2018 Commonwealth Games are underway

The opening ceremony of the 2018 Commonwealth Games was held on Wednesday in Gold Coast (Photo credit: www.popsugar.com.au)

Main story: Can the legends extend their reign?

The opening ceremony of the XXI Commonwealth Games was held yesterday in Gold Coast, Australia. Squash is featuring for the sixth time, and the single draws started earlier this morning. Can Nick Matthew and Nicol David win a third consecutive gold medal? Who are their main challengers? Who is expected to win the double events? Here is all what you need to know.

In the absence of the sport in the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games are very important for squash players, to such an extent that some of them opted not to play in El Gouna in a few weeks in order to put their entire focus on this event. First and foremost, Nick Matthew - aka "The Wolf" - who's enjoying his last season as a professional player. He started off his 2018 campaign with a comfortable win over Ian Rukunya from Uganda. "The Commonwealth Games have been a key landmark in my career," he'd said approaching the event. "It's something I earmarked to prepare and peak for a long way out and am getting more and more excited the closer it's getting. Winning the gold medal in both Delhi and especially Glasgow (with the circumstances of my hampered preparation for knee surgery) are right up there with the highlights of my career." Matthew plays India's Malhotra tomorrow in the round of 16. If things go according to seedings, his following opponents will be Australia's Ryan Cuskelly and then fellow Englishman James Willstrop (but the tall Yorkshireman will have to overcome Cameron Pilley before that). An all-English clash in the semis would be a rematch of 2010 and 2014 finals. In the bottom half, Paul Coll - who is now the highest-ranked player in the draw at #9 in the world - is expected to reach the final. The Kiwi might face England's Daryl Selby in the quarters, while a huge upset came on Thursday afternoon: despite going 2-0 up, India's Saurav Ghosal - who was seeded to meet Coll in the semis - was ousted by Chris Binnie (world #65). It was an historical day today for Jamaican squash, who will have two players tomorrow in the round of 16: Binnie was joined by teammate Lewis Walters, who surprised Welshman Peter Creed in the 1st round before backing against a lower-ranked opponent.

Squash single draws started on Thursday and a few upsets were recorded in the Men's (Photo credit: www.squashinfo.com)

Like Paul Coll, NZ's Joelle King is seeded #2 in the women's draw but is the highest ranked player, having climbed to world #4 a few days ago. King was a bronze medalist in 2014 and if she wants to better that result, she may have to beat Nicol David in the semis. The Malaysian superstar, who is the only player to make her sixth appearance in the singles after her debut in 1998 at home as a 15-year old, won the last two editions. David has been struggling to reach the last stages of tournaments this season, but she enjoys a 13-1 advantage in the H2H over King, including a recent win in the ToC. Other forces to be reckoned with in the bottom hallf of the draw are Alison Waters (England) and Indian duo Dipika Pallikal Karthik and Joshna Chinappa, gold medalists in the women's doubles in 2014. In the top half, we have two English contenders: Sarah-Jane Perry and Laura Massaro, runner-up in New Delhi and Glasgow. The former World Champion could have a very tricky quarterfinal match against Welshwoman Tesni Evans, who beat her twice in the last few weeks. The singles - in which players from 28 nations are competing - will be followed by the Men's, Women's and Mixed Doubles events from 10 to 15th of April. Joelle King is seeded to win double Doubles gold - repeating the success she achieved in last August's WSF World Squash Doubles Championships. She retains the same partnerships, with Amanda Landers-Murphy in the Women's and Paul Coll in the Mixed Doubles. Alison Waters could be a threat in both of King's Doubles bids, teaming up with Daryl Selby in the Mixed event and Jenny Duncalf in the Women's Doubles, both pairings being second seeds. In the Men's competition, reigning World Champions Ryan Cuskelly & Cameron Pilley are expected to repeat this success in Gold Coast. Pilley will be seeking a third successive Doubles Gold after claiming Mixed Gold (with Kasey Brown) in 2010 in Delhi and partnering David Palmer to Men's Gold in 2014 in Glasgow. Despite retiring from the Tour seven years ago, Palmer - winner of a record eight medals - will be back in Games action for the sixth time since 1998. Alan Clyne & Greg Lobban are seeded to provide Scotland their first Commonwealth Games medal success since 1998 as second favourites in the Men's Doubles. Following the qualifying action in Pools, the top two pairs in each Pool will progress to the knockout stages - last 16 rounds for the Men's and Mixed Doubles, and quarter-finals for the Women.

Source: www.squashinfo.com

Other squash news in March

--- ASHOUR'S MASTERPIECE IN ZURICH

Is Ramy Ashour back to his best? Only time will tell, but former World No.1 and World Champion delivered a masterpiece in Zurich a few weeks ago, which he ended by a straight game win over the man of the moment, Mohamed Elshorbagy.

Ramy Ashour celebrated his wins in a new fashion in Switzerland (Photo credit: SquashSite/Steve Cubbins)

Ashour - considered by many squash as the most gifted player in the history of the game - has been plagued with injuries for so many years that one could forget when it started ... During this time, he achieved several comebacks, which have been both stunning and short-termed.  Therefore, hopes of seeing the Egyptian coming back to his best should be considered cautiously, but there were very positive signs in the Grasshopper Cup : as stated by star SquashTV commentator Joey Barrington, "We hadn't seen him move that well since his victory in El Gouna in 2015.” Besides, Ashour seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself on court in Switzerland and dived in a few occasions. In the space of three days, he imposed his smooth and subtle game to three of the best players in the world: Simon Rösner, Grégory Gaultier, and finally Mohamed Elshorbagy. “Playing against Ramy is something special,” he said after the final, “and that's why after a big rally, I stopped to tell him I missed that. I think that when we play each other, we take the game to another level." The current World No.1 refers to the second game which reached very rare heights. Understandably tired after having played many matches recently, he was not able to compete with his compatriot after that, but he sees “no shame to be beaten by one of the greatest players ever. I hope that Ramy will stay healthy so we can meet again soon.” Ashour's post-match interviews are often almost as interesting as his matches, and he confided in length afer his success. "I'm pouring with emotion right now." he said. "It's been a very hard two years - but I have proved to myself that I am there again. It's all what think about: when I wake up in the morning, when I train and when I am on a date (laughs). Mohamed is an amazing athlete. He is the World Champion and he has been doing amazingly recently but I'm happy with the way I played today. It was a brutal match but I'm glad I came out on top. I won. I'm not surprised because I did a lot of work and I've been through a lot - I'm not being cocky - I'm saying what's really on my mind, because I think I kind of deserve this and I hope we can play more of these matches in the future." Ironically as he seems to be finally fully fit, Ashour will not be playing in El Gouna later this month, because he allegedly forgot to enter ....

--- Before the GC Cup, Mohamed ElShorbagy had written a new page of a stunning 2017-2018 season, which allowed him to go back at the top of the rankings a few weeks ago. The last four of the Canary Wharf Squash Classic was an all-Egyptian affair, and we were therefore guaranteed a first time winner from the squash powerhouse in London. The highlight of the early rounds was the introduction of best of 3 matches - openly criticized by the Shorbagy brothers in their post-match interviews - but the crowd of East Winter Garden was then treated with 5-game thrillers in the semis: another victory for older brother Mohamed over Marwan, a few days after the Windy City Open final, and Tarek Momen overcoming Ali Farag. In the final, Momen found the resources to claw back twice and take the match to 5, but the last game was one-way traffic in favor of Elshorbagy. “It is the best match we played together,” he said afterwards. It was also his 7th title in 9 tournaments played in 2017-2018, with a 95% win ratio ...

Tarek Momen (on the right) fought bravely in London but could not stop Mohamed Elshorbagy's run (Photo credit: PSA World Tour)

--- Egypt’s Ali Farag has overtaken Frenchman Gregory Gaultier to reach a career-high World Ranking of No.2, while compatriot Tarek Momen has moved into the squash world’s top five for the first time in the new rankings, published on the 1st of April. Germany’s Simon Rösner moves up to No.6 and is followed by 2016 World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad, who drops out of the top five for the first time since September 2016. Three-time World Champion Ramy Ashour’s title victory at last month’s Grasshopper Cup sees him move up two places to No.8, while New Zealand’s Paul Coll sits behind the Egyptian. England’s three-time World Champion Nick Matthew drops four places to No.12 – marking the first time since November 2005 that the Yorkshireman has not featured inside the top 10. In the women's rankings, New Zealand’s Joelle King has returned to the world’s top five for the first time since October 2014, rising three places to sit at No.4. King spent 10 uninterrupted months inside the world’s top five in 2014 but slipped down the rankings after rupturing her achilles in August of the same year, eventually falling as low as World No.57 12 months later. She is the only non-Egyptian inside the top five, with Nour El Sherbini heading up the rankings ahead of World Champion Raneem El Welily and Windy City Open winner Nour El Tayeb, while Nouran Gohar stays at No.5. Camille Serme sits at No.6 ahead of England’s Laura Massaro, who falls three spots to No.7, which is her lowest ranking since July 2011. Massaro’s compatriot Sarah-Jane Perry moves up a place to No.8, while Malaysia’s eight-time World Champion Nicol David drops to No.9, her lowest ranking since January 2004. England’s Alison Waters completes the top 10.

Source: PSA World Tour

--- The European Junior Squash Championships ended a few days ago in Bielsko-Biała, Poland, and all three events went according to seedings. In the U19 Boys' draw, Frenchman Victor Crouin became the second player to hold the title, after fellow countryman Grégory Gaultier in 2000 and 2001. He had to overcome a fierce resistance from 17-year old Viktor Byrtus, who came back from a 2-game deficit. However, Crouin was able to regain his dominance in the fifth, ending hopes of a first title for Czech Republic. It was the first time no English player featured in the final since 2010, but nevertheless Tom Walsh completed the top 3. In the Girls' draw, England's Lucy Turmel (bronze medalist in 2016 and 2017) was huge favorite after her compatriot Elise Lazarus ruled out due to injury, and she lived up to that position. Turmel - who finished 3rd in the U19 BJO - didn't drop a game en route to the final, where she beat another English girl - Alice Green - in 4 games. Georgia Adderley of Scotland took the third place. In the team event, England clinched a 32th gold medal in 35 editions. Despite Crouin beating Walsh in the opener and putting France ahead - it was the first match lost by the English team since 2012 - Nick Wall and Turmel won their match in straight games over Edwin Clain and Maëlle Fuhrer, bringing the title home. Czech Republic's win over Switzerland means they held to the bronze medal clinched in 2017.

England, France and Czech Republic shared silverware at the European Junior Championships (Photo credits: European Squash Champs U19 2018)

--- A few weeks ago, the Professional Squash Association (PSA) unveiled its new-look professional squash tour structure, which will come into effect for the 2018/19 season onwards, while a WSF & PSA Satellite Tour has also been announced following the recent partnership agreement between the PSA and World Squash Federation. The current PSA World Tour will be rebranded into two individual circuits - PSA World Tour and PSA Challenger Tour - while qualification rounds will be scrapped and a series of new tournament tiers will be introduced across both circuits. The PSA World Tour will consist in top-tier events of total prize money from $50,000-$1,000,000 and above, including the PSA World Championships and PSA World Tour Finals - while new tournament tiers in the form of World Tour Platinum, featuring 48-player draws, and World Tour Gold, World Tour Silver and World Tour Bronze, all of which are set to feature 24-player draws, will be introduced. The 2018/19 PSA World Championships, which will be held in Chicago with a record $1 million prize fund, will comprise of 56 PSA entrants and one wildcard, with the other seven places taken up by winners from selected tournaments on the PSA Challenger Tour in a 'Road to Chicago' competition. The PSA Challenger Tour will consist in tourmanents offering prize money between $5,500 - $30,000. A round robin system will be trialled at selected Challenger Tour 5 tournaments throughout the 2018/19 season. Following on from last year's partnership agreement, the WSF & PSA Satellite Tour will be formed, integrating sanctioned World, Regional, National and Junior tournaments into the PSA World Rankings. "We are committed to promoting a thriving and sustainable professional squash circuit and feel that simplifying the tour structure and easing the transition from junior squash to professional squash will help us to achieve those aims," said PSA Chief Executive Alex Gough. WSF President Jacques Fontaine added: "It was an important intention for me to bring WSF and PSA closer together when I became WSF President - as a unified sport we will progress even more strongly. Our MoU has achieved this aim. Now joining together to allow players competing in our member nations' national and junior championships to have the opportunity of ranking points is an example showing the benefits of this unity."

Source: PSA World Tour

--- Hong Kong China claimed both the men's and women's titles in the Asian Squash Team Championships for the first time in the event's 37-year history in the 2018 championships in Cheongju in the Republic of Korea. Hosts made history in the women's championship by reaching the final for the first time after upsetting second seeds Japan in the semi-finals. However, Hong Kong were too strong for the fifth seeds, winning 2/0. The men's final was a repeat of the last ATC two years ago in Chinese Taipei, but this time favourites Hong Kong gained revenge over title-holders Pakistan to beat the second seeds 2/0, and clinch the historic first ever men's gold medal for the team. While this is a major achievement for Hong Kong Squash after the bronze medal in the Men's World Team Championship, it must be noted that several key players opted not to play in the event because of the upcoming Commonwealth Games: Malaysia fielded their reserve teams while India simply did not feature.

Source: www.squashinfo.com

Hong Kong won both the men's and women's event in the Asian Team Championship (Photo credit: Hong Kong Squash)

--- Quick roundup of what happened in the US squash in March. Exactly one year after rupturing her achilles in Colombia, Amanda Sobhy won her fourth US Nationals title in Philadelphia. After a joyful semifinal match with her younger sister Sabrina, the former World No.6 had the better of promising Reeham Sedky, who had been crowned college individual national champion a week before. With these three players as well as Olivia Blatchford, the US Women's Team will be a force to be reckoned with at the next World Championships in China in september. As far as the men's are concerned, 2018 was a carbon copy of 2017, Chris Hanson holding his title beating youngster Andrew Douglas in the final (after both players upset top 2 seeds Todd Harrity and Chris Gordon). Irishman David Ryan from Harvard was a surprise winner of the CSA Championship, beating Indian Kush Kumar 12-10 in the 5th game.

Who said squash wasn't fun? Certainly not the Sobhy sisters ... (Photo credit: US Squash)

April squash hotspots

--- After the Commonwealth Games, April's main event will be the El Gouna International Open. World No.1 Nour El Sherbini and World Champion Raneem El Welily are seeded to meet in the final of the first ever women’s draw. They faced each other in the final of the women’s PSA World Championships at this venue 12 months ago, El Sherbini coming out as the victor. The draw also features the likes of both Windy City Open winner and runner-up - Nour El Tayeb and Joelle King -  as well as former World No.1s Laura Massaro and David. Should the tournament go to seeding, El Sherbini will line up against Massaro in the semi-finals, while the other last four fixture will feature El Welily and El Tayeb. Meanwhile, former World No.4 Omneya Abdel Kawy will make her first PSA World Tour appearance since January 2017 after taking time off due the birth of her son. World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy heads up the men’s draw opposite number two seed and defending champion Gregory Gaultier, who faces Egyptian Mazen Hesham in the opening round. ElShorbagy is set to meet younger brother Marwan in the semi-finals, while World No.2 Ali Farag is seeded to meet Gaultier in the other semi-final. Last year’s runner-up Karim Abdel Gawad also features and he plays Hong Kong’s Leo Au in the opening round. A few top players have opted not to play in El Gouna: Englishmen Nick Matthew, James Willstrop and Daryl Selby, who will just have finished their CWG campaign, as well as Ramy Ashour. Points for the PSA World Series standings will be at stake, as players aim to join the ElShorbagy brothers, Farag, Tarek Momen, Simon Rösner, El Sherbini, El Tayeb, El Welily and King in guaranteeing a top eight berth.

Source: PSA World Tour

The El Gouna International Open will be the main event on the PSA World Tour in April (Photo credit: El Gouna International Open)