Wildcards Stefanoni and Spizzirri score upsets

The opening day of the US Open Squash Championships saw wildcards Lucie Stefanoni and Nicholas Spizzirri cause upsets at Philadelphia’s Arlen Specter US Squash Center as four Americans booked their spots in the last 16.

World No.67 Stefanoni has reached round two of the US Open at the sixth attempt after she got the better of World No.33 Zeina Mickawy by a 13-11, 11-6, 11-7 scoreline.

Stefanoni will play reigning champion Hania El Hammamy in the next round after her match with Mariam Metwally was cut short due to an injury sustained by the latter.

“I’m over the moon, I didn’t really go in with any expectations, and I think it’s always a great opportunity to come to the US Open,” Stefanoni said afterwards.

“I’ve been here before for a few years as the wildcard, and I just treat it as a great opportunity to play the top pros. I went in with that mindset and was just playing one point at a time, and I didn’t really try to get ahead of myself with the score. I’m very happy that I was able to stay consistent and mentally composed throughout the match.

“It’s a huge deal, I’ve never played a top three player before, so I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”

Stefanoni’s older sister – World No.12 Marina – came close to causing an upset against four-time US Open champion Nouran Gohar, ultimately going down in five games after a gripping contest.

However, the top two ranked US women – World No.5 Olivia Weaver and World No.10 Amanda Sobhy – did progress following respective wins over Britain’s Lucy Turmel and Georgia Adderley.

Spizzirri is the lone American to reach round two of the men’s event after the World No.87 defeated Qatar’s Abdulla Al Tamimi in straight games to earn his first victory at a Platinum-level PSA Squash Tour event.

Spizzirri said: “I had a big home crowd advantage. I went to Penn, so a lot of the current squash players there, former teammates of mine, were here to support me. My brother [Eliot Spizzirri] being there was a really great treat, he’s a professional tennis player and he usually has to travel when I have to travel.

“It’s been a tough couple of months, I’ve had injuries here and there, so I’ve just been trying to get back to being healthy, and I’m glad I was healthy today. I felt great out there and to do it in front of my friends and family just makes it that much sweeter.”

US No.1 Timothy Brownell saw his tournament come to an end against World No.6 Victor Crouin, while defending men’s champion Mostafa Asal got off to a winning start against Abhay Singh.

RESULTS

Men’s First Round:

[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt. Abhay Singh (IND) 3-0: 11-3, 11-1, 11-7 (38m)

Veer Chotrani (IND) bt. Juan Vargas (COL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 13-11 (33m)

Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt. Kareem El Torkey (EGY) 3-2: 11-7, 6-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-4 (58m)

[8] Joel Makin (WAL) bt. Fares Dessouky (EGY) 3-2: 11-8, 6-11, 11-2, 9-11, 11-8 (64m)

[6] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) bt Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 3-1 11-8, 11-7, 3-11, 11-5 (64m)

Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bt. Curtis Malik (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 3-1 retired (21m)

Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt. Bernat Jaume (ESP) 3-0: 13-11, 11-4, 11-3 (41m)

[3] Diego Elias (PER) bt. Miguel Rodriguez (COL) 3-0: 11-3, 11-8, 11-6 (37m)

[4] Karim Gawad (EGY) bt. Declan James (JAM) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 13-11 (48m)

Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) bt. Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) 3-2: 10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5 (58m)

Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt. Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-1 (25m)

Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) bt. [7] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 3-1: 11-6, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7 (60m)

[5] Victor Crouin (FRA) bt. Timothy Brownell (USA)

[WC] Nicholas Spizzirri (USA) bt Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-7 (27m)

Sam Todd (USA) bt [WC] Salim Khan (USA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-7 (37m)

[2] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Leonel Cardenas (MEX) 3-0: 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 (59m)

Women’s First Round:

[1] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt. Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (29m)

Hana Moataz (EGY) bt. Nour Heikal (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 11-13, 11-9, 7-1 retired (37m)

Kenzy Ayman (EGY) bt. Alex Jaffe (USA) 3-2: 12-10, 12-10, 6-11, 9-11, 11-6 (45m)

[5] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt. Aifa Azman (MAS) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-6 (22m)

Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt. [6] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-2: 7-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5 (57m)

Nada Abbas (EGY) bt. Nadien Elhammamy (EGY) 3-2: 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-13, 11-7 (61m)

Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt. Georgia Adderley (SCO) 3-2: 9-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-2, 11-5 (58m)

[3] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt. Hana Ramadan (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 11-2, 11-9 (21m)

[4] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt Lucy Turmel (ENG) 3-1: 7-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 (45m)

Sana Ibrahim (EGY) bt Torrie Malik (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-8 (37m)

Nardine Garas (EGY) bt. Malak Khafagy (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 13-11, 11-4 (33m)

[7] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt. Marina Stefanoni (USA) 3-2: 7-11, 14-12, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 (67m)

[8] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt. Hollie Naughton (CAN) 3-1 11-7, 4-11, 11-5, 11-3 (35m)

Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bt. Grace Gear (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (29m)

Lucie Stefanoni (USA) bt. Zeina Mickawy (EGY) 3-0: 13-11, 11-6, 11-7 (30m)

[2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt. Mariam Metwally (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9. 7-3 retired (26m)