Upsets Abound on Day One of QTerminals Qatar Classic

France’s Mathieu Castagnet turned back the clock on a day of upsets to shock World No.27 Moustafa El Sirty and set up a second round clash with last week’s CIB Zed Squash Open champion Youssef Soliman as the QTerminals Qatar Classic 2022 got underway in Doha.

World No.52 Castagnet, 36, in his first match in almost four months, played a brilliantly controlled game against the talented 20-year-old, who is considered one of squash’s brightest rising stars.

After dropping the first game 11-8, the former World No.6 played a brilliant tactical game, increasing his hitting tempo while maintaining strict discipline.

This proved immediately effective as a number of errors began to creep into the game of the attack-minded El Sirty, and Castagnet levelled with an 11-6 in game two before edging the third 13-11.

In a tight fourth game, Castagnet looked to have one foot in the next round when he took a 9-6 lead, only for a brilliant run of points from El Sirty to take the Egyptian to game ball at 10-9. Castagnet, however, fended this off well, saving the game ball before eventually winning the match with a 12-10 win in the fourth, after a nervous wait for a video referee decision on match ball.

“It was really difficult to be honest, that was my first match for three or four months now,” Castagnet explained.

“I am really happy to be back in good shape! He is a very talented young player. He is a fighter, really strong, so it was not easy for me. I love this kind of match, and that was a really good fight.

“I am ranked World No.52. I don’t want to be arrogant, but I feel I can be higher than that, so for me it is a pleasure that I can play the young generation with my ranking, and hopefully they won’t be happy to see my name against theirs!”

Castagnet was not the only experienced player to upset a younger opponent as Spain’s 39-year-old World No.41 Borja Golan blew World No.28 Mohamed ElSherbini away 3-0.

Former World No.6 Golan, who is the oldest player competing in Qatar, made a stunning start to the match, occupying the front of the court with ease as he took the first game 11-2 in just nine minutes.

ElSherbini improved in a stop-start second game and had a 9-6 lead and later a game ball at 10-9, only for the in-form Golan to claw his way into a 2-0 lead with a 13-11 victory.

This win both motivated Golan and deflated ElSherbini, with the 39-year-old sealing his place in the next round with an 11-4 win in the third game.

Afterwards, Golan said: “Every match I play nowadays is so special, so coming out here to Qatar again on this beautiful court and in this great event is amazing. I think today felt so good.

“Every time I step out on court I try to be very professional and concentrate. I know the margins are very little and at my age I have to play my best every time if I want to win. Today was a perfect day for me.”

To the delight of the home fans, Qatar’s Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi was able to provide another upset as he comfortably overcame the higher-ranked Ramit Tandon of India in the day’s final match to set up an enticing encounter with World No.2 Paul Coll in tomorrow’s second round.

In an even first game, World No.44 Al Tamimi was initially forced onto the defensive by some good, tight, shots from World No.30 Tandon, before the Qatar No.1 settled and took the first game 11-8 thanks to his improved accuracy.

Al Tamimi, who is blessed with excellent speed and racket skills but has at times struggled for consistency, was much the better player in game two, with the 27-year-old taking advantage of a flurry of errors from Tandon – who missed August’s Commonwealth Games due to injury – to take the second game 11-4 in just seven minutes.

Al Tamimi continued to dominate in the third game and comfortably swatted aside the tiring Tandon with an 11-3 win that was a minute shorter than the rapid second game.

After the match, Al Tamimi said: “I’d like to thank everyone for the support. I couldn’t play last year, my first time missing the event since 2010.

“I’m really happy to be back here and I’m really happy with the win. Until yesterday, I was 50/50 to play this event because I have national service, but thanks to the Federation, who helped me. I hope I can play the whole season and the upcoming seasons without having to disappear from the tour for a while.

“I look forward to playing tomorrow again, and I hope the support will be even bigger.”

There were more upsets on the opening day in Doha as World No. 49 Declan James beat World No.20 Baptiste Masotti 3-1, World No. 42 Dimitri Steinmann beat World No.24 Adrian Waller 3-1 and World No.45 Yahya Elnawasany came from behind to beat World No.32 Sebastien Bonmalais 3-2.

The QTerminals Qatar Classic 2022 continues tomorrow (September 5) as the seeded players enter the competition.

Play begins at 12:00 (GMT+3), with live streaming available on SQUASHTV.

For more information on the QTerminals Qatar Classic, visit the PSA website or follow the PSA on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Click here to buy tickets.

Results – First Round: 2022 QTerminals Qatar Classic

Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt [WC] Syed Azlan Amjad (QAT) 3-1: 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 (34m)

Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) 3-1: 8-11, 11-6, 13-11, 12-10 (78m)

Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 (44m)

Declan James (ENG) bt Baptiste Masotti (FRA) 3-1: 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8 (50m)

Borja Golan (ESP) bt Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 13-11, 11-4 (45m)

Shahjahan Khan (USA) bt [WC] Abdulrahman Al-Malki (QAT) 3-0: 11-0, 11-4, 11-4 (26m)

Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Faraz Khan (USA) 3-1: 11-5, 5-11, 11-5, 13-11 (50m)

Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt Zahed Salem (EGY) 3-0: 15-13, 11-9, 11-7 (47m)

Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 3-1: 11-7, 11-8, 2-11, 11-6 (50m)

Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) bt Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) 3-2: 3-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8 (69m)

Karim El Hammamy (EGY) bt Tayyab Aslam (PAK) 3-0: 11-1, 11-5, 11-2 (23m)

Patrick Rooney (ENG) bt Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 (32m)

Nathan Lake (ENG) bt Bernat Jaume (ESP) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 (30m)

Todd Harrity (USA) bt Mazen Gamal (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 12-10 (38m)

George Parker (ENG) bt Henry Leung (HKG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-5 (31m)

Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-3 (27m)

Draw – Second Round: To Be Played September 5th

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v Cesar Salazar (MEX)

Miguel Rodriguez (COL) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI)

Youssef Soliman (EGY) v Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)

Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v [5] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG)

[8] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v Declan James (ENG)

Borja Golan (ESP) v Shahjahan Khan (USA) 

Fares Dessouky (EGY) v Omar Mosaad (EGY) 

Raphael Kandra (GER) v [3] Mostafa Asal (EGY)

[4] Diego Elias (PER) v Saurav Ghosal (IND)

Leonel Cardenas (MEX) v Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 

Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) v Karim El Hammamy (EGY)

Gregoire Marche (FRA) v [6] Tarek Momen (EGY)

[7] Joel Makin (WAL) v Victor Crouin (FRA)

Patrick Rooney (ENG) v Nathan Lake (ENG)

Todd Harrity (USA) v George Parker (ENG)

Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) v [2] Paul Coll (NZL)