Can Willstrop win it all?

[Janik]

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?

[Janik]

Can Willstrop win it all?

Because I feel the need to defend Squash against charges of not being a World Sport, here is a breakdown of the nationalities involved

Seeds
Egypt - 6
England - 2
France - 2
Colombia - 1
Germany - 1
Hong Kong - 1
Spain - 1
South Africa - 1
India - 1

Others
Egypt - 10
England - 9
Mexico - 2
Australia - 2
USA - 2
Scotland - 2
New Zealand - 2
Hong Kong - 2
Pakistan - 2
Finland - 2
France - 2
Netherlands - 1
Wales - 1
Spain - 1
India - 1
Switzerland - 1
Denmark - 1
Canada - 1
Botswana - 1
South Africa - 1
Malaysia - 1
Peru - 1

OK, so it is hard to argue that there are not two dominant countries (or the order of their dominance, either), but it is a better spread than I think many would expect.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Can Willstrop win it all?

In the 80s, it was all about Pakistan (principally Jahangir and Jansher, of course) and Australians. They both seem to be in a lull at the moment?

[Tony C]

Can Willstrop win it all?

I've always been curious about why squash should be so popular in countries like Egypt or Pakistan, simply based on climatic considerations. You might have thought that the indoor sports would be the preserve of countries with colder climates, and that, in terms of racquet sports, tennis would be bigger in these warmer counties.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Can Willstrop win it all?

Great thread, Janik - I've enjoyed watching a few of the links. My own squash career fell off the rails slightly when I obtained a bruised eye in a friendly match with a friend and, even though I started using goggles, I just couldn't follow the ball like I should have.

[Tony C]

Can Willstrop win it all?

Willstrop lost his semi final to Gaultier, who, after losing four previous finals, must be desperate to win this one.

[Janik]

Can Willstrop win it all?

And Gaultier did beat Mosaad. Well done, Greg. Long, long overdue. It's a good job it didn't go to five, though, that is distinctly not Gaultier-time.

Semi highlights:- Gaultier vs Willstrop and Mosaad vs Momen. Will add a link to the final highlights when it is made available to non-subscribers to the PSA channel.

[Janik]

Can Willstrop win it all?

Will add a link to the final highlights when it is made available to non-subscribers to the PSA channel. Here ya go.

[Janik]

Can Willstrop win it all?

Tony C wrote: I've always been curious about why squash should be so popular in countries like Egypt or Pakistan, simply based on climatic considerations. You might have thought that the indoor sports would be the preserve of countries with colder climates, and that, in terms of racquet sports, tennis would be bigger in these warmer counties.

So I played in a team match last night, and a member of the opposition was Egyptian. He unknowingly provided the answer to this point, which was that Egypt and Pakistan are too hot for Tennis (and he did specifically mention Tennis in this). What the locals want instead is an indoor sport in an air-conditioned building. Hence the success of Squash in Pakistan in from the 60s-80s and in Egypt now.

[Janik]

Reviving this thread, specifically in reference to the opening post, as there was news today that most of you will greet with a shrug of indifference but that left me literally mouth agape - Mohamed El Shorbagy, not quite the World No.1 he was back in 2015 but still a highly significant top 10 player on the World Tour, has switched his allegiance from Egypt to England. OK, he has been living in England for many years (lots of them spent at the University of the West of England in Bristol, which is a significant Squash centre), but WTAF???

I think he immediately becomes the English and British No.1 and will make the upcoming British Nationals in Manchester in a few weeks time a significantly stronger event. Probably with what, for Squash, counts as a media circus. He won't play for England at the Commonwealths in Birmingham though as I believe the qualifying deadline has passed for that (and Egypt isn't part of the Commonwealth...).

I was actually watching him play in Egypt on Friday - well, he was in Egypt (the El Gouna International), I was on my sofa watching on TV. His last act as an Egyptian player was rather embarrassing and somewhat out-of-character. It was the Semi-Final of the event and he was up against the top seed Paul Coll of New Zealand. El Shorbagy had been having match long run-in with the marker (the Squash equivalent of the Umpire) over "blocking" (think deliberate obstruction). He felt, wrongly, she was penalising him for things that she wasn't punishing his opponent for. The truth was he was doing it far more egregiously. It all came to a head in the fifth and deciding game when the marker, in consulation with the referee (VAR official - but the two work together on reviews) on a TV review punished El Shorbagy for blocking once again at 8-6, awarding the point to Coll. That made it 9-6, which is a significant advantage in Squash, which is up to 11 these days with every rally won worth a point whether serving or returning.* El Shorbagy reacted to this by arguing and arguing with the marker and just refusing to restart play. She told him to get on with it or she was going to give him an official warning (squash terminology is "Conduct warning" - a direct equivalent of Tennis' "Code Violation"). He kept arguing; she officially warned him. He still didn't start playing, but ranted on - now the warning was start playing or it will be a Conduct Stroke, i.e. Code Violation number two which means a penalty point against. He still wouldn't shut up. So 10-6 - match-ball to Coll. And, well, you can guess the rest. The ranting continued, the Squash never restarted and the marker eventually did what she had to and issued a third Conduct breach and the match to Coll.

* - the old hand-in system, aka "English scoring" that those who play might know is old hat these days - all pro stuff uses "American scoring" which has a new name of PAR or Point-A-Rally scoring (both a name and an accurate description).

That isn't quite what England is getting, the entire incident was the first time something like that had occurred with El Shorbagy. But I've always felt he had the potential to do something egregious like that. And for him to turn his back on his home nation a few days later, well...

[Janik]

I've probably not what Mo any fans with that, have I?

[Janik]

Oh, and James Willstrop is still slogging away, seven years after the veteran run! Now ranked #25, and aged 38, he got to the US Open QFs a few months ago to become the oldest player in squash history to reach the last eight of a major tournament.