Asal vs Marwan - controversy at Houston Open 2023

Asal vs Marwan, marwan injured and forced to withdraw after the 3rd game. Was correct decision made?

[@dcameroncdn]

Agree! Asal seems to invite conflict but in this particular case it did not look like he did anything wrong. I also question the severity of the injury. I would expect anyone screaming pain for five minutes to be unable to continue to play for maybe days later. I guess one can learn from footballers.

[@nicokeijzer9082]

Interesting situation indeed. First of all I don't agree with many of the comments, I think this is a case blocking / not clearing, with a swing of the racket hand to the opponent's abdomen added to that. The referee seems to have the same opinion, but interestingly, he awards a stroke to Marwan but calls the injury "contributed". Contrubited injury means that both players are to blame. If Asal was deemed to have caused the injury, it should have been called "opponent-inflicted". The rules are clear that if the player cannot continue as a result of the injury, then in the case of a "contributed" injury, the match is awarded to the opponent, but in the case of an "opponent-inflicted" injury, the match is awarded to the injured player. This seems fair and logical. So: the referee seems confused. If he thinks the injury is contributed (both to blame), he should not award a stroke. If he thinks the injury is opponent-inflicted (Asal to blame), he should award the match to Marwan. Btw his explanation does not sound very confident, so I think he was struggling with it himself. Which should it be? I tend toward opponent-inflicted and award the match to Marwan. But I have to admit that I am not at all a fan of Asal's approach to squash and I am in danger of being biased.

[@aboveandbeyond9844]

This ref has always been pretty bad with anything more than basic calls.

[@parth1331]

Asal is really talented. He can hit a ball in the follow through as well.

[@usas1618]

GAGAGAGAGA

[@watching99134]

Maybe even two

[@michaelmitchell8567]

What an Asal!

[@SLDIKJF]

My take is that Marwan receives the end of the racquet in the crotch. All men know that if it hits really unlucky it does not have to hit very hard to be extremely painful. Still a bit excessive screaming though.... But not surprised that he would be able to play after 30 min. It is not up to the referee to stop further play. Really strange unless a medical doctor calls it About the stroke - Marwan is perhaps a bit closer than appropriate, and Asal must be allowed to finish his movement with reasonable space. But Asal does his usual malicious blocking by talking a step into Marwans path and puts his hip out. If you look closely you see that Asal is already on the T in optimal position, why would he ever want to stop back away from that? The only explanation is malicious intent and blocking. That is dangerous play and should definitely result in conduct stroke and point to Marwan, i see no debate on that. But this is not what the referee explained, and that makes it confusing.

[@MartensAD]

The giveaway for me is that Asal does not look at Marwan after hitting him. He turns to his left and immediately focuses on the referee. Marwan is screaming in pain, but Asal does not even look at him, let alone offer sympathy or concern.

[@Yassin_Amir]

A small hip check or stepping into the line is one thing. But using the bud of the racquet! 🤯

[@Dentos19]

If the medics said Marian was fit to play that was his decision not for the referee to make he’s got no medical qualifications

[@ALEXANDER090264]

Asal is a huge talented player but his game antics are mostly for the worse. The biggist problem is that Asal seems to be involved in almost every contreversial situation against any player. That brings me to the question if Asal is to be addressed on his behaviour on the court. His play is to physicall and if this goes on either no one wants to play against Asal or squash will become a kind of box lacrosse

[@jamestalintyre7713]

Totally agree Asal has been involved in many incidents now and I really don't like his antics he is a good player just get on with it and be a professional sportsmen and someone to look upto as number 1 not dirty. Keep that trail leg in!!!

[@mjc3086]

People are blaming Asal for his dangerous play but I don't think it's his fault. Asal bends the rules because the refs of PSA allow him to block and trip his opponents because it is good for the game of squash that we have such an exciting character. Good for squash? - I don't thinki so. These controversial decisions will result in squash becoming more like full contact Karate. Thank heavens the PSA don't referee our local matches.

[@Nobody423]

turning into a football game crying on the floor

[@simmo0202]

Shorbagy exaggerated but you can also see Asal’s swing speed increased after ball contact/pre balls contact.

[@paulwilson8076]

No let and Marwan trying to win by default…..as soon as he knew he wasn’t going to have the match awarded to him, he amazingly wants to continue. Well done ref for calling his bluff. Marwan is super sketchy!!

[@watching99134]

Do you have evidence for this sequence of events? It does make sense however...

[@nomophobe]

Huh? I don't think you understand what "calling someone's bluff" means. If the ref truly was that vindictive, he should be struck off and never referee again - what an absolutely ridiculous thing for you to claim happened. If Marwan wanted to continue, the ref should have let him. Simple as that.

[@matthiasschulze393]

asal poked out his right leg..he looked immediately up at the ref, he knew he did wrong

[@adders1715]

Asal knew exactly what he was doing. He moved his right leg into Marian’s path. When he hit the volley his leg was closer to his body and then he stuck it out to catch or block the opponent . Asal should be banned for a lot longer until he is deemed safe to play against.

[@theboxfitchannel4305]

Asal is known for playing a shot and then blocking the opponent as you can see when he's played his shot his body and his right leg then come across marwans path and let's face it, asal is not a small bloke. He is a bully on court and his suspensions are justified.

[@Tennis_Siblings]

I'm suprised on how Asal has not been banned based on history of his dirty plays

[@watching99134]

He gets periodic suspensions.

[@timparis70]

I don't get it ... Asal clearly moves into Marwan's line around him, look at his back foot movement and also his hips. There was no reason for him to do this except to block Marwan. IMO it was a fairly easy stroke to give when you see it back on replay. It doesn't matter if it was egregious, excessive, malicious, if there was intent to injure, or if the quality of shot was good - as far as I know blocking is not allowed. The injury was an unfortunate result of Asal's blocking, not the cause of the stroke.

[@watching99134]

Interesting incident but the uploader doesn't really offer any meaningful insights or hypotheses about what happened...one of the commenters below suggested Marwan wanted the match to be called in his favor and then changed his mind about continuing when told this would not happen, so the ref awarded the match to Asal to send a message about sandbagging...no idea if that happened but at least it makes more sense than just saying it was "interesting"...

[@shanehanson8298]

Talk about exaggerating, should be a footballer…….get up and get on with it👍👍

[@patvikram]

I concur with you. ME walked in to Asal. And screaming was fake!

[@tmac11]

First, I didn't watch the match. BUT, could it be possible that Marwan was awarded a stroke on that play and Sheldon qualified it as a conduct stroke based upon the antics and context of the prior two games? I.e. That's enough of that blocking movement Mr. Asal, I have warned you on previous occasions? These two players have been at the eye of the storm in discussions around blocking movement and poor sportsmanship. Odd end to a match indeed....

[@patvikram]

The swing was not excessive. Infact very short. Asal couldn't even complete the swing.

[@restaurantrivesaltes2119]

Which Hollywood movie are we talking about?

[@yaboiicj94]

Here's where the confusion comes for me. If marwan told the medics he's fine to continue, why did the ref call an end to the match.

[@samelgore7575]

because he thought Marwan was bluffing all along..

[@nwelch1001]

Let’s cut the shit shall we.. He knew what he was doing. Just look at Asal’s reaction to the incident.

[@CSSdelvzy]

LMFAO listen to him, I've taken a racquet to the ribs before and my face right on my nose and kept playing lol

[@Orbituation]

The moaning was indeed a bit much, but let's swing the racket handle on your groin at 100% on a drive, let's see how long you take to get on your feet. Definitely not the same as getting hit on the nose.

[@ingamarsiegruhn9101]

I've also taken a racket on the nose full speed and felt good to play lol I reckon if a professional swing hit me in the groin it would be a different story though 😂

[@us-Bahn]

That’s a calculated bow to the gut

[@squashoe]

To the berries

[@matthiasschulze393]

he went down in apparent agony...

[@mjc3086]

The referee made a serious error. If he believes that the injured player cannot continue and the injury was caused by Asal (stroke against Asal), he should have awarded the match to Marwan according to the rules. However, only a medical practitioner can make such a decision as to whether the player can continue or nor. You have given Asal the benefit of your doubt. I don't agree with you - this is a typical hip check with a leg trip and nailed with the racquet butt for good measure. These days the refs allow blocking even though the rules of squash are clear - after you've played your shot, you need to give way so that your opponent can move to the ball. In other words, step out of the way - not step into your opponent's path.

[@hyperfluous4751]

All very true. It's a lil different w a ball hit into the middle of the court though, where much of the horrible reffing is happening these days. If your opponent hits a bad shot through the middle, since you're already at the T, you're allowed to somewhat stand your ground and it's up to the opponent to go around. Stepping deliberately into the opponent's line though is excessive, and it's this grey area that's causing sssoooooo many of the issues these days. Lay on top of that the fact that refs aren't just chill anymore and feel the need to give Strokes and No Lets only, and players'll start searching for these situations as much as possible. I miss the days of super chill play a Let for everything days pre-2015, when there was nothing to be won in fake excessive behaviour, so players just went back to playing the ball instead of the man and being drama queens. Sad days in squash atm that see no consensus or end in sight. Exceedingly poor management not to address such a clearly major issue at the top rungs of the game. Like corrupt or incompetent politicians, the heads of the PSA need to be called out individually for allowing this degeneration to go on for so long, and actions brought against them (ie fire their asses on the spot).

[@Badger348]

This is embarrassing

[@stevehufford7431]

kinda looks like an obvious hip check by Asal, resulting in a contributed injury and what should have been a match awarded to Marwan (if he couldn't continue). However, Marwan apparently said he wanted to continue, so Sheldon should, perhaps, have allowed that. Or, awarded the match to Marwan if he did not think it was safe for the player to continue post-injury. In no way should the match have been awarded to Asal.

[@cafusteb]

A clear no let. Marwan was too close to Asal and did not allow a fair swing from him.

[@jonathana6633]

he already swung the issue was not the question of the swing the injury was post contact which would be a conduct stroke since how bad the injury was

[@aaronosborne367]

Agree, I’m not a fan of Asal but I don’t think he has done anything wrong

[@huntrichardson]

Marwan hit the ball in the middle of the court and Asal was entitled to a reasonable swing at it. A swing includes a follow-through. Marwan went the wrong way

[@huntrichardson]

No. The rules guarantee a player the right to a reasonable follow-through after hitting the ball. Your assumption that the swing is composed of only the movement of the racket toward the ball and contact with it is erroneous. Check WSF Rule 8.9

[@cafusteb]

@@huntrichardson I agree with you. Maybe my post was not clear. I repeat: "Marwan was too close to Asal" = Marwan did not allow a reasonable follow-through swing.

[@redplumber1018]

1:02

[@bmlbern21]

At 7:23 look at how Asal’S follow through is outside his body to the right. That is not a normal follow through on a overhead backhand volley hitting to the left. He follows through to the left, as he has to in order to hit left, then he puts his hand out right and hits m. in the junk. It’s dirty. If something like this didn’t happen every week for asal I would think accident. It doesn’t happen if he is winning easy. But if he starts losing then something like this happens.

[@admyre]

Not a huge fan of Asal's antics. There are many times that we all know where he's able to produce brilliant squash, but too often he's fishing or pre-calling balls down or up or just not playing clean in general. But in this instance, it appears Marwan caused that injury and seemed to flop and Asal did nothing wrong. It's however unfortunate that so many games of Asal have this cloud around them, not sure what his coaches are telling him (probably to keep going as he's number 1!). In other sports like basketball or football or MMA the bad players that win are more celebrated than the clean guys that don't, but classy players do tend to make more money in sponsorships, (and exit ops) so the coaches should take that into account.

[@damon123jones]

No let

[@steveu9978]

What a soft touch

[@pauldalmau9888]

1. Not a fan of Asal, so no bias towards him on this one 2. Seems in normal speed, that Asal was only making a normal follow through with the beginnings of an instinctive move away from the line of the ball towards the T. 3. Marwan was over anticipating and seemed to run into Asal's follow through. 4. I believe the collision was mostly Marwan's fault, therefore, no let. 5. Therefore if Marwan couldn't play on, game to Asal. 6. Can't agree with the ref on all counts. 7. Squash has a big problem. Pro players due to modern refereeing standards are asked to take many more contact risks these days. This is probably an over reaction to phising tactics. Problem is, many lower level competitions think they have to follow suit. With players who aren't as fit, aware and skilled as the pros, this is a recipe for disaster. Squash authorities are running a great risk over the welfare of its players. The original rules were developed with safety as the number 1 premise. We have strayed from that today.

[@ewallt]

That was weird. It looks like a no let, from the standpoint of the shot. There was no way Marwan could get it. In terms of Asal’s leg movement, that was out of line, and merited a conduct warning, or conduct stroke, if a warning had already been given. I didn’t see that Asal did anything wrong with the racquet, but it was hard to tell. The blocking leg movement was clear. Reading between the lines, it looks like gamesmanship on the part of Marwan, and Sheldon was having none of it, but that’s just a guess. It is odd that the match was not continued, unless a medical doctor said so, given it was for medical reasons. If it was for non-medical reasons, then the normal protocol of conduct warning, conduct stroke, etc. should have been followed. Weird all around, including the wailing of Marwan.

[@inquisitiveprecursor975]

Asal did nothing wrong from what I can see. Pure antics from Marwan

[@samelgore7575]

Marwan made a meal out of this situation! Did he really get touched, let alone hit. The wailing seems so excessive if not outright unbecoming. We are dealing with some shady characters here.

[@andydahl609]

We’ve all taken one to the nads at some point, as a grown man this is pathetic.

[@gatesportcom]

I m sorry but he did not stop his swing so it s a stroke with warning common

[@MarciOlii]

I do not watch Asal

[@alyzeintube]

Asal uses a power lunge, he lunges in and out using the same leg, vs a retracting lunge when a player lunges with one leg, retrackets the trailing leg to get out of the lunge (e.g. Ashour). Opponents know this about Asal so they intentionally go for the trailing leg to manufacture interference and ask for a stroke. Asal is not doing anything wrong squash wise. His antics is a different story.

[@hyperfluous4751]

lol. no.

[@mooboo6603]

1. This game involves two people in close space swinging rackets. There is no scope for players to make unnatural moves, blocking and not clearing. Asal makes unnatural moves, blocks and doesn't clear. Asal should be banned. 2. If I were Elshorbagy's brother, the next game in the final I would repeatedly nail Asal in the head until I knew he would never wake up, and chill out in prison watching TV and eating for free for the next few years.

[@waynewilliams3246]

This is where poor understanding of what is being played out leads to poor refereeing decisions. Marwan realises he has played a poor shot, and tries to position himself as close as possible to Asal, so that if there is any error in Asals attempt at the winning shot opportunity, he can push Asal and claim a let/stroke whilst going for the loose ball if it arises. However Asal plays a good shot and his follow through strikes Marwan as the latter tries to go thru, but in totally the wrong direction. Once again a ref has made his mind up, based on the players previous history and current popularity trending rather than what has actually happened in front of their eyes. To confound matters even more, the ref awards a stroke, which implies that Asal is at fault, so by implication the match has been terminated by Asals action, and should be awarded to Marwan. So to make it absolutely clear that he has no idea what he's doing, he clarifies his decision with conflicting information. And then we wonder why squash can't make the Olympics, when even the qualified referees don't understand the rules.

[@mooboo6603]

@@waynewilliams3246 You make a reasonable point but I disagree - I don't think Asal's movement to the right upon hitting the shot is natural, nor is he clearing - on the contrary, he is intentionally moving right while hitting the ball so that he reduces his opponent's space. My point is - we all play in a small space, we need to hit and get out the way

[@philgarrett5498]

@@waynewilliams3246 I agree with most of what you've said. Marwan has got too close to Asal and effectively blocked himself as the ball is played into the opposite back corner. Asal's swing doesn't appear excessive, nor is his movement which appears to naturally return to neutral. Referee has had a shocker. Maybe he's realised the stroke decision was wrong and 'rectified' it with the match award to Asal. Shambles.

[@hadedanewspaper2256]

nope Marwan totally in the wrong, he crowded and did not allow asal to complete his shot....ironically marwan is normally the gentleman but in this case i would have awarded to asal.......marwan ran a second too soon.......

[@chriscrawford94]

There needs to be some kind of rule implemented to stop this tool from doing what he does. Maybe they should introduce a rule where after playing a shot you're not allowed to lift the backfoot closest to the other player in a way that'd hinder the opposition. Almost every single point Asal make an unnecessary extra half step after hitting the ball with his back foot and is always in the direction to block the opponent. The refs also just need to prevent small amounts of intentional contact with warnings and take away points if it doesn't stop. Allowing Asal to play as he does is genuinely going to ruin the game forever. Kids will watch this and play like him and the game will just become a semi-contact sport. This is 110% all on Asal and it's extremely clear. Idk how anyone can say otherwise. He hits his shot and then intentionally moves his back foot to block Marwan as best as possible. It's not a stability thing, it's not natural. It is to seek out the other player. He pushes off that left leg as hard as possible in an attempt to block in a way no one else would do. Watch any other squash player. When it happens it's the exception. When it's Asal it's almost every point. They have to make changes in the rules to prevent this. As long as they keep letting him get away with it any match he is in will be a farce and it risks the future of the sport.