Mosaad Moves On
AWsome Sports’ Big Man, Omar Mosaad scored his first victory over compatriot Ramy Ashour in the Quarter Final of The Grasshopper Cup in Zurich last night.
The match started off with Ramy looking considerably bouncier than in his first round match against the impressive Nikki Mueller. Omar looked calm and in top form. The Big Man’s straight lines down the backhand side were excellent, containing The Maverick from attacking at will as he so often does. Omar was reading Ramy and seemingly on to every ball immediately. He was able to set up an attack with a tight straight drop and pounce on the loose crosscourt to hit into the open space. Ramy was by no means looking injured but was not injecting the same pace which we all saw in the phenomenal El Gouna final last week, which meant he was hitting the ball slightly higher on the front wall making it possible for Omar to dominate on the volley.
The first game went from 3-3 to 11-3 to Omar. Seeing the scoreline you would assume Ramy either pulled up injured or tinned everything. This was not the case. Excellent play by Omar.
Omar started the second game well leading 6-2, again characterised by tight backhands and getting onto the volley. Ramy started to make a comeback as everyone hoped and expected he would. At 6-6 it was anyone’s. A dodgy Stroke to The Big Man saw the momentum shift change back in favour of Omar, and he closed out the game with a superb rally.
At 2-0 to Mosaad, everyone was wondering if Ramy could pull off the impossible two days in a row.
Ramy started the third with his body language not his usual, animated self, but still staying in every point. At 3-2 to Omar, there was a tremendous rally from The AWsome Man, making Ramy cover every corner several times. This resulted in making Ramy limp, and suddenly another point goes by and at 5-2 everyone thought Ramy was gone. Somehow, Ramy continued to run, hit nicks and take the game. 2-1 to Omar and game on!
The fourth was quick fire points. In-between rallies Ramy was in obvious distress after that punishing rally at 3-2 in the third, but then the rally begins and he still manages to run around like a madman! In the end the discomfort became too much for the amazing Ramy and he had to withdraw, handing the match to Mosaad.
Nobody wants to see Ramy retire as everyone loves to watch him and see what this amazing man can achieve each time after such long stints away from tournaments. We all wish him well and hope he recovers soon.
This cannot take away from the improvements Omar has made over the last 6 months. He squash is sensible and calm, but not by any means boring. I love his new use of the lob to get himself out of trouble. Everything is going from strength to strength for the big Egyptian.
Tactical Analysis of Omar’s recent improvement
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