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He feasts on Pakistanis
By Pradeep Vijayakar

Ramy Ashour, the Egyptian world junior champ, is one of a kind. He makes a habit of feasting on Pakistani opponents.

At the last World Juniors [in Pakistan] he beat six Pakistanis. At the Herald Martime event in Mumbai he spoilt Pakistan's party yet again, beating Pakistani opponents in the quarters, semis and the final.

Farhan Mehboob had made the final beating Colombian Bernardo Samper, but Ashour completed a hat-trick of wins over Pakistani opponents to take the top prize in the $25k event, India's richest.



Amir Atlas Khan the young hope of Pakistan squash played Ramy in the semi-finals, and was watched by uncle Jansher Khan who has predicted a bright future for him. But Ramy beat Amir to enter the final.

Mumbai fans noted that Ramy could retrieve as well as the Pakistanis but had that something extra, the incisiveness to win rallies. Ashour says the coaching of his back-up team has made him what he is.

Ramy says beating Pakistanis is great because the players have great coaches. But his own coaches plan his strategy and he follows it to the letter T.

What game does he like, rallying or strokeplay?. "Depends on the situation. I can play both and have no problems."

Ramy says for a junior playing in the PSA circuit is tough. "You have to be a man to play on the circuit. Adapting to conditions in various countries."

His biggest win has been the PSA title in Athens. He jumped from 76 to 62 in the space of a month. He was 2-1 and 8-6 up against Graham Ryding, a top ten player in a tournament in Canada. But he lost the match 3-2.

Ramy isn't one who makes a habit of losing winnable games. As Khalid Atlas found out on Thursday, Amir Atlas on Friday, and Mehboob on Saturday.
 

More from Mumbai
 

HERALD REPORTS
from Pradeep Vijayakar

Riches for
Indian Squash
Jansher in Mumbai

Three Cheers
for Colombian
Samper's College Cheers

The richest event in India, the HMS Open is hoping to become a PSA event next season.

 

Ritwik wins the
Chennai Open

11-9, 11-7, 11-9

Farhan Mehboob

Round Two:

[1] Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) bt Vijay Jangra (Chennai)   11-1, 11-1, 11-4
Imran Mohib Khan (Pak) bt Rajesh Sonavane                  11-2, 11-0, 11-2
Bernardo Sampher (Col) bt Ravneet Singh (Pune)           11-5, 11-5, 11-4
Vikas Jangra (Jindal) bt Avinash Bhavnani                       11-6, 11-3, 11-5
[5] Cameron White (Aus) bt Manoj Solanki                      11-7, 11-3, 11-2
[4] Farhan Mehboob (Pak) bt Anurag Gill                         11-4, 11-5, 11-2
Siddharth Suchade bt Karan Malhotra                             11-4, 11-7, 11-2
[7] Paul Davis (Aus) bt Sachin Jadhav                            11-4, 11-6, 11-4
[3] Timothy Manning (Aus) bt Dhiraj Nagpal                    11-10, 11-5, 11-5
[6] Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) bt Vijay Sonawane                11-2, 11-1, 11-5
Manish Chotrani bt Harjinder Singh                                11-7, 11-4, 11-8
Khalid Atlas Khan (Pak) bt Mihir Sheth                            11-4, 11-8,11-8
Ahmed Mohsen (Egypt) bt Rohit More                             11-7, 11-4,11-2
Gaurav Nandrajog bt Niraj Shirgaonkar                          11-4,11-10, 11-3
Sahil Vora bt Sanjay Pawar                                           11-3, 11-3,11-7
[2] Ramy Ashour (Egypt) bt Cyrus Appoo                       11-2, 11-3,11-1
 

30-Jun, Quarters:
Samper shocks Ritwik

Top seed Ritwik Bhattacharya suffered a shock defeat in the quarter-finals, losing out in five games to Colombian Bernardo Samper, who took a two-game lead with attacking play then hung on in the fifth to deny the Indian number one a chance of a second title on home soil within a week.

"I expected him to crack earlier and not hang in there. In the decider, I just could not lift my game, while he kept going for his shots. I thought I could hold on for another three matches, but just could not raise the level of my game." Ritwik Bhattacharya to Mumbai Newsline

Samper faces Pakistani youngster Farhan Mehboob in the semi-finals, after Mehboob won another five-game quarter, eventually overcoming Cameron White 18-16 in the fifth after squandering a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom half Egypt's second seed, world junior champion Ramy Ashour, meets Pakistan's Asian junior champion Aamir Atlas Khan.

Ashour eased past Khalid Atlas Khan in the quarters, and although Aamir also enjoyed a straight-games victory, over Cameron White, the 21-19 first game goes down as one of the longest on record.

Jansher's clan going strong
Four of the entrants are from Pakistan - all of them nephews of Jansher Khan. Farhan Mehboob, Khalid Atlas, Amir Atlas and Imran Mohib have been holding a squash racket ever since they can remember, and every time they play, they face dual pressure  of performing for their country and family.

"We are working of hard work so we can continue winning these titles for our family and brighten the name of our country as well," Khalid Atlas Khan told NDTV in Mumbai.

While Farhan is the son of one of Jansher Khan's sisters, the other three are the children of his brothers, both of whom were also international players. All four of them generally travel and participate in tournaments together.

Pressure or no pressure, all four agree that their biggest strength and advantage is the constant advice they get from Jansher (who will be the guest of honour on the final day of the tournament).

"We are really lucky because we get the opportunity to play with him and he teaches us a lot of techniques. We benefit a lot from his experience," said Amir Atlas, the Asian Junior Champion.