Egypt & Ramy Ashour Rule Showdown@Symphony III

Boston has been very, very good to Ramy Ashour! The fleet of foot, aggressive player has won all three World Champions Challenge events at Showdown@Symphony, this year with teammate Amr Shabana.

This year's high-powered glass court challenge match, a Davis Cup tie format without the doubles, at Boston's venerable Symphony Hall, kicked off in high gear. In front of a crowd of 1,000 spectators on three levels of the 100-year-old historic Boston landmark, host Paul Assaiante, Coach of the record setting Trinity College squash team, introduced all four players to thunderous applause and raucous cheers.

After the coin flip by Match Referee Mike Riley - won by England - world No2 Nick Matthew elected to face Ramy Ashour in the evening's first match. The engaging Egyptian ran hard through the first game, up as high as 4-1. But Matthew played it steady, bringing it to 4-5 after three solid points, including an ace that left Ashour reeling.

Matthew looked good bringing the score to 9-all, but Ashour was not to be denied. First game to Ramy, 11-9. The second game moved quickly, featuring a four-point run by Ashour to bring the score to 9-5. That would be all England saw before falling 11-5. Match 1 to Egypt.

The second match of the night pitted a very fit, sixth-ranked Amr Shabana against the current world No1, James Willstrop.

"Not surprisingly, Willstrop took the match two-love," said event spokesman Colleen Turner. "But make no mistake, Shabana's play had a spark to it that the scores don't necessarily reflect."

The lanky Willstrop ruled the court in general though and Shabana gave up several quick tins in each game providing a comfortable cushion for the world's top player. Both games went to Willstrop (11-5, 11-7) and England earned the match to even the Team Challenge score 1-1.

Intermission featured a tribute to Sam Magruder, a longtime squash player, fan and former Mass. Squash Racquets Association president, who passed during a summer night's squash league match (score: 7-7). His son, Will, proudly announced donations to Showdown's official charity, SquashBusters, have already topped $6,000.

After the intermission, two of Boston's most successful squash players and most supportive community volunteers, Tom Poor and Lenny Bernheimer, were recognized by event promoter and local resident John Nimick for their 2012 induction into the US Squash Hall of Fame.

The third match of the evening pitted Matthew and Shabana. Despite well over a 40-minute wait between his matches, Matthew came out solid. But having warmed up with Willstrop, Shabana was on fire. He would later say that the "level James played at took him by surprise" so he was determined to come out at 100% against Matthew in his second match.

Shabana took the first game 11-6. Matthew, always a solid player, was cool in his execution, but would later admit to having trouble with his feet due to matches a few days earlier in the European Club Finals in which he encountered footwear issues. Shabana continued to dominate the second game, easily going up 7-love before giving up his first point. Getting back into the groove, Matthew grabbed four quick points, but the smoking hot Shabana was in amazing form closing out the match 11-5 and giving Egypt a 2-1 lead.

The final match of the evening saw arguably the two most on-form players of the year take the court. Ashour was fresh off of August's 2012 Australian Open victory and Willstrop was in his 8th month (6th consecutive) with the World No1 ranking. Given Ashour's love of Showdown's quick, short two-game format, many in the crowd gave him the edge, but both men were sharp, matching each other point for point until Willstrop asserted his presence with authority.

Ashour eked out several more points in game one, but he couldn't equal Willstrop's methodical march to victory, 11-7. In game two, Ashour "squeaked" his way to a victory, 11-7. England and Egypt in knots.

By virtue of winning the first game, Willstrop opted for a three-point tiebreaker to determine the evening's winning team. And though all four matches offered fine squash, the tiebreaker was the evening's highlight. The rallies were tense and tight as the two rivals traded points before Ashour sealed Egypt's victory with a backhand drive that Willstrop could not retrieve. Egypt on the night, 3-1.

As Willstrop, a first time player in the World Champions Challenge at Showdown, later offered, "That was perhaps the most exciting night of squash I've ever experienced...the crowd was amazing. It brings out your best and is such a great event for sponsors, youngsters and squash."