Canary wharf squash tournament gets off to thrilling start

Gough, the sixth seed, showed all the experience of his 37 years to maintain his composure and clinch the deciding game 11-5, with his young opponent visibly tiring.

A relieved Gough said: "He is a future world champion for sure. I have played him before, so I knew what to expect. He's got phenomenal talent and he's also got a lot of guts, and that's the main thing."

Shorbagy revealed his coach, squash legend Jonah Barrington, had offered some sound advice earlier in the day.

He said: "He told me not to play junior squash and I was very happy with how I played against such a very experienced opponent as Alex. He is a fine player and I am very happy with how I played on the glass court. This is a fantastic experience for me and I am sure I can learn a lot from it."

Meanwhile Willstrop played with all the flair, composure and confidence of a man on top of his game, dealing solidly with the challenge posed by Krajcsak.

The Hungarian started strongly and led 5-1 in the opening game before Willstrop began to impose his authority and won 10 of the next 11 points. Krajcsak again led 4-2 in the second before the No.2 seed took control.

Willstrop’s flair and love of the adventurous was evident as he delighted the crowd with his shot-making in the third game, but Krajcsak refused to roll over and put together a run of five points to lead 9-5. But Willstrop tightened up, regained control and reeled off six points in a row, to take the match.

Willstrop said: “I am very happy with the way I am playing at the moment. Winning four important tournaments in such a short space of time is a wonderful feeling.

“This is certainly the best phase of my career and I hope it continues for the next few days.”

Krajcsak said: “It is always a pleasure to play guys like James. He is such a fantastic player. I had a tough match yesterday in the qualifying final and someone like James makes you work incredibly hard to try to stay in the game.”

The two other matches saw third seed Lee Beachill overcome fellow Englishman Chris Ryder and Joey Barrington beat Finland's Olly Tuominen.

First round results:

(6) Alex Gough (Wales) beat (Q) Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egypt) 11-5, 11-8, 4-11, 3-11, 11-5 (67 minutes)

(2) James Willstrop (Eng) bt (Q) Mark Krajcsak (Hun) 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (30 mins)

(3) Lee Beachill (Eng) bt (Q) Chris Ryder (Eng) 11-8, 11-4, 11-5 (37 mins)

Joey Barrington (Eng) beat (5) Olli Tuominen (Finland) 11-6, 6-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-8 (68 mins)

For more information log onto www.canarywharfsquash.com.

simon.hayes@wharf.co.uk