Grasshopper Cup RD1: Lobban Holds Off Wall, Gear Beats Villard

Greg Lobban battled through a 48-minute thriller with Nick Wall to reach round two, as the Grasshopper Cup got underway at the Squash Arena Uster. 

The Scottish No.1 looked to be heading towards a routine victory at 10-7 up the second, having taken game one 11-4. 

Wall, though, was determined not to go down without a fight, saving the three match balls before eventually taking the tie break 16-14 to force a decider. 

There was little to separate the players with the score locked at 5-5 midway through the third, but Lobban made his experience count when it mattered, winning six of the next eight points to wrap up victory. 

“Best of three makes everybody really anxious when they go on,” Lobban said after the match. 

“I won the first game reasonably comfortably 11-4 and then at 10-7 up it’d have been nice to finish that off 11-7. 

“I definitely had one sitter on my forehand volley that I missed, and I was trying to get that out of my mind between those second and third games, because if that went a millimetre up it was probably match over. 

“It’s difficult to come back in those situations but I’m pleased to reset and get over the line”. 

Earlier in the afternoon, Grace Gear set up an all-English second-round clash with Gina Kennedy, beating France’s Enora Villard 2-0 

Playing in her first ever best-of-three match on the PSA Tour, Gear edged a tight opening game 11-9 and was quickly 10-4 up in the second. 

Villard – ranked a single place above Gear at No.47 in the world – threatened to make a comeback by taking the next two points, but a backhand into the tin handed Gear the win. 

Speaking after the match, Gear said: “I’m really happy to be through. It’s my first time playing best of three so to come off 2-0, I’m really happy. 

“You need to really watch your error count when it’s best of three, because obviously there’s not as much of the match left to play catchup. 

“I’m really enjoyed [my squash] at the moment. I’m just trying to take each match as it comes and just keep enjoying my squash, as that’s when I get to play my best squash.” 

Gear will be joined in round two by Egypt’s Kenzy Ayman, who claimed a first ever PSA Tour win over compatriot Hana Moataz. 

Moataz had won both of the pair’s previous two encounters 3-0, but it was third time lucky for Ayman, who prevailed 12-10, 11-7 to claim her first victory of the season. 

English duo Emily Whitlock and Lucy Turmel also made it safely through in straight games, with Turmel looking particularly impressive in her win over Emilia Soini, winning 11-0, 11-4 to book a meeting with World No.1 Nour ElSherbini. 

In the men’s draw, Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi followed on from winning the QSF3 on home soil just two days ago by knocking out Ramit Tandon in straight games, while Youssef Ibrahim came from a game down to beat Adrian Waller.

For more information on the Grasshopper Cup, visit the PSA website or follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to go behind the scenes in Zurich.

Results: Men’s RD 1 – Afternoon Session:

[9/16] Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Nick Wall (ENG) 2-1: 11-4, 14-16, 11-7 (48m)
Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt [9/16] Patrick Rooney (ENG) 2-0: 11-5, 11-4 (20m)
Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) bt [9/16] Adrian Waller (ENG) 2-1: 8-11, 11-4, 11-3 (32m)
[9/16] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 2-0: 11-7, 11-6 (21m)

Results: Women’s RD 1 – Afternoon Session:

[9/16] Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt Emilia Soini (FIN) 2-0: 11-0, 11-4 (14m)
[9/16] Emily Whitlock (WAL) bt Aira Azman (MAS) 2-0: 11-6, 11-9 (27m)
Grace Gear (ENG) bt [9/16] Enora Villard (FRA) 2-0: 11-9, 11-6 (20m)
Kenzy Ayman (EGY) bt [9/16] Hana Moataz (EGY) 2-0: 12-10, 11-7 (20m)