Windy City Open Squash 2022 - Men's Semi Final Roundup

[@alborznekoeian4096]

Man look at that fire burninggg inside ibrahim 😀... Like his passion

[@gruffyddgozali]

Yeah he is epic to watch!

[@hippoherding9211]

Ibrahim's mental strength amazes me. It might be subtle but Marwan is such a dirty player: (blocking, fishing, moving towards Youssef after a shot). It's understandable that Youssef was upset. The mental strength required to come back though, was out of world.

[@riteinureye7299]

I agree the mental fortitude to win in spite of Marwan's antics was impressive but his couple tantrums were unprofessional as well. My problem is more with the referee, I don't understand the god-complex when a genuine player like Ibrahim is trying to understand why he's not getting lets against a player obviously using dirty tactics. Instead he is presented with "were not having this discussion, play on" and in that moment Ibrahim's frustration grows and Marwan feels rewarded for his behaviour. Honestly, I don't understand why the refs aren't holding Marwan accountable for this behaviour. Its disgraceful and diminishes the sport, yet he has no incentive to stop because there's no consequences. This really puts me in mind of the state of professional soccer right now where diving and acting are just as much a part of the sport as playing. The rewards can be game changing and the risks are inconsequential. If refs don't hold players accountable for their conduct, then that conduct becomes acceptable and we will see more Marwan's in the future.

[@karanvashisht77]

Asal vs Ibrahim could literally be close to like “Ali vs Foreman”.

[@PrashanthRaoNDZ]

Ibrahim is exactly how we all want Asal's game to be, if both play clean it will be one of the best modern squash matches ever!

[@iandoherty9089]

haha

[@_glitchy]

They just went to 5 at El Gouna

[@filipslomski3341]

Last call was a 100% stroke, wtf

[@brianoconnor2623]

Absolutely

[@puma3620]

There is an argument that Momen went the wrong way but I still think he recovered in time for a stroke

[@ricardoborges4637]

How the last point between Coll and Momen was not a stroke? It was a poor drop. The oponent, called "viper", is going right at it. Coll is blocking the way, very, very far from the T. If this is not a stroke, just stop broadcasting the game. The players can keep their minds in the game, because the rules are way too subjective, specially with the game getting so fast. And thats why is not olimpic. Its a mess. Egypt adopted the sport, but all the other countries struggles to keep it going. They should start testing new things (new balls, new lines to help to address let, no let, stroke, new rules based only on the position of the hitting player and the resulting shot, more conduct strokes, longer time between games, controled time between points, 10 seconds tower time every 5 points). They should use the youngers to test new things. It might help.

[@michazawadzki3813]

Seriously, the referee should be retrained for that call alone.

[@Sintsoij]

Squash needs more players with a spirit like Youssef 🔥 and less like Marwan

[@123Jacktu]

Really? Racket abuse and shouting is acceptable now?

[@goonie1975]

@@123Jacktu Probably not, but when your playing Marwan or Asal, and getting screwed over by the sub par refs, they would need to be super human not to lose it sometimes.

[@stuartpalmer3143]

Tetchy! When Ibrahim is on top he relaxes into each shot and plays beautifully. He is going to get (even) better with experience 😀

[@Tobiasdaneels]

Marwan is a disgrace for the sport. Players like him are the reason squash is not olympic. Makes the sport do ugly... Ibrahim, on the other hand, is a pure joy to watch. The new Amr Shabana. Pure class!

[@brianoconnor2623]

Elshorbagy is a cheat. Filthy player.

[@alborznekoeian4096]

He is blocking ... Some times cheating ... But lets be fair ! Hes super talented ... Wish he could just focus on his skills and abilities instead of playing mind games !

[@PrashanthRaoNDZ]

@@alborznekoeian4096 He realised, his movement couldn't match or keep up with Ibrahim's so he had to resort to his trusted mind-games and blocking. I thought he's stopping all that, but guess not.

[@ricardoborges4637]

How the last point between Coll and Momen was not a stroke??! It was a terrible drop. The oponent, called "viper", is going right at it. Coll is blocking the way, very, very far from the T. If this is not a stroke, just stop broadcasting the game. The players can keep their minds in the game, because the rules are way too subjective nowadays, specially wth the game getting so fast. And thats way is not olimpic. Its a mess. Egypt adopted the sport, but all the other countries struggles to keep it going. They should start testing new things (new balls, new lines to help to address let, no let, stroke, new rules based only on the position of the hitting player and the resulting shot, more conduct strokes, longer time between games, but controled time between points, 10 seconds tower time, every 5 points). They should use the youngers to test new things. It may help.

[@cookesam6]

My God even a year later I love this, such a slap in the face for marwan 😅

[@stuartpalmer3143]

Coll is a bit of a throwback to the days of Jansher and then Nicoll. I like it. Incredible rallying in an era when you can see the ball.

[@PrashanthRaoNDZ]

Asal could learn a thing or two from Ibrahim, he's becoming one of my favorite players! I think Ibrahim's got this tournament in his bag, Paul will need to play Ibrahim more than ones to figure out his game and beat him, the skills Ibrahim possess will be a little much for Paul imo, but let's see, if Paul can keep the ball away from volley's and middle, he could break Ibrahim's focus! So excited for it!

[@cavermudzonga1339]

I think Paul will beat Ibrahim convincingly!

[@123Jacktu]

How to abuse his racket and behave like a child more?

[@iandoherty9089]

@@cavermudzonga1339 i woul go for the world no1 aswell

[@brianoconnor2623]

Coll wins.

[@tascolino538]

Asal can learn from Ibrahim's behavior in this match!?

[@fcpcb]

Can't wait to watch Asal vs Marwan.

[@BBGBITW]

15:36 stroke all day long!

[@Sintsoij]

Robbed

[@firstwavenegativity6379]

@@Sintsoij Robbed is kind of an exaggeration with 5 game balls to go, but I agree it was a stroke

[@opensolaris6218]

I saw Coll's shot as a winner, no way Momen could've reached that imo.

[@mustafaadil6080]

Waiting for so long......

[@arnaud78]

Seems like an angry Ibrahim is a lethal Ibrahim.

[@gamolly]

If Momen plays more patiently and fixes his unforced error rate, he would do much better, in my opinion. He's got tremendous speed and recovery, he's got deception in his hits, and he's got stamina. Coll is so consistent that he is doing great. I think Momen has the ability to do that too and even do greater.

[@123Jacktu]

Those two have the best backhand. Everything in 2 floorboards width

[@liamlouw4643]

Very glad Ibrahim showed no mercy in the end, always a pleasure to see the cheater lose badly!

[@huh7764]

0:36 joeys commentary 🤌🏽

[@cscoetzee]

Ha ha "it's a good call" (ball flies miles out...)

[@bobisonOcorredor]

Marwan is THE most dessonest player ive ever watched PERIOD

[@shahg25]

I will pay to watch the full second match! What squash

[@Bast-kavothe]

Wow. Terrible, unreal no let to momen in the 5th when it was a stroke 😱

[@howardjennings1166]

Complete joke. The most obvious stroke I think I've ever seen. Was the ref asleep?

[@remcovandijk279]

@@howardjennings1166 I wonder how it can be a stroke when in the overhead replay the ball wasn't even within view at the bottom of the screen while Momen was stuck behind Coll in the middle of the screen?

[@howardjennings1166]

@@remcovandijk279 coll backs off right into momens path, having dropped a loose ball, stopping momen being able to go either side. Momen was stuck behind coll for a good second. He could have easily gotten there.

[@remcovandijk279]

@@howardjennings1166 I agree with all of that, but that makes it a let in my book and not a stroke.

[@maverickpearson9212]

@@remcovandijk279 Momen did everything he could to get to the ball. Coll did not do everything he could to let Momen get to the ball (in fact, he moved backwards INTO Momen). It has to be a Stroke, because Momen was not at fault, and Coll was at fault. If it's just a Let, you're either saying Coll wasn't at fault, or you're saying Momen IS at fault.

[@YT-wg8vt]

First of all, let me just say that the refereeing has left something to be desired during most of this tournament. That is putting it mildly. I watched both of these matches in full yesterday and it is laughable the amount of times that Joey, Paul, and/or Lee believe a video decision will go a certain way, and then it ends up going the other way. Ridiculous. You would like to think these guys have a clue, wouldn't you? Anyways, I have no doubt that this large "grey area" is the main reason holding back the sport from gaining more exposure/popularity (particularly its inclusion in the Olympics). This is something which needs a major clean up so as to bring a higher level of consistency into the sport. This now brings me to my second point, and that is I have to simply say that I am so tired of Marwan ElShorbagy's antics during a match. Doesn't matter which one he is playing. He is always the same character. Talent-wise, he has a very unique game style which I think can be quite effective, and I've seen it. But mentally, he is fragile in my view. Behavior-wise, he acts like a child. Like I said, I watched his match in full and his conduct was utterly atrocious. I turned to my son who was watching with me and I actually said to him that the sport of squash should be embarrassed by this behavior and outburst. I'm talking both verbally and his negative body language. For crying out loud, Billie Jean King was in the front row watching this display. What do you think she thought of this whole exhibition? There was absolutely no flow to that match whatsoever. Look... there are many guilty parties here --- the referee (for his lack of backbone, as he simply put up with all the verbal abuse for far too long) and Ibrahim (who had his share of outbursts too). But for me, Marwan does this sort of thing time and time and time again. It's really tiresome and, as a squash fan for many, many years, I find his behavior extremely embarrassing and inappropriate. Get a mental advisor/coach or anger management specialist ASAP, Marwan. It's a real shame, because this kind of look is not doing any good for the sport I love.

[@isaiahrichter4827]

Agreed. Refs need to be stricter on exaggerated movement like Marwan does constantly. Glad Ibrahim beat him. Not a fan of Marwan or his play style

[@YT-wg8vt]

@@isaiahrichter4827 I'm sure this is a major factor for Farag when he plays Marwan. It is just so uncomfortable playing a guy who carries himself this way.

[@isaiahrichter4827]

@@YT-wg8vt exactly

[@SergeiFedorov77]

You said it well. Most people watching think it's gonna go one way, including the commentators who have a lot of experience to say the least. Then the refs come up with something completely opposite... It's weird and annoying.

[@swingeasyguy]

YT agree with your comments word for word; other than saying that refereeing squash is quite difficult, I'd like to see a 3 ref system with a decision immediate, no talk back from players. Unless somehow some rules (lets, strokes etc) are defined a bit differently

[@darangsh]

Coll is best set-up

[@littleman787]

Ibrahim the El-Douchebagy slayer!!!! COME ON

[@gustavocabrera2925]

Second match I like mentally strengh of Momen doing changes and being consistent towards Coll atacks and fisical recovery after every movement.

[@keithmurphy9358]

Marwan giving up on the fourth game walking off after losing it 11-1, thinking I'll pull it back in the fifth, to lose that one 11-0, ouch.

[@dennisichikawa8055]

Is Billie Jean King in the gallery?!

[@marcwilcox2281]

How is that last shot not a stroke?

[@SergeiFedorov77]

Ibrahim, does he have a nickname yet? Maybe "Bringer of Justice" would be a suitable one! 😎 Seems as if he won at least 18 consecutive points? Respect!

[@maverickpearson9212]

How about Prosecutor? :D

[@georgekrumm1857]

I'm surprised to see people so sure that was a Stroke at 15:37. It looks like a Stroke from the perspective of backwall camera, but that foreshortens the length of the court. From the front wall replay, you can clearly see that Momen went the wrong direction (because Coll hit an accidental trickle boast, but the wrong direction nonetheless) and the ball bounces short with a lot of space between Coll and the ball. It wasn't intentional, but Momen created the interference by taking the wrong path instead of going to Coll's left. I probably would've said Let given Coll doesn't make much effort to clear once Momen goes the wrong way, but a No Let is understandable.

[@cookesam6]

Dead right hey. Commentator's are clueless lol

[@mohamedsheik4589]

Stroke all day long for momen?

[@tom6508]

the calls from the ref were a bit dodgy. feel ibrahim got robbed a few times

[@albertyao7343]

I 100% agree with that

[@vincentlietart]

Can someone explain me what Elshorbagy did wrong at 2:42? What should he have done to make it a correct play ? I have hard time to understand this kind of issue

[@cookesam6]

When you hit a shot you should give your opponent a clear path to the ball - look at shorbagys hips/body after he hits the shot at 2:42, he tries to obstruct Youssef's path and makes it harder for Youssef to get to the ball. Very desperate shameful "tactic".

[@benm7895]

What happend to Asal? He wasn't in the tournament

[@jojuraza1462]

Elshorbagy should be better than that being experienced of the two

[@contactdavidfair]

2:29 Is that Billy Jean King in the front row??

[@JK-jr1gs]

What the hell is going on with this reffing. Genuinely awful, even grassroots squash refs aren’t making these god awful decisions. Completely altering the outcome of some matches and it happens far too often. There needs to be serious retraining of referees

[@themodprosbros6373]

ye wtf were half of those calls

[@iandoherty9089]

highlights are meant to be entertaining lol

[@ddboy123ful]

No let?? What?

[@blckdmnd1]

how is that match ball not a stroke??? unfair to momen

[@chefdevanofficial]

so unfair, blatant stroke "this has got to be a stroke all day long"

[@dontwatchdotorg]

He went the wrong way, he thought it was a normal straight drop but it hit the side wall first and went more to the left

[@chefdevanofficial]

@@dontwatchdotorg i agree with you but the ball was still loose, if Coll wasn't in the way Momen would have had time to return it

[@dontwatchdotorg]

@@chefdevanofficial Ok I rewatched it and also looked up the official rules, and yeah I think it's a stroke due to 8.1.1 (a player must make every effort to clear, so that when the ball rebounds from the front wall the opponent has a fair view of the ball on its rebound from the front wall) and 8.6.5 (if the striker would have been able to make a good return but the opponent was not making every effort to avoid the interference, a stroke is awarded to the striker). Watching it in slow mo, at the time the ball hits the wall Coll is completely in the way and blocking Momen's view, and Coll's not really trying to clear out of that situation.

[@chriscrawford94]

Vs Ibrahim Elshorbagy 100% stepped into Ibrahims way on purpose. Similar thing vs Farag the other day.

[@user-zj8mq9dl6y]

good on youseff for showing marwan what for in the last 2 sets

[@delwarmia9393]

Very like

[@petersaundersuk]

Was that Billy Jean King in the front row? 👍

[@petersaundersuk]

I should have waited before writing that ☺️. Great to see her there 👍

[@magedhafez5176]

Moamen is very traditional systematic player. You can expect most of his hits. Great persistence though

[@mohamedsheik4589]

Hope Ibrahim does Coll

[@jasonmcanally3630]

lets goooo

[@durellewerahiko856]

The man coll 👍

[@TheNelsonGonzalez]

Marwan's behaviour was embarrassing from the first point. Throughout the entire match he argued almost every decision, culminating in literally screaming at the ref to check a pickup. How Sheldon kept his cool I'll never know, such behaviour wouldn't be tolerated even at low amateur level. I've often been a bit of a Marwan apologist but he has to take a serious look at himself now, he's become a joke. On the plus side, the intensity Ibrahim played at was different level at times. If he can tidy up the errors he will be a terrifying player... imagine what he'll be like when he's playing full time!

[@georgekrumm1857]

I was amazed how long Sheldon Anderson fell for Shorbagy's tricks. I would've thrown my racket too if my opponent got away with that block at 2:42. The refs should be going into every match with Marwan with the prior assumption that he is the one causing the problems. Do they think it's a coincidence that his matches get this ugly all the time?

[@armandpretorius3378]

Almost every second comment on every squash game, "This sport has a massive grey area. That's why it isn't in the olympics. This player is an idiot. That's why the sport isn't in the Olympics. Boo hoo boo hoo. Stop whining. I wonder how many people making those complaints actually watch Olympics (not just the 100m sprint, but actual Olympics). Seriously, every sport has a grey area. If you want one without a grey area, go watch chess. Get over it and enjoy the absolute mental, physical and emotional strength these athletes show every game. Some amazing rallies! Go Coll!

[@abdiver12]

Can we please suspend Marwan for a LONG time? His behavior was absolutely atrocious and embarrassing to the sport, especially with tennis royalty sitting in the front row in Billie Jean King. Not watching any of this idiot's matches ever again.

[@123Jacktu]

Ibrahims behaviour was pretty terrible too.

[@maverickpearson9212]

@@123Jacktu true but can you blame him? Marwan was riling him up from the start and made it extremely difficult to keep calm, especially since the referees didn't call Marwan out

[@goonie1975]

What is it with lets on game point, it always goes to the person with game ball irrelevant of what the call should be, and is not consistent with previous calls in the match or tournament.

[@billyshepley4893]

bad call for match point against momen

[@neveking-jones3614]

Marwan should be warned his way of playing I thinks pretty unacceptable and you can’t tell ibrahim was getting rouled up about marwans unfair gameplay , disgraceful man . But good on Ibrahim for getting the win 🙌🙌 canny

[@jhwheuer]

Marvin giving out about conduct. Cute

[@leodumora5498]

WTF with ref décisions in this tournament ! How Can you expect this sport to be more readable with such a poor level of refs. You ask players to behave well, but the ref system has to do its own révolution.

[@moosyFL]

Hard luck Mormen!!!you played loose in the fifth!!!

[@bbgm808]

Why is coll the number 2 seed when he’s number 1 in the world?

[@firstwavenegativity6379]

Because the seeding was made before March 1st when he became world n.1

[@dweeder1453]

Bad refreeing. Really need to get better refrees in PSA. Thats why Marwan Blockshorbaghy plays dirty and gets away with it.

[@stevehughes1510]

Billie Jean King in the front row for Shorbagy/Ibrahim, I've not seen any tennis players near Squash matches ever, and it's not good that the referee couldn't make right decisions as regards Marwan's infringements blocking tactics etc, thought the refs by now would be aware of that BS from him.

[@ericj.thibeault6039]

How many bad calls can you make on game ball???

[@michaelmacari5647]

Marwan doing nothing wrong imo Ibrahim was right to be cautioned

[@123Jacktu]

Ibrahim like darwish on steroids. His swing is ridiculous but gets results. Not sure he has the consistency to break down coll though.

[@appeall74]

콜의 실력이 매우 늘어난 것 맞는데, 지가 하면 노렛이고 남이 하면 스트로크라는 수준낮은 항의는 좀 그만했으면 좋겠네요. 그리고 쇼바기는 형이나 동생이나 컨덕트스트로크의 장인들입니다.

[@swingeasyguy]

Or Connors McEnroe

[@sofiemagnussenrom9945]

If you liked all the players, well what’s the fun in that, having some controversial players out there gets you more excited, more happy, more despaired, more interested in each game. I don’t think a guy blocking or another acting like a douche prevent squash as an Olympic sport, but it sure gets people active in the comment field.

[@sghazi]

Momen played a very good game except some passages of the game he was very inaccurate...you cant afford that with Coll

[@elysionkm]

4:32 absolutely disgraceful behavior, you can see he just instantly cheered after bumping into Youssef then proceeded to complain, what kind of athleticism is that?

[@cookesam6]

He knows he's not as good in ability/talent, and he's a sore immature loser about it so he takes every desperate attempt at gaining a point that he can, regardless of how it makes him look. He's pathetic

[@billionrichard5135]

How come the audience not wearing masks

[@leodumora5498]

How come you still think about wearing this thing ?

[@vonschmaal3247]

Why are you wearing mask at all, sheep

[@stuartpalmer3143]

They're pointless?

[@ArbyCreations]

Marwan always has a problem with left handed players that fetch well. Ibrahim was acting a bit like a child, but every game Marwan plays gets scrappy.

[@eoincoleman4537]

Interestingly, I think Marwan's call for a double bounce in the 4th game, where he screamed like a child at the ref saying "Check it! I said check it!", was actually a double bounce. If he had conducted himself better throughout the match I'm sure the ref would have had a look at it. But Marwan is getting worse and worse on court, totally his own fault.

[@cookesam6]

Is that scream in this video?

[@lostsoulinseoul]

This is a gentleman sport!? or more like infant game..

[@alexzanderking1556]

Shorbagy lost it in his match

[@SoundHumility]

this was disgusting referring on mormen and Coll.... the no let's were bad calls

[@Zurganak]

PSA should have shown Marwan's conduct stroke at 1-4 in the 4th game... appalling behaviour.

[@kelvinvanbaalen6495]

These refs... absolutely disgusting.

[@aframhazou7764]

So many bad calls from the referee .

[@ghawatzhusten3368]

Never looked Marwan or his game. It is only a chance happening that he has traveled this far up the squash heirarchy ladder otherwise his game has no genuine talent

[@pinnacleXtherapy]

Bad sportsmanship should be punished!!! Poor example to to up and coming players.

[@ghawatzhusten3368]

Such incapable refereeing!

[@TheHilarious91]

Ibrahim behaviour is second to asal, such a shame for a talented player