ElSherbini Ends Home Hopes After Edging Five-Game Brownell Detroit Duel

Egypt's Mohamed ElSherbini ended home hopes on day two of the Sturbridge Capital Motor City Open after coming through an intense five-game battle with Timothy Brownell to reach the quarter-finals of the PSA World Tour Silver event at Birmingham Athletic Club in Detroit, USA.

USA No.1 Brownell picked up where he left off from his first-round victory over Addeen Idrakie, taking the ball early and volleying well into the front two corners to take the first game by an 11-6 scoreline. No.5 seed ElSherbini grew in confidence the longer he spent on court though, finding his lines and lengths on the club's traditional court and retaking the lead in the match despite firm resistance from his opponent.

ElSherbini subsequently held a match ball late in the fourth, but saw this slip through his grasp, with Brownell taking the match to five with an inch-perfect forehand drop in the tie-break. However, the 31-year-old squashed any hopes of another Brownell five-game success, bursting out of the blocks early in the decider and never looking back, sealing his first victory of 2024 after 68 minutes of entertaining play.

After the match, ElSherbini said: "It was a good match, Timmy is a good player and he stuck to his game plan today. He is really strong and I didn't expect that because I haven't played him before.

"It was good on my side to get my first win of the year, so I was happy to come out on top. His forehand was pretty good, so I tried to stay away from that, especially his volleys, so I started to play more into his backhand so I could have more openings to go short.

"Slowly, step-by-step, it started to work out."

Elsewhere, three-time champion Diego Elias cruised into the quarter-finals of the PSA World Tour Silver event after a dominant 11-2, 11-4, 11-4 victory over Cesar Salazar, while No.2 seed Paul Coll needed just 29 minutes and three games to see off Abhay Singh.

Rui Soares, the Portugal No.1 who was defeated in his initial first-round match against Cesar Salazar, was granted a 'Lucky Loser' spot in Round 2 due to an injury to Mohamed Abouelghar - and made the most of his second chance by coming from behind to defeat Aly Hussein in four games.

No.3 seed Miguel Rodriguez was made to work for his last eight berth, defeating Ibrahim Elkabbani in a tough four-game encounter, and in turn, setting up a tie against England's Adrian Waller. The Colombian's victory ensured that seven out of the top eight seeds progressed to the quarter-finals by the end of the day's play in Detroit.