Rodriguez Stops Egyptian Dominance On Houston Open Day Two

Colombia's Miguel Rodriguez ensured that it was not an Egyptian whitewash on the second day of action in the Houston Open by getting the better of Egypt's Mohamed Elsherbini to reach the quarter finals of the PSA World Tour Gold event at Houston Squash Club in Texas.

The 2018 British Open champion had only met his Egyptian opponent once before on the Tour, with Elsherbini getting the better of a beleaguered Rodriguez in the quarter finals of the Motor City Open almost two years ago.

Unlike that encounter in Detroit, this battle between the pair was tight throughout, with neither man holding a large advantage in any of the three games. At all the right times though, the Colombian was able to steer the match in his favour.

After winning the first game on a 12-10 tie-break, the world No.10 was just able to keep Elsherbini at bay for the rest of the match, winning out in three to book his place in the last eight.

"When we played each other the first time, I was injured, but Mohamed is climbing the rankings and is a talented and skilful player," said the 36-year-old Colombian.

"I had to put my balls at the back of the court and work with my speed and move the ball around. It worked, the first game was the key, but I kept it patient, was focused and I had a great performance.

"Age is just a number and I'm still enjoying my game. I don't want to retire soon, so I'm just focusing on being better every day, every year and doing things differently to last year. For now, I'm just happy to be back here in Houston, this is my second or third time, and I'm very grateful to win this match."

The only all-Egyptian battle of the second day also brought the only upset, as Youssef Soliman overcame No.8 seed Youssef Ibrahim to set up a meeting with top seed Ali Farag in the quarter finals.

Ibrahim was the higher-ranked player coming into the contest, sitting three places above his compatriot in the world rankings, but it was Soliman that was able to win in straight games, getting the better of the world No.15 in their first ever encounter on the PSA World Tour.

"Today was way different to yesterday, yesterday I was coping with Nathan's game plan, today I was coping with my nerves," Soliman said.

"Youssef is up and coming and he's talented and I tried to contain him. It was a nervy start and a nervy end but I'm glad to be through.

"Ali is my training partner, I train with him every day and he teases me every single second. He looks at me and teases me about what I wear, how I play squash, everything, so it will be different. I have to be aggressive against him and it will be exciting."

World No.1 Farag got his campaign underway with a comfortable victory over Germany's Raphael Kandra in the opening match of the day. The other match of Wednesday's action saw Egypt's Mostafa Asal beat Switzerland's Dimitri Steinmann in straight games.