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Two years ago, at the same venue, on the old glass court, cheered on wildly by the fervent crowd in the packed-to-the-brim stands, two Egyptians enacted a squash epic. |
The grand finale lived up to its billing — five tense sets, 90 minutes of edge-of-the-seat action, between a seasoned professional - Ramy Ashour - just returning from injury and Mohamed Elshorbagy – a 21-year old just graduating into the senior ranks. Experience had the last say in the end and Ashour won the 2012 world title, his second after 2008.
It was a repeat show yesterday in the final of the PSA World Squash Championship. Barring the brand new glass court and Doha’s fast-changing skyline, the scenario was uncannily similar.
This time too, Ashour was just returning from a career-threatening injury, the Worlds being his first tournament in six months.
The only modification in the script, if one could call it that, was that Ashour’s opponent, Elshorbagy, was no longer the ‘junior’. He was now the world number one, and was coming into the final with a 23-match unbeaten streak.
The duo enacted another epic final, this one perhaps even better than the earlier one. Another five-setter, and yes, it lasted exactly 90 minutes, again! The Friday crowd won’t be able to forget this thriller in a hurry, so intense was the edge-of-the-seat performance by the lead actors. Someone had to win in the end, and the best man won. Ramy Ashour, take a bow!
The final score read 13-11, 7-11, 5-11, 11-5, 14-12, and that tells the tale of the intense level of competition between the two warriors. Tempers flared, there were errors galore, eyebrows raised at some of the calls from the referee but it was top-class stuff from two of the finest players in the game today.
The first game set the tone. Elshorbagy seized the early initiative, racing to a 8-3 lead, as Ashour took his own sweet time to settle down. But once the senior pro was in his groove, there was no looking back. From 3-8 it soon became 8-8, then 10-10. With neither willing to cede an inch, it was down to who will blink first, and Elshorbagy obliged, banging the tin twice to end the 16-minute set (13-11).
He made amends for those errors immediately, taking the next two games 11-7, 11-5, but should thank Ashour for making it too easy for him by targeting the tin all too frequently.
The fourth game too looked going Elshorbagy’s way when he led 5-2, again courtesy some inexplicable unforced errors from Ashour’s racquet. The script had undergone a swift change. Were we going to see a new world champion in Doha?
But then, the Qatari capital always seems to get the best out of Ashour, and with the crowd egging him on, he fought back - volleying brutally, diving at anything and everything, drawing out all his experience to take nine points on the trot and force a decider.
Ashour was the one calling the shots in the final game, leading 9-5, then on match ball on 10-6, when Elshorbagy showed why he’s at the peak of world squash in such a short time. He staged a last-ditch fightback, taking the next four points to force a tie-break. The slugfest continued, 11-11, then match ball for Elshorbagy at 12-11.
An infringement at that point prompted the referee to award a stroke to Ashour, and it was 12-12 now. Luck favours the brave, they say, and Ashour perhaps needed a stroke of luck at that crucial stage.
He wrong-footed Elshorbagy - first with a delectable drop and then with a brutal volley - to take the next two points for his third world title after 2012 and 2008 and the winner’s cheque of $45,600.
It was Elshorbagy’s second final appearance at the Worlds, after Doha 2012. He will take home $28,500.
“All credit to Mohamed, he played great, but it was my day perhaps. It was such an intense match, back and forth, back and forth… Both of us were desperate to win, this would have been his first world title so I feel sorry… I think yesterday’s (semifinal) win over Greg (Gaultier) set me up perfectly for the final, it gave me such a boost in confidence,” a visibly drained Ashour said.
“I feel so happy to have won. Even a month back I was not sure whether I would be able to make it in time for Worlds. I have been through a lot the last six months, so I was desperate to fight, fight for each point, I was determined never to give up.
“It’s all in the head, you know. In such matches, you lose your head, you lose everything.
“I kept myself to stay calm, even when he (Elshorbagy) was on match ball in the fifth game (12-11). I want to thank the crowd for their support. The Doha crowd has always been amazing, and they really carried me through,” added Ashour.
