Farag Earns Tournament Of Champions Breakthrough

Unranked Ali Farag became one of four Egyptians to qualify for the main draw of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions after despatching Mexico's Cesar Salazar in straight games in the qualifying finals of the first PSA World Series squash event of the year at Grand Central Terminal in New York.

The 21-year-old Harvard student played focused and composed squash to defeat World No.43 Salazar 11-9, 11-4, 12-10 in 41 minutes to earn his first trip to the iconic Grand Central Terminal glass court.

"I cannot even describe this feeling," said the exhilarated Farag after the match. "I have dreamed of playing on the ToC glass court for ages."

For Farag, the pressure of the Tournament of Champions qualifying draw is exacerbated by the fact that the Harvard University senior plays only one professional tournament during the year. "Because it is the only PSA Tour event all year that I play, I can become almost too desperate to win," he said. Indeed, in last year's ToC qualifying, Farag had more than one match ball, but couldn't convert them for the coveted trip to the glass court.

Farag's game plan was to mitigate Salazar's foot speed by holding his shots as long as possible. The first game seesawed back and forth until Farag stepped up to take command and win the game 11-9. The second game was all about the Farag attack and too many unforced errors by Salazar. Farag seemed to have the match well in hand at 10-7 in the third, but Salazar managed to tie the game at 10-all.

"I started thinking about the match balls I had last year," Farag explained. "But then I composed myself." Two points later, Farag won the game 12-10 and was on his way to a first round main draw ToC match in Grand Central terminal where he will play England's Chris Simpson, ranked 26 in the World.

All the other qualifiers had to fight lengthier battles to secure their appearances on the Grand Central glass court. Switzerland's Nicolas Mueller, the top-seeded player in the qualifying draw, needed five games and 79 minutes to defeat Leo Au of Hong Kong.

The first game was a back and forth battle as both players played solid defence and hit attacking shots when they had an opening. Au drew first blood as he eked out the 13-11 first game win. Mueller won a close second game 11-9 and completely dominated the third, winning 11-3. Au clawed his way back with effective attacking shots in the fourth. The fifth game was another seesaw until the very end when Mueller, with more life in his legs, closed out the victory 11-8. The Swiss number one meets England's 2011 ToC champion James Willstrop in his opening round in the main draw.

Malaysian Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan took a quick 2/0 game lead against Alan Clyne. The Scotsman then ratcheted up his play with clean, attacking squash to win game three. At 10-9 in the fourth, Adnan hit a volley kill into the nick to earn a main draw first round match against Australian Cameron Pilley.

Local hopes were dashed when Christopher Gordon of the US was unable to overcome Egypt's Omar Abdel Meguid. Although the US champion won the first game 11-7, Meguid claimed the second and third games in tie-breaks and the fourth 11-6. The 25-year-old from Giza next plays compatriot Tarek Momen.

Omar Abdel Aziz defied the seedings when he defeated fellow Egyptian Marwan Elshorbagy in five games. Aziz's first round opponent is Egypt's two-time ToC champion Amr Shabana.

The fourth and final Egyptian into the main draw is Mohd Ali Anwar Reda who dropped the first game to Hong Kong's Max Lee but recovered quickly to win in four games. Reda will meet Laurens Jan Anjema of the Netherlands on the glass court.

Adrian Waller will play English countryman Daryl Selby in the main draw by virtue of his victory over New Zealand's Campbell Grayson, who retired in the fourth game due to injury. Frenchman Gregoire Marche, who defeated England's Charles Sharpes with a 13-11 tie-break win in the fourth and deciding game, faces compatriot Mathieu Castagnet next.

Updated 1st round draw:
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Adrian Grant (ENG)
Stephen Coppinger (RSA) v Ong Beng Hee (MAS)
Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v [Q] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY)
[7] Amr Shabana (EGY) v [Q] Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY)
[6] Peter Barker (ENG) v Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v [Q] Gregoire Marche (FRA)
Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [Q] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)
[4] James Willstrop (ENG) v [Q] Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
[3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v [WC] Todd Harrity (USA)
Tarek Momen (EGY) v [Q] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY)
Chris Simpson (ENG) v [Q] Ali Farag (EGY)
[8] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [Q] Adrian Waller (ENG)
[5] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Simon Rosner (GER)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v Alister Walker (BOT)
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Tom Richards (ENG)

Official event website: www.tocsquash.com