IC Squash storms World Championships

IC Squash took the train up North and stormed the Quarter-Finals and Finals of the World Championship held in Manchester – nothing short of high-class squash drama.

IC Squash was greeted by the MC as “the rowdy crowd in the back,” at the start of Quarter-Finals day, immediately characterising our presence at the event. We were treated to a sublime performance from the ‘French General’ Gregory Gaultier, who saw off Paul ‘Superman’ Coll from New Zealand in a dominant 3/0 win. Overcoming our British reserve, we pleaded for and secured a post-match group picture with the former World Champion.

The women’s draw was dominated by the Egyptians; number one seed Nour ElSherbini showed her ambitions to retain her title with a clear 3/0 against Nouran Gohar. Tesnie Evans from Wales, who dispatched England’s number one Laura Massaro in the second round, faced Nour ElTayeb. Despite the crowd getting behind her, she lost her tightly contested Quarter-Final. While the majority of the IC Squash players asked for pictures and autographs with the players, IC squash’s No 1 Pamela Hathway, a former German national player, got the chance for a catch up with her old friends and former rivals, now at the very top of the women’s international rankings.

“IC Squash’s No1 Pamela Hathway got the chance for a catch up with her old friends and former rivals”

The day ended with England’s No1 Nick Matthew’s last appearance at a World Championship. He faced the tournament favourite – and arguably the best player over the past twelve months – Mohamed ElShorbagy. The ‘Beast from Alexandria’ got off to a better start and forced Matthew into long and testing rallies, knowing that the 37-year old struggled with age and injuries. ElShorbagy threatened to march through to the Semi-Finals, but Matthew dug deep and with massive support on home soil as well as the odd rowdy chant from the IC gang (“Matthew’s on fire, ElShorbagy’s terrified”) he won the 3rd game. However, ElShorbagy regrouped, won the 4th game and denied Matthew a famous comeback. Unfortunately we weren’t able to catch both of them for selfies as we had to storm off to the station in order to catch the last train back to London – it turned out to be late anyway.

IC Squash returned to rainy Manchester for the Finals. While most contented themselves with the front wall view, four lucky members enjoyed the best seats in the house, flanked by the players’ coaches, partners, and parents. With England’s former World No 1 James ‘Jimbo’ Willstrop sat two rows behind them, they witnessed the drama unfold in two all-Egyptian finals.

The women’s final saw the top-seeded players Nour ElSherbini and Raneem ElWelily compete for the most prestigious title in squash. The reigning Champion ElSherbini had played a testing five-gamer with Nour ElTayeb the day before the finals, while Raneem ElWelily had dropped just two games in the whole tournament. Surprisingly, ElSherbini started as if she were completely fresh legged and stormed off to a one game lead. With former World No 1 Karim Darwish in her corner, ElWelily introduced subtle holds in her swing and managed to stop ElSherbini’s movement. ElSherbini could find no answer to ElWelily’s error-free squash and ElWelily deservedly won the match and was crowned World Champion for the first time.

The men’s final saw two brothers, Mohamed and Marwan ElShorbagy, go head to head for the first time in a championship final, with their parents both in the crowd. Both ElShorbagys are based in Bristol, occasionally competing at BUCS events. Marwan overcame Ali Farag in the Semi-Finals in a tight encounter that went the full distance, which should have drained his tank for the final, whereas Mohamed dropped only one game to Nick Matthew on his way to the final and was the bookies’ favourite.

The match started with high octane rallies, and Mohamed played with better accuracy, finishing the rallies in style. At 2-0 down to his brother in the World Championship final, Marwan gave everything he had left, producing mega-rallies and shot of the month contenders. Marwan managed to get the large crowd behind him, which frenetically celebrated every rally he won. He took the third and fourth game to wipe out Mohamed’s lead. The deciding game saw the momentum swing back and forth and the audience were treated to a match fully worth every penny. The atmosphere was palpably tense and Manchester Central was now in the throes of high drama. At 3-6 down, Mohamed increased the pace and, with accurate length and relentless hitting, forced Marwan into making errors. Mohamed regained his concentration while Marwan seemed to lose faith. Having drawn level, he then pulled away to clinch the game and trophy for the first time.

After the prize giving ceremony, we were able to take selfies with the finalists and even with Nick Matthew, whom we had missed on the day of the Quarters. Overall, IC Squash was treated to two highly spectacular finals and thoroughly enjoyed the trips to Manchester. Tempted to see world class squash or try squash out? Get in contact with IC Squash (or drop us an email squash@imperial.ac.uk) and give it a go!