Marwen Strikes Squash Blow For Welsh Wizards

Welsh Wizards ace Marwen won the Premier Squash League battle of the ElShorbagy brothers at St George’s in Surrey.

Marwen defeated Mohamed in straight games to strike a significant blow for Wizards, who are still in with an outside shout of qualifying for the play-off semi-finals.

It is a long shot, but Wizards will focus on finishing their first PSL season in style when they host Bexley in Cardiff on Friday.

Team manager David Evans and his Wizards are third in the group with one match to play following their 4-1 defeat against St George’s on Tuesday.

https://twitter.com/welsh_wizards/status/1105818553133993984

The hosts plus Northern group leaders Warwick University/Kenilworth Squash have both already secured their play-off places.

St George’s put out a strong team against visiting Wizards, who realistically needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Former World number one Mohamed from Egypt and New Zealand’s Joelle King, currently ranked at six, led the St George’s challenge against a Wizards team who were missing the inspirational Tesni Evans and her brother Emyr.

The home team powered to a 4-0 advantage to secure their last four spot.

Marwan then defeated elder brother Mohamed 11-9, 13-11 in the first string match, but it was too late for Wizards on the night. They are, though, likely to field a strong team in the final fixture of the season.

https://twitter.com/welsh_wizards/status/1103274747176071168

That match will be at the Sport Wales National Centre in Cardiff on Friday, April 5 when they take on bottom club Bexley. World number 10 Marwan and women’s World number 10 Tesni Evans have both committed to play for Wizards in that clash.

Coolhurst continued their strong finish to the season with a 4-1 away win at Chichester, while Tradition@RAC are favourites to secure the second play-off spot.

They travel to Bexley on Friday and need 13 points from two matches to guarantee a second consecutive last four appearance.

Northern division leaders WarKens lost 3-2 at Pontefract, Saurav Ghosal winning the deciding match for the home team, but qualify for the semi-finals after second-placed University of Birmingham Lions lost 1-4 away to Nottingham. 

Welshman Joel missed the Welsh National Championships in Cardiff last weekend because of injury, but he was able to play at number one for Birmingham in their match at Nottingham.

Makin, a 24-year-old ranked at 18 in the World, is from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire and was Birmingham’s only winner, beating Nick Matthew 13-11, 5-11, 11-6 in the first string clash.

Welsh Wizards (yellow shirts) and St George’s players pictured before the Premier Squash League match in Surrey.

Tuesday evening PSL results:

Pontefract  (9) beat WarKens (6) 3-2

1 Saurav Ghosal beat Iker Pajares 2-0 (11-5, 11-9)

2 James Willstrop lost to Mahesh Mangaonkar 1-2 (12-14, 11-5, 5-11)

3 Chris Simpson beat Daniel Mekbib 2-1 (10-12, 11-1, 11-4)

4 Patrick Rooney beat Mark Fuller 2-1 (9-11, 11-7, 11-5)

5 Laura Massaro lost to Sarah-Jane Perry 1-2 (11-5, 7-11, 8-11)

Nottingham (12) beat Birmingham (4) 4-1

1 Nick Matthew lost to Joel Makin 1-2 (11-13, 11-5, 6-11)

2 Declan James beat Jan vd Herrewegen 2-1 (11-4, 8-11, 15-13)

3 Richie Fallows beat Chris Hall 2-0 (11-4, 11-9)

4 Lewis Walters beat Joshua Owen 2-1 (7-11, 11-4, 11-5)

5 Hana Ramadan beat Millie Tomlinson 2-0 (11-5, 11-8)

St George’s (11) beat Welsh Wizards (3) 4-1 

1 Mohamed ElShorbagy lost to Marwan ElShorbagy 0-2 (9-11, 11-13)

2 Tom Richards beat Edmon Lopez 2-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-2)

3 Borja Golan beat Peter Creed 2-0 (11-8, 11-6)

4 Robbie Temple beat Elliott Morris Devred 2-0 (11-2, 11-5)

5 Joelle King beat Ciara Richards 2-0 (11-4, 11-5)

Chichester (3) 1, Coolhurst (11) 4

1 Olli Pett lost to Max Lee 1-2 (11-8, 8-11, 4-11)

2 Tim Vail lost to Greg Lobban 0-2 (8-11, 3-11)

3 Miles Jenkins lost to Nathan Lake 0-2 (14-16, 11-13)

4 Kyle Finch lost to Ammar Altamimi 0-2 (9-11, 13-15)

5 Ali Thomson beat Katie Malliff 2-0 (11-6, 11-7)

Other PSL fixtures this week

Friday, March 22

NewcastleUni/Northumberland Club v UWE/Bristol 

Alan Clyne v Tom Ford

Owain Taylor v David Baillargeon

Danny Hockburn v James Peach

Liam Gutcher v Luke Bishop

Eve Driver v Lily Taylor

Bexley v Tradition@RAC

Mohamed Abouelghar v Paul Coll

Josh Masters v Daryl Selby

Olli Tuominen v George Parker

Rui Soares v Ben Coleman

Gina Kennendy v Alison Waters

Final round of matches:

April

Tuesday 2: WarKens v Newcastle, Tradition@RAC v Chichester, Bristol v Nottingham, Birmingham v Pontefract, Welsh Wizards v Bexley.

Friday 5: Coolshurst v St George’s.

Play-Off semi-finals to be played week commencing May 6, while the final will be at St George’s on Saturday, June 1.

For Wizards match tickets click on the link: welshwizards.com/book-tickets