J.P Morgan Tournament of Champions: Day Two – Evening Roundup

The second evening of action at the 2023 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions was one full of action, tense contests, and a major surprise.

Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez got the better of World No.3 Mohamed ElShorbagy with a vintage performance, fighting back from a game down to win in four on the glass court at Grand Central Terminal. 

The opening game was a good one for the Englishman, and his strong attacking squash was too much for Rodriguez, despite his best efforts. A second game tie-break was crucial in the match, with the Colombian fighting through it 12-10 to level the contest, and wrestle the momentum back in this favour.

From there, the crowd got behind the World No.15, and a tight third game went his way 11-9. The start of the fourth was domination for the Colombian, who would go on to secure a four-game victory, and a spot in the third round of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions.

“I came without pressure, of course. I was expecting a tough match and, you know, playing Ali Farag, Tarek Momen, the top five guys, it’s always very tough, especially in the first rounds like, I mean, the first match,” Rodriguez said.

“But overall, I think I played very smooth today. I was just trying not to play the same way I play. You know, every time, like defending and maybe waiting for mistakes. 

“And there was yeah, my strategy was, you know, to keep more like at the back, at the corners and maybe when I had like a loose ball going for the shots and still doing like, you know, my trick shots and everything went well and yeah, I feel very smooth without tension, because usually those kind of matches, it gives you, you know, a lot of tension in your body and you start to worry too much about what’s going to happen or what’s happening, you know, during the match.”

Also on the glass court at Grand Central Terminal, Frenchman Victor Crouin had to fight his way past England’s Nick Wall in a five-game thriller. The Englishman led on two occasions, with a fast-paced game being too much for the World No.10 at times.

Crouin, who has already featured in four finals this season, showed his fighting qualities, and although he was not playing his best squash, he was able to come through the fifth game. He was not deterred by an injury break, where Wall had to clean up some running blood from his knee, and the Frenchman won out in the end to move into the last 16.

“Yeah. I’m just happy I won the match because it was very tough. But I’ve never had a straightforward match against Nick. I’ve always struggled a lot against him and again, I lost the first encounter on the PSA World Tour,” the World No.10 explained.

“I think it was at the British Open, first round match. So any time I play him, I’m not feeling at my my best. And I need to prepare very, very seriously, which I always do. But this time it just felt different. So sometimes you just have to go through and win the matches.”

Also in Grand Central, Nouran Gohar got her title defence underway by defeating home favourite Olivia Fiechter, new World No.1 Mostafa Asal got the better of England’s Patrick Rooney, and Nour El Tayeb showed her class in a 19-minute victory over compatriot Yathreb Adel.

At the Harvard Club of New York, England’s Sarah-Jane Perry fought her way through to the third round, with a battling display against Egypt’s Salma Hany. She found herself 2-1 down, but came back to win in five.

“A really tough one there, coming back from 2-1 down against any player is really difficult. But especially against someone like Salma [Hany] with the quality that she possesses and the skills that she has,” said Perry.

“A couple of those games there, I was really getting done because I was leaving the ball loose. So I had to really just knuckle down, focus on my length, then my shots and then look for the opportunities to attack. Thankfully, I just managed to go up a few gears and the start of the fifth and I could sort of sense she was a bit tired so I wanted to take advantage of that. I was really pleased with the fifth game particularly.”

There was also a five-game victory for Egypt’s Mariam Metwally, while Belgian No.1 Nele Gilis defeated Japanese No.1 Satomi Watanabe in straight games.

World No.8 Mazen Hesham came through a tricky test in his second round match at the Nicol Squash Club. He defeated Indian No.1 Saurav Ghosal in a five-game contest which lasted more than 80 minutes. Prior to that clash, Egypt’s Jana Shiha had knocked out Ghosal’s compatriot, Joshna Chinappa, winning in four games.

The final venue of the evening’s action, the River Club of New York, saw two men’s matches. Moustafa El Sirty downed Malaysian No.1 Eain Yow Ng, while Auguste Dussourd overcame Mexican Cesar Salazar to reach the last 16 of the competition.

The bottom half of the second round will take place on Friday, January 20th, with all the action from Grand Central Terminal being streamed live on SQUASHTV. You can also keep up to date with all matches from the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions on our live scores page here.

Results: J.P Morgan Tournament of Champions – Day Two: Evening Roundup
Men’s:
Miguel Rodriguez (COL) bt [3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) 3-1: 6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-5 (52m)
[2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt Patrick Rooney (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 11-3 (49m)
Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) bt Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 3-2: 3-11, 9-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-6 (70m)
Victor Crouin (FRA) bt Nick Wall (ENG) 3-2: 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8 (72m)
Auguste Dussourd (FRA) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-1: 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4 (45m)
[7] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 3-2: 12-14, 11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 11-9 (56m)

Women’s:
[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt Olivia Fiechter (USA) 3-1: 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8 (64m)
[6] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt Yathreb Adel (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-4 (19m)
[8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt Salma Hany (EGY) 3-2: 7-11, 14-12, 6-11, 11-6, 11-3 (54m)
Nele Gilis (BEL) bt Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 (38m)
Mariam Metwally (EGY) bt Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 3-2: 10-12, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8 (67m)
Jana Shiha (EGY) bt Joshna Chinappa (IND) 3-1: 6-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-7 (37m)