Story of the 2021 Manchester Open

The 2022 Manchester Open begins on Wednesday 13th April with 24 world-class male and female players aiming to capture the PSA Silver level event.

The tournament will be bigger and better than last year’s event with not one but two glass courts in operation at Manchester’s National Squash Centre.

Last year’s event saw Peru’s Diego Elias and Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy take home the titles. As they defeated British duo Joel Makin and Sarah-Jane Perry in the finals, respectively.

Take a look back at the story of the 2021 event here.

R1 : Rooney beats Mentor Willstrop

It was master vs apprentice in round one as two Pontefract players went head to head for a place in the next round. Legend of the game,

James Willstrop has been acting as a coach/mentor to rising English star Patrick Rooney in recent years but it was the latter who prevailed in a 36 minute 3-0.

Another all-England round one encounter took place In the women’s event as Lucy Turmel took on compatriot and friend Jasmine Hutton.

Despite being lower-ranked, it was Hutton who made her way through to the next round, winning in straight games, 7-11, 5-11, 7-11 in 35 minutes.

R2 : Aumard knocks out No.4 seed Chinappa

France’s Coline Aumard scored a huge upset in round two as she beat India’s No.4 seed Joshna Chinappa in a five-set battle.

More upsets followed in round two as Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam beat No.5 seed Rowan Elaraby in an impressive 27 minute 3-0. Emily Whitlock knocked out No.8 seed Nadine Shahin as well to book her quarter final place.

In the men’s draw. Rising Egyptian star Youssef Ibrahim claimed a big win over compatriot and No.2 seed Karim Abdel Gawad. After taking a close first game 15-13, Ibrahim went on to win the next two games to win 3-0 in 50 minutes.

QF : Ibrahim wins again to reach first Silver event semi-final

After beating former World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad in round two, Youssef Ibrahim produced another impressive performance to defeat No.6 seed, Mohamed Abouelghar again 3-0 to reach his first Silver event semi-final.

In a surprise quarter final match, Wales’ Emily Whitlock secured her place in her first Silver semi-final beating France’s Coline Aumard 3-0. Whitlock was sharp out the blocks and took the first game comfortably 11-4. A tough game followed as Whitlock doubled her lead, winning 12-10. She then closed the match out in style winning 11-4 to advance to the semi-finals.

SF : Makin battles back against Ibrahim to make the final

Joel Makin backed up his 82-minute quarter final win against Mazen Hesham with an equally brutal 81-minute win against Youssef Ibrahim. Makin found himself facing two match balls but four errors from Ibrahim handed Makin a place in the final.

Makin’s opponent would be ‘The Peruvian Puma’ Diego Elias. Elias confidently beat No.1 seed Marwan ElShorbagy 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 in 46 minutes to advance.

England’s Sarah-Jane Perry reached the final by beating fellow Brit Tesni Evans in four tough games. With the match level at 1-1, Perry managed to close out the third and fourth games 14-12, 11-9 to progress.

Perry set up a final clash with No.1 seed Hania El Hammamy from Egypt as she defeated Emily Whitlock in three games.

Elias and El Hammamy capture titles

‘Peruvian Puma’ Elias held a 4-1 advantage over Makin in the head-to-head record and made that 5-1 as he took the Manchester Open title in a 59 minute 3-0 display in the final.

After a competitive first game, the hard matches that Makin had played in previous rounds clearly took their toll on the Welshman as Elias controlled proceedings and won 12-10, 11-6, 11-6 to lift his eighth career title.

Hania El Hammamy picked up her seventh PSA World Tour title as she beat England No.1 Sarah-Jane Perry 3-0 in a 39-minute affair. El Hammamy did well to take a 2-0 lead in the match as she closed out the second game 11-9 and took the title, winning 11-7 in the third game.