Pajares Survives Brownell Test on Day One of U.S. Open

Spain’s World No.26 Iker Pajares Bernabeu came back from two match balls down to avoid an upset against wildcard Timothy Brownell as the U.S. Open, PSA World Tour Platinum event got under way at Philadelphia’s Arlen Specter US Squash Center.

Philadelphia-based Brownell was cheered on to the rafters by his home fans and almost sent them home happy after some fabulous squash saw him come back from 2-1 down to level the scores, before he stormed to an 8-2 lead in the decider.

He was initially able to repel a late fightback from the Spaniard to build up two match ball opportunities, but Pajares kept his composure to take four points on the spin as he sealed an 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 6-11, 13-11 victory in 93 minutes.

“I’m over the moon with this win,” said World No.26 Pajares, who will take on three-time U.S. Open champion Mohamed ElShorbagy next.

“After being 8-2 down in the fifth, I saw myself going home. I kept fighting to 8-8 and then it was 10-8 and I came back again to take the match. It was a fair and clean match, he’s a good player and I enjoyed every minute on court.

“I’ve been injured for three or four months and having these matches again is something I was missing very much. I totally forgot about [the crowd], I was focusing on myself and trying to take each point. It was very tough, but I also had good friends supporting me here and I was looking at them after every point.”

The only American man who claimed a day one victory was World No.39 Todd Harrity, who won an all-American battle with Spencer Lovejoy, earning a 12-10, 11-8, 11-5 victory to ensure he will take on Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez next.

“I’m just really happy to get through, it was a tough match with Spencer,” said Harrity.

“He’s young and up and coming and we’re both Americans training together at the [Specter] Center. We know each other’s games well. I thought I was a little nervous at times, but I stuck with it on the big points, I didn’t run from the situation and I’m really happy to win today.”

The other men from the USA in action on day one were Shahjahan Khan – the nation’s No.1 player – and Faraz Khan, but they saw their tournaments come to an end against Dimitri Steinmann and Patrick Rooney, respectively.

In the women’s event, USA duo Sabrina Sobhy and Olivia Clyne booked their spots in the last 32 following respective wins over Haley Mendez and Ka Yi Lee.

Sobhy dominated proceedings against Mendez and duly completed an 11-1, 11-6, 11-3 victory to set up a second round encounter with Canada’s Hollie Naughton.

“I felt pretty good with my performance,” said Sobhy.

“The atmosphere being at home took a lot of the pressure off and I tried to focus on relaxing on court because I felt a bit tense at the previous tournaments. I tried to stay calm and control my emotions and the ball around the court more.”

Meanwhile, Egypt’s Nadine Shahin completed a huge comeback against wildcard Lucie Stefanoni to avoid a shock defeat. 18-year-old Stefanoni had already competed in the first round of the Arlen Specter Philadelphia Junior Championships earlier in the day but caught Shahin off guard in a superb beginning to the match which saw her power into a 2-0 lead.

Shahin finally turned up in the match during a one-sided third game as she began to hit the ball with more purpose, though she needed to maintain her composure in a fourth-game tie-break after Stefanoni had overturned three game balls. The American made a perfect start to the fifth game as she went 3-0 up, but she soon ran out of gas as Shahin came back to set up a fixture against Wales’ Tesni Evans.

“I was nervous and I didn’t really give the match its worth,” said Shahin.

“I was just thinking about the second match, which was really unprofessional from me. I disregarded Lucie’s athleticism, spirit and talent. I always forget that the up-and-coming juniors are so hungry, they have nothing to lose and they play very well.”

Stefanoni’s older sister Marina was also in action but she fell to Hong Kong’s Chan Sin Yuk in the final match of the day.

The U.S. Open continues into round two tomorrow (October 9) as the likes of defending champions Nouran Gohar and Mostafa Asal begin their tournaments. All of the action will be shown live on SQUASHTV from 12:00 (GMT-4).

For more information on the U.S. Open, visit the PSA website or follow the PSA on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Results – Men’s First Round: 2022 U.S. Open

Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-8 (48m)

Todd Harrity (USA) bt [WC] Spencer Lovejoy (USA) 3-0: 12-10, 11-8, 11-5 (36m)

Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt Borja Golan (ESP) 3-1: 11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9 (61m)

James Willstrop (ENG) bt Nick Wall (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (35m)

Patrick Rooney (ENG) bt Faraz Khan (USA) 3-1: 11-8, 3-11, 11-5, 12-10 (60m)

Lucas Serme (FRA) bt Zahed Salem (EGY) 3-1: 11-2, 4-11, 11-9, 11-7 (50m)

Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt Shahjahan Khan (USA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 (50m)

Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (25m)

Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-3 (37m)

Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) 3-2: 12-10, 6-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6 (78m)

Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) bt [WC] Timothy Brownell (USA) 3-2: 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 6-11, 13-11 (93m)

Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) bt Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 3-1: 11-7, 11-13, 11-4, 11-6 (55m)

George Parker (ENG) bt Tayyab Aslam (PAK) 3-0: 5-1 retired

Henry Leung (HKG) bt Nathan Lake (ENG) 3-1: 11-13, 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 (46m)

Ramit Tandon (IND) bt Rui Soares (POR) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-2 (27m)

Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) bt Bernat Jaume (ESP) 3-0: 15-13, 11-4, 11-6 (38m)

Draw – Men’s Second Round: To Be Played October 9th

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v Eain Yow Ng (MAS)

Miguel Rodriguez (COL) v Todd Harrity (USA)

Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Cesar Salazar (MEX)

Victor Crouin (FRA) v [6] Tarek Momen (EGY)

[8] Mazen Hesham (EGY) v James Willstrop (ENG)

Raphael Kandra (GER) v Youssef Soliman (EGY)

Patrick Rooney (ENG) v Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)

Lucas Serme (FRA) v [3] Mostafa Asal (EGY)

[4] Diego Elias (PER) v Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)

Baptiste Masotti (FRA) v Greg Lobban (SCO)

Leonel Cardenas (MEX) v Fares Dessouky (EGY)

Gregoire Marche (FRA) v [7] Joel Makin (WAL)
[5] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) v Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP)

Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) v George Parker (ENG)

Henry Leung (HKG) v Ramit Tandon (IND)
Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) v [2] Paul Coll (NZL)

Results – Women’s First Round: 2022 U.S. Open

Lisa Aitken (SCO) bt Cristina Gomez (ESP) 3-0: 13-11, 11-8, 11-2 (35m)

Yathreb Adel (EGY) bt Anna Serme (CZE) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 (24m)

Sana Ibrahim (EGY) bt Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-2: 6-11, 11-4, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9 (56m)

Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt Grace Gear (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-3 (23m)

Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) beats Marina Stefanoni (USA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-7 (24m)

Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 (27m)

Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt Marie Stephan (FRA) 3-2: 11-5, 13-15, 11-1, 4-11, 11-7 (57m)

Alexandra Fuller (RSA) bt Enora Villard (FRA) 3-1: 7-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-3 (35m)

Melissa Alves (FRA) bt Emilia Soini (FIN) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-1 (21m)

Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt Haley Mendez (USA) 3-0: 11-1, 11-6, 11-3 (22m)

Julianne Courtice (ENG) bt Aifa Azman (MAS) 3-2: 3-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6 (51m)

Jana Shiha (EGY) bt Tomato Ho (HKG) 3-1: 11-13, 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 (39m)

Mariam Metwally (EGY) bt Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-9 (24m)

Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-8 (48m)

Nadine Shahin (EGY) bt [WC] Lucie Stefanoni (USA) 3-2: 3-11, 8-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-7 (39m)

Zeina Mickawy (EGY) beats Ineta Mackevica (LAT) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (25m)

Draw – Women’s Second Round: To Be Played October 9th

[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v Emily Whitlock (WAL)

Lisa Aitken (SCO) v Yathreb Adel (EGY)

Sana Ibrahim (EGY) v Nele Gilis (BEL)

Rachel Arnold (MAS) v [7] Rowan Elaraby (EGY)

[6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v Chan Sin Yuk (HKG)

Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v Hana Ramadan (EGY)

Lucy Turmel (ENG) v Alexandra Fuller (RSA)

Melissa Alves (FRA) v [4] Amanda Sobhy (USA)

[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) v Olivia Fiechter (USA)

Sabrina Sobhy (USA) v Hollie Naughton (CAN)

Tinne Gilis (BEL) v Julianne Courtice (ENG)

Jana Shiha (EGY) v [5] Joelle King (NZL)

[8] Salma Hany (EGY) v Mariam Metwally (EGY)
Olivia Clyne (USA) v Farida Mohamed (EGY)

Tesni Evans (WAL) v Nadine Shahin (EGY)

Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)