Tournament of Champions 2019
16-24 Jan, New York, USA, $180kx2

Thu 24th, Day NINE, FINALS

[2] Nour El Sherbini (Egy) 3-0 [1] Raneem El Welily (Egy)
              11-9,11-8, 11-8 (38m)

[2] Ali Farag (Egy) 3-2 [1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (Egy)
              10-12, 6-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-8 (84m)

Farag and Sherbini claim ToC titles

Egyptian duo Ali Farag and Nour El Sherbini are the 2019 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions winners after contrasting victories over compatriots and top seeds Mohamed ElShorbagy and Raneem El Welily in New York’s Grand Central Terminal.

Farag looked down and out in Grand Central’s Vanderbilt Hall after going two games behind and 6-2 down in the third. But he showcased his fighting spirit over the course of the next two games as he began to put some serious work into the legs of ElShorbagy, and the 26-year-old duly came back to level the scores at 2-2.

ElShorbagy then had an injury break before the fifth game to deal with a calf issue. The 28-year-old fought through the pain barrier to push Farag all the way, but it was the younger Egyptian who was able to close out the win to lift his first Tournament of Champions trophy and the 14th PSA title of his career.

Farag will now replace ElShorbagy at World No.1 on March 1 after prevailing in one of the most dramatic finals ever witnessed at the Tournament of Champions.

"It’s been a dream of mine since a very young age to reach that No.1 spot," said Farag afterwards. "To do it in such a fashion in front of so many greats of the game, in front of the love of my life [wife, Nour El Tayeb], and my parents watching at home, it couldn’t get any better really… It was very emotional."

ElShorbagy’s ranking points for the 2018 Windy City Open - where he took the maximum on offer after winning the tournament - will expire at the end of February. This means Farag will boast a superior points average going into March, which will elevate him to World No.1. In the meantime, ElShorbagy will stay at the top of the PSA World Rankings in February.

In the women’s final El Sherbini became the first woman to win the Tournament of Champions on three occasions after a dominant victory over World No.1 El Welily saw her retain her title.

The pair were meeting for the first time since the latter had ended the former’s 31-month reign at World No.1 last month and El Welily - the 2015 Tournament of Champions winner - came into the match with a narrow 10-9 lead on their head-to-head record.

But things went El Sherbini’s way this time around as the 23-year-old put on a masterclass of attacking squash to lift her 18th career PSA title, but her first of the season.

“This is my lucky place, this tournament was my first ever Platinum win and now it’s the first one I’ve won three times,” said El Sherbini, who won the ToC in 2016 and 2018.

“It’s really big to put my name on this trophy and to win this tournament, but to win it three times is something that I will never forget in my life.

“We’ve been battling against each other for so long, the head-to-head is 10-10, so that shows how tough it’s been. We’ve been battling in a lot of finals, sometimes it goes my way, sometimes it goes her way. At the end of the day, the better player is going to win, and I think I was better than her today."

Both players take home just shy of $23,000 in prize money, while El Sherbini joins Farag in qualifying for June's PSA World Tour Finals.
  

DRAWS & RESULTS

On split rounds top half plays first         + = 17/32 seed   * = 9/16 seed      - = followon

On split rounds top half plays first         + = 17/32 seed   * = 9/16 seed      - = followon

Day EIGHT, SEMIS:
World's top pairs set for all-Egyptian finals

An Egyptian quartet will feature in the finals of the Tournament of Champions for the first time ever as the world’s top four players - Mohamed ElShorbagy, Ali Farag, Raneem El Welily and Nour El Sherbini - get set to do battle for the PSA Platinum title in New York’s iconic Grand Central Terminal.

ElShorbagy and Farag will go head-to-head in the men’s final after wins over  Karim Abdel Gawad and Tarek Momen.

ElShorbagy avenged his defeat to Gawad in last month’s Black Ball Open, a victory which sees him reach the final of this tournament for the third time. The win also means he is guaranteed to retain his \1 ranking in February - a defeat to Gawad would have meant that Farag could have taken top spot had he won the tournament.

ElShorbagy and Farag will now contest a second Platinum final in a row, while it will be the ToC’s first all-Egyptian men’s final. Farag will look to get his own back after losing in straight games in the final of November’s Hong Kong Open.

Harvard-graduate Farag bowed out in the semi-finals of the Tournament of Champions last year after losing to Momen, but this time the win went the way of the former as he closed out a 42 minute ewin to reach his fifth PSA final in a row.

The women’s final will also be contested by the World numbers one and two as Raneem El Welily and Nour El Sherbini claimed semi-final wins over Joelle King and  Nour El Tayeb.

El Welily got her revenge for her Hong Kong Open final defeat against New Zealand’s King as she recovered from a game down to win a high-quality 50-minute battle.

Meanwhile, defending champion El Sherbini defeated El Tayeb in a repeat of last year’s final. The 23-year-old snuck wins in games one and three, before powering home to victory in a one-sided fourth game to seal a place in her third Tournament of Champions final.

El Sherbini and El Welily will now go head-to-head for the 20th time on the PSA Tour, with El Welily winning 10 of them. It will be the 12th time that they will have contested a PSA final, and El Welily has taken the win on six of those occasions.
 

Day Seven:
King only Non Egyptian in the To semis - Men included!!

New Zealand’s Joelle King has become the only non-Egyptian to reach the semi-finals of the Tournament of Champions after she overcame 2017 winner Camille Serme in the second day of quarter-final play in New York.

The World #4 will play World #1 Raneem El Welily in the semi-finals in what will be a repeat of their final clash at the Hong Kong Open, where King won her first World Series title.

El Welily overcame Nouran Gohar by in just 28 minutes and is now one win away from an eighth successive PSA Tour final - a run which stretches back to last season.

The other women’s final will be a repeat of last year’s final as defending champion Nour El Sherbini and World #3 Nour El Tayeb go head-to-head in an all-Egyptian battle. El Sherbini dispatched Salma Hany in straight games, while El Tayeb overcame England’s Alison Waters.

An Egyptian Men 'sChampion is guaranteed  as second seed Ali Farag and 2018 runner-up Tarek Momen are joining compatriots Mohamed ElShorbagy and Karim Abdel Gawad in the last four.

Farag overcame New Zealand’s Paul Coll in straight games to reach the semi-finals of this tournament for the second time.

Farag will look to avenge his defeat to Momen in the semi-finals of last year’s tournament, with Momen axing World #17 Omar Mosaad 3-0 to advance to the last four.

Day SIX:
Gawad Ends Rösner’s Title Defence as quarters begin

World # Karim Abdel Gawad ended the title defence of Germany’s Simon Rösner after a commanding performance from the Egyptian saw him move into the semi-finals.

“Simon beat me the last two times last season, and he is now the World No.3,” Gawad said after his victory. “He is the defending champion here so it was a very tough match, of course. I had to be very strong mentally in order to win against someone like Simon, especially a 3-0 win."

The day’s other men’s quarter-final saw World #1 Mohamed ElShorbagy prevail in a thrilling five-game battle with Peruvian Diego Elias to avenge his defeat against the World #11 in November’s Qatar Classic.

ElShorbagy and Gawad will meet in a repeat of the Black Ball Open quarter-finals, with Gawad prevailing en route to winning the tournament.

The women’s third round took place today and saw both of the remaining US players exit the tournament as World #11 Amanda Sobhy and World #19 Olivia Blatchford Clyne suffered respective defeats against Egyptian duo Nour El Tayeb and Nour El Sherbini.

El Sherbini will play fellow Egyptian Salma Hany for a place in the semi-finals after the World #16 upset two-time runner-up Laura Massaro to win in straight games. 22-year-old Hany will now compete in the last eight of a PSA Platinum event for the first time.

Elsewhere, top seed Raneem El Welily got the better of India’s Joshna Chinappa and she will play World #8 Nouran Gohar next in a repeat of their five-game clash in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Joelle King claimed just her second career victory over Malaysian legend Nicol David at the 12th attempt to set up a quarter-final fixture with 2017 champion Camille Serme.

The day’s final third round match was an all-British battle as England’s World #9 Alison Waters defeated Welsh World #10 Tesni Evans by a 3-2 scoreline.

Day FIVE:
Sobhy and Blatchford keep home hopes flying

Americans Olivia Blatchford Clyne and Amanda Sobhy opened their  campaigns with wins on Sunday, advancing to the last sixteen where they will face top-ranked Egyptians Nour El Sherbini and Nour El Tayeb in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal.

Blatchford endured one of the day’s closest matches in the final match of the tournament to be played at the Harvard Club against Belgium’s Nele Gilis. After splitting the first two games, Blatchford Clyne came back from 9-5 down in the third to win it 12-10, then ssaved match ball in the fifth to  clinch the match after sixty-four minutes.

“Nele is a good friend of mine,” Blatchford Clyne said. “I know her game and at the same time, because I know it, I think I’m more nervous playing her than I am someone else who I haven’t played as much. Towards the end of those games I knew I really had to tighten the screws and make sure that I wasn’t hitting as many tins and I think I did that really well.”

She will take on world #2 El Sherbini, who defeated compatriot and British Junior Open champion Hania El Hammamy.

One year after making her return from injury at the ToC, Sobhy entered the Glass Court with full fitness and her highest ranking of #11 since returning to the PSA Tour. It didn’t take long for the Harvard graduate to make her mark on the tournament, dispatching former college rival, Cornell’s Danielle Letourneau in twenty-four minutes.

“Of course, how can you not hear this crowd,” Sobhy said to the home crowd. “You guys are awesome, and I love it so much. I don’t really get that many home tournaments but when I do, you guys bring the hype, so I appreciate it."

The women’s round of sixteen will be contested by all sixteen seeds.

The bottom half of the men’s quarterfinal lineup was decided on Sunday, the first men’s match of the day ended prematurely as India’s Saarav Ghosal was forced to retire due to injury in the second game against New Zealand’s Paul Coll. Coll will face Egypt’s world Ali Farag after the second seed dispatched English veteran Daryl Selby in an hour-long three games - mounting sizable comebacks and saving at least one game ball in in each game.

“Right now, I could easily have been sat down, losing 3-0,” Farag said. “All games could have gone either way, and actually, they were closer to going his way. I am just very happy that I stayed calm, I never panicked. All credit to Daryl, he never made it easy at any point. I am very relieved to be through."

Farag is seeded to meet compatriot Tarek Momen in a semifinal rematch of the 2018 ToC after Momen held off a formidable challenge from France’s Gregoire Marche in four games and sixty-seven minutes. Momen will have to get past a resurgent Omar Mosaad in the quarterfinals first, however, after the ‘Hammer of Thor’ recorded a three-game victory against Scotland’s Greg Lobban.

19-Jan, Day FOUR
Men's Last 16, Women's Round Two ...

The fourth day of action at the 2019 Tournament of Champions saw all 12 matches go the way of the higher-ranked player, with World number ones Raneem El Welily and Mohamed ElShorbagy among the winners at New York’s Grand Central Terminal.

El Welily is appearing in her first PSA Tour event since overtaking fellow Egyptian Nour El Sherbini at the summit of the PSA Women’s World Rankings at the beginning of December. The 30-year-old kickstarted her title challenge with a resounding  victory over Mariam Metwally in the second round of the women’s event.

India’s Joshna Chinappa stands in El Welily’s way in the next round after the World #14 got the better of Belgium’s Tinne Gilis in straight games.

2017 champion Camille Serme also got her tournament under way as she claimed a straight-games win over Milou van der Heijden in 30 minutes. She now will go up against England’s Victoria Lust for a place in the quarter-finals after the #13 seed toppled Hong Kong’s Liu Tsz-Ling.

World #4 Joelle King also claimed a victory on day four as she defeated Zeina Mickawy in four games, and she will play 2014 champion Nicol David in a mouthwatering third round fixture. Eight-time World Champion David dispatched current World Junior Champion Rowan Elaraby by a 3-0 margin.

Sixth seed Nouran Gohar and tenth seed Annie Au were the other victors on day four as they axed Malaysia’s Low Wee Wern and Hong Kong’s Joey Chan, respectively.

The top half of the men’s third round was also contested today, with Mohamed ElShorbagy and defending champion Simon Rösner advancing to the quarter-finals after respective triumphs against Egypt’s Zahed Salem and Max Lee of Hong Kong.

ElShorbagy’s win over Salem will see him line up against Diego Elias in the last eight. Elias dispatched Australia’s Cameron Pilley and will look to replicate the form that saw him upset ElShorbagy in November’s Qatar Classic.

Meanwhile, Rösner will clash with eighth seed Karim Abdel Gawad, who came through in five games against compatriot Fares Dessouky.

18-Jan, Day THREE:
Men's Round Two and Women's Round One complete

Egypt’s Omar Mosaad and Tarek Momen put in pivotal back-to-back performances against top-ten opposition to advance to the men’s last sixteen in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal.

The day’s only seeding upset saw Mosaad, world No. 17, send world No. 6 Miguel Rodriguez to an early exit to follow up his win at the Black Ball Open last month.

Colombia’s Rodriguez started well in New York to go a game ahead, however a crucial second game went the way of Mosaad on the tie-break, and the Egyptian played some scintillating squash in the third and fourth games to consign Rodriguez to an early exit after eighty-one minutes.

“The second game was very important to me because I was 1-0 down. I needed that game because there is a big difference between 2-0 and 1-1. It is not easy to play Miguel. I am really happy to be back again, and I need to play and to push.” Omar Mosaad

Momen, the 2018 finalist and world No. 4, faced an unlucky draw with an opening match against world No. 10 Mohamed Abouelghar. Momen was forced to dig deep and recover from a 2-1 deficit against his Egyptian teammate to win in five games after sixty-eight minutes.

“I really tried to weather the storm today. As exceptional as Mohamed is, having to play him every single tournament is just so tough mentally. With a player like him, he studies you, and he plays better every time, and every time, I wonder, will it be this time?" Tarek Momen

Second seed Ali Farag got the better of former World No.1 James Willstrop in four games. Farag can overtake current World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy at the summit of the World Rankings if he wins the tournament and ElShorbagy exits the event at the semi-final stage or sooner.

And the Harvard-graduate kicked off his title challenge in New York after coming through a thrilling 51-minute battle with England’s Willstrop. The pair played out a series of entertaining rallies under the chandeliers of Grand Central’s Vanderbilt Hall and received a standing ovation as they departed the court.

New Zealand’s World No.7 Paul Coll escaped with a 3-1 victory over men’s US No.1 Todd Harrity after he almost let a two-game lead slip.

Coll was in control as he dropped just six points over the course of the opening two games, but Harrity, backed on by his home crowd, battled his way back into the match as he unsettled the Kiwi and hit a number of winners at the front of the court.

Harrity’s resurgence continued into the fourth as he built up a 7-0 lead, but Coll was able to arrest his drop off in intensity and fought back to close out the win in four games. The 26-year-old will line up against India’s Saurav Ghosal for a place in the last eight.

“I became a bit too passive. Obviously I was concerned [after going 7-0 down in the fourth] and I tried to get myself back into it. I just had my coach’s voice in my head going nuts at me.” Paul Coll

Unseeded Greg Lobban, Greg Marche and Daryl Selby also made it through to the last sixteen.

Friday saw the women’s first round kick off at the Harvard Club, Princeton Club and New York Athletic Club.

Team USA’s Marina Stefanoni proved to be a formidable challenge for world No. 33 Zeina Mickawy in her second straight ToC wild card appearance. The sixteen-year-old stayed within reach of the Egyptian throughout the entire match, winning the second game, and squandering game balls in the fourth game, falling 14-12 after forty-six minutes.

“I’m really thrilled that I won this, it was really hard. I just tried to push and it was really tough to play like this with Marina. She’s the younger player, she’s up and coming and she is going to be one of the top players on the PSA. I wasn’t playing that well at her age.” Zeina Mickawy

Malaysia has three representatives in the women’s draw as former world No. 5 Low Wee Wern and nineteen-year-old Sivasangari Subramaniam both won to join Nicol David in the second round.

Subramaniam, world No. 51, produced the highest-ranked upset of the women’s first round over England’s world No. 26 Fiona Moverley. After dealing with a recurring injury for over twenty-one months, Wee Wern appears to be back close to returning to her top-ten form.

“I’m a bit nervous, I’ve played it before but I didn’t appreciate it when I was in the top 10, I just took it for granted and it was just another match for me. After being out for 21 months, I really missed it and this time around I think I will appreciate it a bit more.” Low Wee Wern

The women’s second round and first half of the men’s round of sixteen will take to the all glass court in Vanderbilt Hall from noon local time on Saturday.

17-Jan, Day TWO:
Makin's twisted ankle prevents him from taking out Gawad ...

Day two almost saw a big upset as Welshman Joel Makin went two games up against World No.5 Karim Abdel Gawad, only to see an ankle injury cruelly end his chances of a victory.

A series of fine displays this season have seen Makin climb from No.38 in the world to No.23 over the past five months and he dominated the in-form Gawad to go two games ahead and 4-3 up in the third.

But he rolled his ankle after contact with Gawad mid-way through a rally and he was unable to continue, meaning Gawad moves through to the third round, where he will play compatriot Fares Dessouky.

“He played really well and he was dominating. I was having a really hard time, especially today when I was not playing my best squash. He was playing his best squash so of course it is very bad for him.” Gawad admitted.  I wish him the best of luck to recover" he concluded.

World No.3 Simon Rösner kicked off his title defence with a commanding 3-0 victory over Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly

Rösner will play Hong Kong’s Max Lee in the next round after Lee overcame a Cesar Salazar in straight games with Salazar seemingly not fully fit,  and they will be joined in the last 16 by World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy, who defeated Nicolas Mueller 3-0 in less than 30 minutes.

ElShorbagy suffered a shock defeat to Cuskelly in the second round of last year’s event, but the two-time Tournament of Champions winner was unstoppable against his Swiss counterpart.

Egypt’s Zahed Salem lies in wait for ElShorbagy in round three, with the World No.25 getting the better of Malaysia's Eain Yow Ng in four games.

Elsewhere, Peru’s Diego Elias got the better of World No.8 Marwan ElShorbagy by a 3-1 margin to book his place in round two. Elias will line up against Australia’s Cameron Pilley in the next round, with Pilley progressing courtesy of a 3-0 victory against England’s Tom Richards.

The women’s tournament gets under way tomorrow, with fixtures spread between the Harvard Club, New York Athletic Club and the Princeton Club.

ToC 2018
and earlier

Wed 16th Day ONE:
One out of Three Americans make it to round two, while it's three out of three for the French!

The opening day of action at the Tournament of Champions saw men’s United States #1 Todd Harrity beat Hong Kong’s Tsz Fung Yip to book his place in round two.

It was the first time since 1992 that a trio of American men had competed on the same night at the Tournament of Champions, with World #48 Harrity, World #63 Chris Hanson and pre-qualifying winner Timothy Brownell all appearing under the chandeliers of the stunning Vanderbilt Hall.

Harrity was backed on by a partizan crowd in New York and the 28-year-old from Wayne rose to the occasion as he came back from a game down to earn an a four-game victory – securing his place in the second round of this tournament for the first time in his career.

Hanson, meanwhile, came up against former World #3 Omar Mosaad and caused the Egyptian a number of problems throughout the 46-minute encounter, but Mosaad came through to take the win in straight games.

Mosaad’s reward is a second round fixture with World #6 Miguel Rodriguez, and he will look to follow up his 3-2 win over the Colombian at last month’s CIB Black Ball Open.

Brownell, who is currently attending Harvard, was appearing at this tournament for the first time in his career after winning a wildcard playoff prior to the event and he took a shock one-game lead against Egypt’s Youssef Soliman, only to eventually fall in four games.

Elsewhere, France’s Mathieu Castagnet and England’s George Parker played out a mammoth 137-minute battle in the day’s opening match, which saw Castagnet require treatment for a cut on his eyebrow [taking up at least 30 minutes of that match time].

The pair exchanged points in a feisty affair and it was Castagnet who held his nerve to take it 12-10 in the deciding fifth game.

Castagnet will play Egypt’s Fares Dessouky in the next round after the Egyptian made his return from a 14-month injury layoff with a runner-up finish at the CCI International last week.

Grégoire Marche and Lucas Serme created upsets as Marche ousted Germany's Raphael Kandra, while Serme had to work for 78m to beat Englishman Declan James in five - they meet in round two!

Other first round upsets saw Eain Yow Ng, Chris Simpson and Campbell Grayson progress to round two.

ToC 2018
and earlier

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