TOC 2022

PHOTO ALBUM

Men & Women PSA Gold $110k, 01-07 May, New York, USA

Finals

[1] Nouran Gohar 3-0 [2] Amanda Sobhy (USA)  11-7, 11-7, 11-3 (34m)
[1] Ali Farag 3-0 [2] Diego Elias (PER) 16-14, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5 (76m)

Ali said

“I’m over the moon, the ToC is one of the biggest titles you want to win.

“Diego, we played an incredible match. It was very physical, very technical, required a lot of skill and stamina, I think it had everything in there and it was played in good spirit as well. It wasn’t easy.”

“I got to World No.1 on this court for the very first time, so I’ve got nothing but great memories. New York is always a great city to come back to, the vibe, there’s a lot of familiar faces. This crowd is extremely knowledgeable.

“Thanks to John Nimmick and his team for the great job they’ve done and the challenges they’ve had to face with omicron and everything. I have missed it, the ToC is one of the tournaments you really look forward to and this time I’ve got my parents and my aunt watching as well, so I’m really happy to lift this trophy in front of them.

Nouran said

“It sounds awesome [to be champion], you guys [the crowd] are really fair! I thought no-one would clap for me because Amanda is the favourite, but everyone is unbelievable and has been all week. Thank you for coming and supporting us.

“It feels really good to win the title. I’m over the moon, I’ve wanted this title for so long, it’s one of the best venues that you can play at and I really wanted to add my name on a prestigious trophy like this one. I wanted it badly and I thought this year seemed like a good year for me so why not take it.”

Semis

[1] Nouran Gohar3-1 [5] Olivia Fiechter (USA)  11-6, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5 (51m)
[2] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-2 [3] Salma Hany  11-13, 11-6, 13-15, 11-0, 11-9 (66m)

[1] Ali Farag 3-0 [3] Mazen Hesham  11-5, 11-4, 11-4 (28m)

Ali said

“It’s Mazen, he can hit winners from anywhere on the court, you have to accept that sometimes but do your best to learn from it for the next point.
“I’ve been playing really well so far this week, I can’t complain. Every opponent has been different, they’ve been world-class with their own brand of squash. Mazen, if you give him half a chance, I spoke to Mike Way about how to play him and the key was not to give him chances because he’ll take them.
“I try to make every single shot, a few inches on the back wall at the back because if I don’t he’ll find a way to kill it and even then he sometimes still finds a way. I had to be on my toes from the beginning, I’ve played Mazen so many times over the years and I always have a drop off at some point because I can’t keep my accuracy up for the entire time so to be able to do it for three straight games is something I’m really happy with.
“I like to play at pace but not with hitting the ball hard kind of pace, it’s with taking the ball early to generate the pace but with is ability its not easy to do so I’m happy t could do it for three straight games and hopefully I can replicate it tomorrow.
“Every time you introduce the tournament, it gives me goosebumps with how prestigious the tournament is, the history it has, the players that have lifted this trophy. John Nimmick and his team have been doing such a great job and look at this crowd, what’s not to love, we dint get these vibes everywhere we go so you need to appreciate it every time you’re on this court.”

Nouran said
“I’m very happy to be in the final, for sure. I haven’t been in the final of the TOC before. I’m very happy but I’m far from done.

“The crowd helped her a little bit, playing in front of an energetic crowd who is on your side takes your game up at least ten times, not taking anything away from her, she played well, she gaining more confidence and I think she’s realising she can beat players in the top ten now and having that belief helps a lot.”

Quarters

[3] Salma Hany 3-0 [6] Olivia Clyne (USA) 11-2, 11-3, 11-7 (25m)
[5] Olivia Fiechter (USA) 3-2 [4] Rowan Elaraby 10-12, 6-11, 11-8, 11-8, 12-10 (63m)
[1] Nouran Gohar 3-0 [8] Hollie Naughton (CAN)  11-7, 11-7, 11-5 (28m)
[2] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-0 Nada Abbas  11-4, 11-8, 11-8 (29m)

[3] Mazen Hesham 3-1 Victor Crouin (FRA) 11-4, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8 (48m)
[1] Ali Farag 3-0 [5] Miguel Rodriguez (COL)  11-9, 11-4, 11-5 (35m)
[7] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 3-2 [8] Youssef Ibrahim   11-8, 7-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9 (72m)

Ali said
“I’m taking one match at a time, they are both top, top players, they both have qualities that make me a little edgy. Yesterday I can’t match James’ accuracy so I have to open it up and make it physical, today was the opposite, if I open it up he is better at this game so I have to be the one to straighten it up and play tight. The first was a little too open and he flourished so I kept it tight in the second and third and I thought I did that well in the end.

“I was trying to make it tighter, he makes it hard for you because he opens up the court and hits a lot of good shots and I had to match him somehow but no matter how fast someone is there are always holes in their game and I’m pleased I could expose that in the end today.

“I go to every tournament trying to win the title, there’s a lot of good payers in every draw, its the Tournament of Champions that has a lot of history so everyone wants to hold that trophy. But now I have one task at hand which is Mazen so I just focus on that one.”

Mazen said
“I’ve been dreaming of playing in the later stages of this event, I actually only won my first match on this court a few days ago and it’s not because I’m a bad player. I’ve had some injuries but hopefully, it can happen more from now on. But it feels amazing to be able to compete against these top guys everywhere in the world, not just here.

“He’s not copying my shots, he has his own brand of squash, he’s an amazing player, very hungry and ferocious, it’s not the type I want to play against, to be honest. Last time he was overexcited because he beat Paul Coll the day before, but today was a different story, I had to be on my metal, in the second game I think I whipped the ball and I think that was good for my game as I might have stayed lazy.”

Salma said

“I’m very proud of how I turned up today, the scoreline might seem easy but nobody knows how hard it is to play Olivia. She is one of my closest friends, it’s so hard to turn on that beast mode with her. She’s very talented, she can make you do a lot of work on court, I’m just happy I managed to play well and stay strong and I’m happy to be in the semis.
 
“I have very special moments here. I’ve had some good upsets here, it’s always very special to be in New York at Grand Central, the crowd are amazing all the time. Even though I was paying an American today, I could feel a little bit of love which I’m very lucky to have so I’m just really happy and looking forward to getting on court again tomorrow.”

Round Two

[1] Nouran Gohar 3-0 Danielle Letourneau (CAN)  11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (26m)
Nada Abbas 3-2 [7] Nadine Shahin   13-11, 11-7, 7-11, 10-12, 12-10 (62m)
[3] Salma Hany 3-1 [WC] Chan Sin Yuk (HKG)  12-10, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9 (43m)
[4] Rowan Elaraby 3-2 Sabrina Sobhy (USA)  11-7, 3-11, 11-7, 8-11, 12-10 (57m)
[2] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-0 Farida Mohamed  11-8, 11-6, 11-8 (32m)

1] Ali Farag 3-0 James Willstrop (ENG) 11-2, 11-4, 11-6 (26m)
Victor Crouin (FRA) 3-1 [6] Karim Abdel Gawad  11-4, 13-11, 7-11, 12-10 (64m)
[2] Diego Elias (PER) 3-0 Moustafa El Sirty  11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (31m)
[3] Mazen Hesham 3-0 Shahjahan Khan (USA) 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 (32m)
Youssef Ibrahim 3-0 [L] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 11-2, 11-5, 12-10 (37m)

Ibrahim said

“I prepared like any other match, I just think I needed to be a bit more sharp than usual. Normally when I lose to someone, the day after the tournament I want to play them again and I think I have a good chance to beat him, so that’s how I thought he would feel after we played the first match. I warmed up pretty well and was pretty sharp from the first couple of points.

“I’m happy to be mentally consistent and hold him off again.

“I feel better that I don’t have to play him for the third time. I’m looking forward for tomorrow, I’m feeling fresh and it’s going to be a good match.”

Nouran said

“I just moved to the States at the end of December last year because I got married, so I moved here with my husband and we’re living in Stamford right now. There have been big changes in my life recently, but I can’t really complain about it, I had a good time last year and I’m still enjoying it out here. I have a second home here, Egypt is always in my heart, but I have friends here in the stands cheering, so it feels good to have them there.

“I want to win the event badly. At the beginning of this year when I was sitting goals, I definitely had it at the back of my mind to get back to World No.1. I want to win every title that I’ve never won before and ToC is on top of the list after the World Champs.

“I will be hungry and I will do everything on court to try and add this to my career.”

Ali said

“We don’t want James to retire any time soon, he’s such an asset to our sport. I have a lot of respect for James and that’s why I played so well today. Usually, in the first round you start a little bit off, but you can’t afford to do that against someone of James’s calibre. When he was being introduced when we were warming up, I was thinking that I was watching James here either live or behind a screen in Egypt and I dreamed of being on this court one day, let alone with him.

“This is the second time we’ve shared this court, and as James mentioned, it’s the most spectacular court that you can play a sport on, not only squash.

“I’m very grateful, I’m living the best times of my life. Our baby girl is growing so fast and it’s exciting to watch her develop week in and week out. To be fair, I’m doing all the light work, Nour is doing all the hard work, she’s the one waking up with the baby. She’s back home now and they’re probably both asleep.

“I’m extremely happy with my squash, obviously I would have loved to stay at the World No.1 spot for longer, but it’s an exciting challenge to try and get it back.”

Mazen said

“Shah has been improving a lot over the past few years. He’s hit the top 40 mark and being the US No.1 is pretty huge for him. I think he’s going to keep improving from here, I see how hard he works and I’m pretty sure he is going to make it to the top one day.”

“I’m getting injured less, so I can train more, I can play better and I can execute my game plan the way I want to. There is no secret, I need to train and before I was not able to train because of my injuries. Now I can train more, I can cause more damage on the tour, and hopefully it keeps improving from here.

Nada said:
“I’m really happy to get through, me and Nadine have played twice this season and it was so close today but I’m just so glad I could get the win today.

“I’m feeling okay. I’m looking forward to the next match and I’m looking forward to be playing on this beautiful court once again.”

MOSTAFA ASAL OUT OF THE EVENT AFTER TESTING POSITIVE TO COVID

Round One

Moustafa El Sirty 3-2 Todd Harrity (Usa)  4-11, 11-2, 5-11, 12-10, 11-5 (63m)
Youssef Ibrahim v Dimitri Steinmann (Sui)
[Q] Timothy Brownell (Usa) 3-2 Karim El Hammamy  10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 12-10 (89m)

Farida Mohamed 3-0 Haley Mendez (Usa) 11-4, 11-9, 11-3 (19m)
Nada Abbas 3-0 Ineta Mackevica (Ltv)  11-6, 11-7, 13-11 (29m)
[Q] Chan Sin Yuk (Hkg) 3-2 Zeina Mickawy  13-11, 6-11, 10-12, 21-19, 11-5 (61m)

Youssef said
“It’s a pretty busy week because I have finals, but I’m happy to play here and distract my mind with something else. What better venue to play than Grand Central, it’s my first time playing on the show court and it’s a pleasure.
“Three years ago, I was a freshman, and it seems like an age ago. The crowd is busy from the first day and it inspires you to play better and better. I’m happy to win so I get to play here one more time.
“I will try to study a little bit tonight and tomorrow and will hopefully try to play a little bit on the glass court too.”

They Said… Moustafa

“It’s such a prestigious venue to play at,” said El Sirty. “The crowd is amazing, and I’m happy to reach the second round of a Gold event for the first time.

“Todd is an amazing player, he is one of the most underrated players on the tour. In the last tournament he was close to beating Marwan [ElShorbagy] and you saw how he was playing today. In the last game I had to be braver and go for more shots.

“I knew he wasn’t going to be ready for it, so I went for it and I won the match. Diego [Elias] is my next match, so I hope I can be ready for this one.”

They Said… Farida

“I’m injured so I was a bit nervous. I have a day off tomorrow, so that’s going to help a lot. I’m excited to play again here, it’s an amazing venue. Haley is based in Brooklyn, so everyone was against me, I think, but the crowd is amazing.”

They said… Nada

“I couldn’t find my targets today, I was struggling a lot. I was trying to take it easy and not think about the match. I’m trying to stay positive and hopefully I can find my targets in the next match.

“I think I only played one rally well today, but I’m very happy to get the win today and I’m looking forward to my next match.”

 

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