Squash on Fire Open RD1 Afternoon Roundup: Elnawasany, Brownell and Soares Survive Battles

The opening session of action at the 2023 Squash On Fire Open saw eight matches, with the USA’s Timothy Brownell, Egypt’s Yahya Elnawasany and Portugal’s Rui Soares all coming through in five games.

The Portuguese No.1 took on Mexico’s Cesar Salazar in his opening match of the PSA World Tour Bronze level competition, and after falling two games behind, he fought back to win a deciding fifth game.

The Mexican was strong throughout the early exchanges, and thanks to some clever play at the end of the second, he found himself cruising in the contest. However, a strong start to the third for Soares saw him pull one game back. Salazar then started to struggle with what turned out to be a glutes issue, allowing the Portuguese No.1 to cruise to victory in a fifth game.

“Cesar is such a smart player. I knew that after losing that second game, it was going to be very tough,” Soares said.

“I feel like I am playing good squash. The first two games were very close, they could have gone either way. I kept on with the same tactic but it is a shame that Cesar seemed to get injured in the end. I am not quite sure what happened, but I hope he is okay and he can recover for the next event.”

At the same time, over on Court 8, Yahya Elnawasany came through against wildcard Mohamed Nabil in an all-Egyptian battle. Nabil won the wildcard playoff which took place over the weekend, and he carried that form into this contest in the first round of the Bronze level tournament.

Twice, though, it was Elnawasany that took the lead, with Nabil fighting back to level the match on both occasions. It would be the higher-ranked of the two Egyptians that eventually came through to take the win, sealing the deal after just under an hour.

American Timothy Brownell also had to come through a tricky test, holding off a comeback from Hong Kong’s Henry Leung to win in a deciding game, to move through to the second round.

Buoyed by the home support in Washington, Brownell found himself two games ahead, but a drop in form allowed the Hongkonger to fight back. Leung levelled the match, and as the contest got scrappy late in the fifth, it was the American that came through to take the victory.

All four matches in the women’s draw were won in straight games, with Marina Stefanoni joining her compatriot Brownell in making it through to the second round on home soil.

Stefanoni came up against Danielle Letourneau, with the Canadian playing her first match after returning from injury. The American won the first comfortably, but had to fight through a tie-break in the second game to make sure she kept the momentum. She did just that, and went on to win in three to advance to the last 16. She will be joined in the second round by England’s Katie Malliff, Egypt’s Sana Ibrahim and Hong Kong’s Tsz-Wing Tong.

The Squash on Fire Open continues with the evening session of day one beginning at 17:30 (GMT -5). Matches will be streamed live on the PSA World Tour website.

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Men’s Results – RD1 Afternoon Session: Squash On Fire Open
Timothy Brownell (USA) bt Henry Leung (HKG) 3-2: 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 6-11, 11-8 (68m)
Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) bt [WC] Mohamed Nabil (EGY) 3-2: 11-5, 10-12, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6 (58m)
Rui Soares (POR) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-2: 9-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-5, 11-3 (58m)
Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) bt Faraz Khan (USA) 3-1: 8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 (38m)

Women’s Results – RD1 Afternoon Session: Squash On Fire Open
Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) bt Haley Mendez (USA) 3-0: 14-12, 11-5, 11-9 (34m)
Katie Malliff (ENG) bt Enora Villard (FRA) 3-0: 13-11, 11-7, 11-5 (31m)
Sana Ibrahim (EGY) bt Saskia Beinhard (GER) 3-0: 11-1, 11-6, 11-6 (24m)
Marina Stefanoni (USA) bt Danielle Letourneau (CAN) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-6 (29m)