the Canadian has now clinched four in the last twelve months. In Calgary, he lived up to his seeding and came through a tough battle with Dutchman Piedro Schweertman in the final. --- 25-year old Julianne Courtice won her maiden title in Edinburgh. In the semis, the English player had beaten wild card Lisa Aitken, former world 38 who was playing her first tournament in almost three years. --- It was a Hong Kong double in Malaysia. Both seeded number 1, Wong Chi Him and Tong Tsz-Wing won their fourth and sixth title on the tour, respectively. While Tong only dropped a game all week, Wong needed five games to overcome Chris Fuller in the final. --- Jami Äijänen won the second title of his career on home soil in Mikkeli, Finland. The 20-year old Finnish beat George Parker in five games in the final. The Englishman recently came back after a 6-month ban from England Squash for smashing his racket at the British Open in Hull.

Julianne Courtice was delighted to win her maiden title in Edinburgh (Photo credit: edinburghopensquash.com)