The Squash Men's World Champinships is currently ongoing, and it has had a slew of shocks.
The architect of the most major ones is James Willstrop. He is a former World No.1 and World Open finalist, but has been injured lots recently and at 32 was felt to be unlikely to ever get his fitness back to the sort of state needed to regain that top status. He is unseeded for the tournament. However, this week, he has beaten the #1 seed Mohamed Elshorbagy in R3 and follow that up by ousting the #5 seed Miguel Angel Rodriguez in the QFs (Rodriguez is Colombian, btw, part of the trend in the wider geographical reach of Squash these days). Next up is a Semi-Final against #3 seed Gregory Gaultier (France).
There was further good news for Willstrop on the elimination of England teammate, far from friend, and utter nemesis Nick Matthew in the Quarters. Matthew was seeded #2 but he lost Egyptian 8th seed Tarek Momen. Momen plays Omar Mossad (also Egypt) in the other Semi, after, in yet another shock, he eliminated arguably Squash's best player, Ramy Ashour (yet another Egyptian). Ashour was the 4th seed. He is only that because he is injury prone, and the video of the match does suggest that another injury played a major part in this result.
Whatever, it means that just one of the top 4 seeds is in the Semis, which is highly unusual in Squash.
Greg Gaultier's to lose, then. He isn't great at dealing with situations like that. So maybe Willstrop can finally get the major title his career is missing?
The architect of the most major ones is James Willstrop. He is a former World No.1 and World Open finalist, but has been injured lots recently and at 32 was felt to be unlikely to ever get his fitness back to the sort of state needed to regain that top status. He is unseeded for the tournament. However, this week, he has beaten the #1 seed Mohamed Elshorbagy in R3 and follow that up by ousting the #5 seed Miguel Angel Rodriguez in the QFs (Rodriguez is Colombian, btw, part of the trend in the wider geographical reach of Squash these days). Next up is a Semi-Final against #3 seed Gregory Gaultier (France).
There was further good news for Willstrop on the elimination of England teammate, far from friend, and utter nemesis Nick Matthew in the Quarters. Matthew was seeded #2 but he lost Egyptian 8th seed Tarek Momen. Momen plays Omar Mossad (also Egypt) in the other Semi, after, in yet another shock, he eliminated arguably Squash's best player, Ramy Ashour (yet another Egyptian). Ashour was the 4th seed. He is only that because he is injury prone, and the video of the match does suggest that another injury played a major part in this result.
Whatever, it means that just one of the top 4 seeds is in the Semis, which is highly unusual in Squash.
Greg Gaultier's to lose, then. He isn't great at dealing with situations like that. So maybe Willstrop can finally get the major title his career is missing?
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