This year’s tournament is proving to be very entertaining. The round of 16 has just finished and there has already been a few terrific matches. The match between Simon Rosner and Omar Mosaad in particular was really entertaining yesterday and was really fun to watch. The momentum swings were incredible as was the pace of the ball. I could not believe how hard Mosaad was hitting. The commentary on @_SquashTV about how hard they were hitting and how loud it was at the venue was hilarious. The other match that was fantastic was the Tarek Momen versus Chris Gordon match. Twitter was absolutely abuzz with conversation about this match and Gordon's terrific effort in this match.
I just read this morning that unfortunately Karim Darwish has had to withdraw due to injury. I was really looking forward to his match with James Willstrop today. I was expecting it be a really good match although I did expect that Willstrop would come through. Willstrop is now obviously through to the semis.
That leaves the following matches:
Ramy Ashour versus Simon Rosner
I expect that Ramy will come through this match. He can be prone to bad starts and lack of focus sometimes though and if he comes out flat this could prove to be a good match. If he comes out in form though then look out Simon Rosner.
Gregory Gaultier versus Amr Shabana
This match should be a classic. Greg is playing absolutely terrific squash as of late and looks to be in possibly the best form of his career. He may not be ranked #2 right now but the only person that has been able to beat him recently is Ramy the #1. Shabs though is playing great squash as well which is why this should be such a great match. If there were going to be an upset in this round I would think this is match it could come in. I do expect Greg to win this match though but the squash should be fantastic.
Nick Matthew versus Peter Barker
This match should be a great battle. Both guys are very intense and that should produce some very entertaining squash. I would expect Nick though to come through this match.
Regardless of the outcomes of these matches today should be some great squash on www.psasquashtv.com and I look forward to watching it all. Does anyone have any predictions they would like to make? If so leave a comment!
