CIB Black Ball Open: Day One Morning Glass Court – Player Reaction

We now turn our attention to the men’s CIB Black Ball Squash Open as day one begins for them.

Stay tuned as we bring you reaction from the players on the glass court from the morning session.

Order of Play (all times local GMT)
11:00 Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) v Benjamin Aubert (FRA)
11:45 Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) v Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
13:15 Alan Clyne (SCO) v [WC] Ahmed Ismail (EGY)
14:00 Lucas Serme (FRA) v Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)

You can catch all the action live from the Black Ball Sporting Club on SquashTV, and the official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour (excluding Europe and Japan).

You can also keep up with the live scores from the event here.

ElSherbini Progresses to Second Round

Egypt’s World No.32 Mohamed ElSherbini is through to the second round of the CIB Black Ball Squash Open after defeating France’s World No.50 Benjamin Aubert 8-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-9.

ElSherbini recovered well from losing the first game to prevail at the PSA Platinum event and will now face the winner of India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar v France’s Mathieu Castagnet.

“I was so nervous at the beginning of the match, I was just running so fast. I was actually over-running the ball!” @moelsherbini1 might miss his cousin’s wedding, but he is through to the second round of the CIB @BlackBallSquash #BlackBallOpen pic.twitter.com/nHBHt9i9FN

— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) March 19, 2021

“The beginnings are always tough, I haven’t been playing well for a long time,” ElSherbini said to the SquashTV cameras afterwards.

“It’s definitely good to get back into the mood of playing good tournaments and playing well overall. The first game I was so shaky and thank god I won.

“I was just overrunning the ball, I was so nervous in the beginning of the match – I was just running so fast and overrunning the ball, it was not the best but I’m glad to win and sometimes you have to win ugly.

“I was not planning to lose today even though my cousin’s wedding is today [Omar El Sherbini] but thank god I won today for him and hopefully I can win tomorrow for him.

“Congratulations Omar and I wish you a blessed life and happy wedding.”

Result:
Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) bt Benjamin Aubert (FRA) 3-1: 8-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-9 (55m)

Castagnet Powers Past Mangaonkar

France’s World No.24 Mathieu Castagnet prevailed 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 against India’s World No.47 Mahesh Mangaonkar to reach the second round of the CIB Black Ball Squash Open.

The Frenchman hasn’t played a PSA tournament since the Manchester Open in September, but was on form to apply pressure at the right moments to prevail in straight-games. He will face Egypt’s Mohamed ElSherbini in the second round tomorrow at 11:00 local time (GMT).

400 matches for @CastagnetMatt, but it feels like 800

The Frenchman spoke to us after his victory against @maheshmangao in the first round of the CIB PSA @BlackBallSquash Open#BlackBallOpen pic.twitter.com/RcPKlz6yRo

— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) March 19, 2021

“I’m really happy with my performance today,” said Castagnet, who played his 400th PSA match today.

“Mahesh is such a great player, in December he played against Mostafa Asal first round and it went to 3-2 against a future top 10 player. I wasn’t really happy to see him against me to be honest! I’m really happy about the way I played today.

“I’ve played 400 matches, but I’ve had such a tough battles all of my career, I have been playing two hours, hour and a half – I would probably have to say I’ve played more than 400 matches, maybe 800! My body felt it a lot, I’ve struggled with injuries – I lost weight and I tried to do a great job with my coach, Renan Lavigne, and all my staff. I’m happy to be in good shape today.”

Result:
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 (35m)

Clyne Gets the Job Done in Three

Scotland’s World No.38 Alan Clyne will face Egypt’s former World No.3 Omar Mosaad in the second round following his 11-4, 11-4, 11-9 victory over wildcard Ahmed Ismail.

Ismail was featuring in his first ever PSA match but was unable to put Clyne under any real pressure in the opening two games as the Scotsman was able to use his experience to close out in three.

Scotland’s @Clynesquash is through to the last 32 at the CIB PSA @BlackBallSquash Open

He came in front of the cameras and spoke about his performance, playing a wildcard, and more.. #BlackBallOpen pic.twitter.com/zV14VtKXep

— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) March 19, 2021

“He was really going for it and especially in the third game he hit some really good shots,” said Clyne afterwards.

“I had to batten down the hatches a bit, try and make sure I kept it away from his volley and buried in the back to just sneak through in the third game. He’s a good player and he’s going to have good years to come.

“I was happy with how I got the length towards the end, I wasn’t happy with the length throughout the whole game, there was a lot of coming into the middle of the court and I’m definitely going to be punished for that in matches to come. I thought some of the short game was ok, there’s things to improve on for the next match.

“It’s been since December, when we were last here, that it was the last real tournament. I’m lucky in Scotland that I have some good training partners, who are able to try and keep me sharp and play some match practice in our club but it’s not the same as getting out here and on SquashTV. That’s what we play for and it’s great to be back out.”

Result:
Alan Clyne (SCO) bt [WC] Ahmed Ismail (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-9 (38m)

Serme Prevails in Tough Steinmann Battle

France’s Lucas Serme is through to the last 32 after defeating Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann in a tough 55-minute battle which saw Serme prevail 11-9, 15-13, 11-7.

World No.57 Steinmann threw everything he had at the Frenchman but it was Serme who played the bigger points better to set up a second round clash with either England’s Richie Fallows or Egypt’s Youssef Ibrahim.

“I don’t think I hit my targets as well as I wanted today, but I will try to be a bit more positive in the next round.”@LucasSerme is into the second round of the CIB PSA @BlackBallSquash after a great performance against @JetSR71 #BlackBallOpen pic.twitter.com/cmwzmDYXbU

— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) March 19, 2021

“I’m ecstatic,” said Serme following his win.

“I’m really trying to enjoy the moment every time I get on court. We never know when it’s going to stop, if it will go back to normal, so I’m just enjoying the moment and really happy with that second game, I didn’t give in.

“There are a couple of Egyptian-French who are here, they came to cheer on my sister the week before and now they come to cheer for me, which is great to have some people in the crowd.

“I can’t say I was feeling really comfortable in any area. I’m just going to try to improve my front game a bit, I don’t think I hit the target as well as I wanted to today, so I’m just going to try and be a bit more positive in the next round.

“There’s a bit of stress and wanting to do too well, trying to do too much sometimes and trying to force it a bit. There’s a bit of nerves and I’ve just got to try and loosen up a bit.”

Result:
Lucas Serme (FRA) bt Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 3-0: 11-9, 15-13, 11-7 (55m)