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Charlottesville Open Day 2: Asim Khan Stuns Elnawasany, Will Face Former Cavalier Hussein
Muhammad Asim Khan upset No.2 seed Yahya Elnawasany in the biggest shock on day two of the Charlottesville Open, booking himself a quarter-final showdown with local favourite Aly Hussein.
The Pakistani No.1 had staged an impressive fightback to beat Diego Gobbi in round one, overturning a two-game deficit to beat the Brazilian, but went into his matchup with Elnawasany as the undoubted underdog.
The pair were playing in the day’s final session on the three-sided glass court at Boar’s Head Resort, which had already seen Moustafa Elsirty knock out fourth seed Rory Stewart earlier in the day.
Karim El Hammamy and Nick Wall had also won on the show court – beating Spencer Lovejoy and Ben Smith 3-0 respectively – by the time Elnawasany and Asim Khan kicked off their match, and it was the Pakistani player who made the better start, taking game one 11-7.
Parity was quickly restored in game two as the Egyptian dropped only four points, and those watching on would have been forgiven for thinking that he would take control from there.
Asim Khan, however, had other ideas, continuing to move his opponent around the court throughout game three, which he took 11-6.
Elnawasany responded once again to send the match into a decider, but Asim Khan is no stranger to five games, having gone the distance in almost 30% of his matches so far this year.
He continued to show deft touches to the front of the court and quickly had a 9-7 lead, bringing up match ball on a delicate forehand drop that the scrambling Elnawasany couldn’t reach.
This time, on match ball, it was Asim Khan scrambling, lunging desperately down the backhand side to keep the ball alive, but he got his just reward as Elnwasany’s backhand volley drop popped out from the side wall, resulting in a stroke.
That match finished just moments after Hussein’s win on court 12, with the Egyptian’s success watched by some friendly faces.
The 24-year-old is a former student of the University of Virginia, whose squash team – the Cavaliers – train at Boar’s Head Resort, meaning he had plenty of support behind him against Malaysia’s Addeen Idrakie.
There was almost nothing to split the two players throughout a long game one, with Hussein eventually edging the tiebreak 14-12, but it was Idrakie – sporting one of the more colourful T-shirts seen on the PSA Squash Tour – who won game two.
From there, though, Hussein took control, cruising through game three for the loss of only one point, before closing out victory 11-4 in the fourth, with Idrakie only able to carry a forehand drop down the right-hand wall on match ball.
Hussein will now face Asim Khan and his win means there will be Egyptian representation in three of the four quarter-finals, with at least one Egyptian guaranteed in the final four, as Elsirty squares off against compatriot Ibrahim Elkabbani.
El Hammamy, meanwhile, will play Mexico’s Cesar Salazar, who came from behind to beat England’s Tom Walsh, while top seed and defending champion Wall will face Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue.
The quarter-finals of the Charlottesville Open get underway at 3pm local time (8pm BST) on Thursday, September 26th.
All four matches will stream live on the SQUASHTV Live Streaming YouTube channel.
Results: Charlottesville Open Men’s Round Two
[6] Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) bt Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-3 (25m)
Moustafa Elsirty (EGY) bt [4] Rory Stewart (SCO) 3-1: 12-10, 4-11, 11-9, 11-4 (46m)
[3] Karim El Hammamy (EGY) bt Spencer Lovejoy (USA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (42m)
[7] Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY) bt Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) 3-1: 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7 (57m)
[1] Nick Wall (ENG) bt Ben Smith (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 (35m)
[5] Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt Tom Walsh (ENG) 3-1: 5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 (52m)
[8] Aly Hussein (EGY) bt Addeen Idrakie (MAS) 3-1: 14-12, 6-11, 11-1, 11-4 (58m)
Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) bt [2] Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) 3-2: 11-7, 4-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7 (60m)
