Nour saves two match balls before winning 13-11 in the fifth
By SEAN REUTHE in Hull

Egypt’s World No.3 Nour El Tayeb overturned two match balls to come through a gripping five-game battle with Hong Kong’s Annie Au at Hull’s Allam Sport Centre as she booked her place in the quarter-finals of the 2019 Allam British Open, PSA Platinum event.

Au hadn’t beaten El Tayeb since the 2010 PSA World Championships, but the World No.11 outplayed the Egyptian in the opening two games, winning the opener 13-11 on the tie-break, before following that up with an 11-7 triumph in the second.

A fired-up El Tayeb – who yesterday defeated Malaysian legend Nicol David in the final match of the eight-time World Champion’s career – finally got her game going in the third and fourth games as she came back to level, but she lost her focus to allow Au back into the encounter in the fifth.

Au moved ahead to hold two match balls, but El Tayeb dug in to come back and complete the win, and the tenacious 26-year-old will line up against World No.5 Joelle King in the next round.

“Ali [husband and men’s World No.1, Farag] and Raneem [women’s World No.1, El Welily] kept pushing me on,” said El Tayeb afterwards.

“They gave me the motivation to try harder after the second game. I don’t know if I wasn’t trying hard enough. When you get stuck in her game, it’s suffocating to get out of, so Raneem and Ali were trying to push me on.

“I told Ali that I could do it on my own, but apparently not yet. I thought I didn’t need him, but apparently I’m not over that. He gave me a big push, and just knowing someone is there and believes in you makes a lot of difference.”

King overcame England’s World No.12 Alison Waters in straight games to earn her spot in the quarter-finals, while World No.1 Raneem El Welily (pictured) dispatched United States No.1 Amanda Sobhy by the same scoreline.

El Welily, the 2018 British Open runner-up, has won her last three PSA tournaments – beating Sobhy in two of them – and she extended her unbeaten run to 15 matches with a 12-10, 11-6, 11-6 win in just 26 minutes.

“It was very important to take the first,” said 30-year-old El Welily. “I’m happy to be trying my best in every match and that is something that I have been working on with my coach, who is here with me, and was giving me the right tactics at the right time. Doing my best is the thing that I’ve been doing. I’m enjoying myself and just trying to do my best in every match, and wherever that takes me, I will be pleased with it.”

El Welily will play Egypt’s Nouran Gohar in the next round in what will be a repeat of last month’s El Gouna International final, in which the World No.1 triumphed. Gohar will now look to end a six-match losing streak to her fellow Egyptian after downing Hong Kong’s Joey Chan 3-0.

In the men’s draw, World No.34 Mazen Hesham advanced to his first major PSA quarter-final since November 2015 after he got the better of France’s Lucas Serme by a 3-1 scoreline.

Hesham (pictured) rose to a career-high ranking of World No.13 off the back a run to the semi-finals of the Qatar Classic that month, but a hip problem has seen him tumble down the rankings in recent years.

The 25-year-old looked to be back towards his best as he scalped World No.8 Diego Elias in the previous round, and he followed that up with victory over Serme to set up a quarter-final meeting with New Zealand’s Paul Coll, who beat World No.18 Fares Dessouky.

Hesham said: “I’ve been struggling badly, and I’m still struggling slightly, but there is hope at the end of the tunnel.

“I need to thank Omar Abdel Aziz, my coach, who persuaded me to come to Hull. I had such a bad season, I hadn’t had a good win against a top 10 player for three or four years. Omar is not just my coach, he cares, and really wants me to do well, so I kept pushing.”

Elsewhere, men’s World No.1 Ali Farag ended a three-match losing streak to World No.21 Marwan ElShorbagy to earn his place in the last eight for a fourth year in succession.

Farag, 27, has struggled to get the better of ElShorbagy over the past 18 months and lost to his compatriot in the final of the El Gouna International last year. However, after a nervy start to the match, Farag soon took control to win 11-8, 11-1, 11-2 in 31 minutes.

“It’s a very big win,” said Cairo-born Farag. “To play Marwan in the last 16 is a lot of pressure. I’m really happy with the way I dealt with it, the first game could have gone either way, I think that made a psychological difference, and I’m really happy with the way I pushed on after that.”

Farag will line up against the only person to beat him so far in 2019 – World No.9 Mohamed Abouelghar – in the next round, with Abouelghar beating France’s Gregoire Marche in straight games.

Third round action at the Allam Sport Centre continues tomorrow (Thursday May 23rd) with play getting under way at 12:00 (GMT+1). Play will be shown on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and the official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour. 

Allam British Open 2019, University of Hull Sports and Fitness Centre, Hull, England.

Men’s Third Round (Top Half): 
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-1, 11-2 (31m)
[7] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-0: 12-10, 11-2, 11-2 (40m)
Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt Lucas Serme (FRA) 3-1: 11-4, 11-6, 4-11, 11-7 (48m)
[4] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Fares Dessouky (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5 (66m)

Women’s Third Round (Top Half): 
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [12] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-0: 12-10, 11-6, 11-6 (26m)
[7] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt Joey Chan (HKG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-3 (23m)
[5] Joelle King (NZL) bt [10] Alison Waters (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-6 (32m)
[3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [11] Annie Au (HKG) 3-2: 11-13, 7-11, 11-9, 11-4, 13-11 (50m)

Men’s Third Round (Bottom Half, May 23):
[3] Simon Rösner (GER) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)
Zahed Salem (EGY) v [5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
[6] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) v Cesar Salazar (MEX)
Daryl Selby (ENG) v [2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)

Men’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half, May 24):
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v [7] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
Mazen Hesham (EGY) v [4] Paul Coll (NZL)

Women’s Third Round (Bottom Half, May 23):
[4] Camille Serme (FRA) v [9] Tesni Evans (WAL)
Nele Gilis (BEL) v Tinne Gilis (BEL)
[6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v [15] Joshna Chinappa (IND)
[13] Victoria Lust (ENG) v [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)

Women’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half, May 24):
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) v [7] Nouran Gohar (EGY)
[4] Joelle King (NZL) v [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
 

Report by SEAN REUTHE (PSA PR and Media Director). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.

Pictures courtesy of PSA

Exeter's England and British and Irish Lions winger Jack Nowell says the pain of losing last year's Premiership final has spurred them on this season.

The Chiefs topped the league for a second successive season and will host Northampton in Saturday's semi-final.

Having been champions in 2017, Exeter lost to Saracens in last year's final.

"The boys were extremely upset from it and coming through this year, it's been important for us to remember that," Nowell, 26, told BBC Sport.

"We've worked so hard to get ourselves in this position, another home semi-final, we've done that and worked so hard to get there it'd be a shame to let ourselves down in one game.

"We felt that we let our side down and the fans down as well and it's one pain that none of us ever want to have again."

'Last year the boys genuinely hurt'

Nowell has been key to Exeter's recent rise - he has started all three of the club's Premiership finals - scoring a try in Exeter's first loss to Saracens at Twickenham in the 2016 showpiece and also dotting down as the Chiefs beat Wasps 12 months later for their first title.

"In the first year we lost it, there wasn't the same level of pain because it was a remarkable year for us," explained Exeter's director of rugby Rob Baxter.

"It was the first time in the top four, a home semi-final, getting to a final and the first time in a final. The season ended with it having been a fantastic season for us, our best ever, more than we could have dreamed of.

"The following year winning it was a great experience, but last year the boys genuinely hurt.

"I looked around the changing room and it was silent. It was upset and it was a little angry and I would like to think those same players that probably felt they let themselves down a little bit last year will be some of the guys who start driving us over the next two weeks."

World Cup dreams

With a World Cup on the horizon, Saturday's semi-final and a potential final at Twickenham seven days later, are also a chance for players such as Nowell to stake their claim for a place on the plane to Japan.

Eddie Jones names his initial squad in June before whittling it down to the final party a month later.

Nowell, who was a fringe member of the 2015 World Cup squad, faces stiff competition for a place on the wing as he looks to add to his 35 England caps.

Chris Ashton, Joe Cokanasiga, Elliot Daly and Jonny May featured alongside him in the Six Nations this year while Bath's Anthony Watson is returning to fitness and Gloucester youngster Ollie Thorley has earned rave reviews.

"You're getting a chance to play more for your club in front of Eddie, other teams aren't getting a chance to do that," explained Nowell.

"Eddie always says that Heineken Cup games are closest to what a Six Nations or international would be, and I think semi-finals and finals are going to be very close to that as well.

"They're extremely difficult, so any chance to play for your club in front of the coaches is obviously a big one.

"If we're doing well and we play well in the semi-final and hopefully get through and win the final, that's only going to help you put your hand up."

Gloucester fly-half Danny Cipriani has been crowned the Premiership Player of the Season to secure an awards double.

The 31-year-old had already won the Rugby Players Association's annual award earlier this month.

He is only the second player, after Wasps' Jimmy Gopperth in 2017, to win both awards in the same season.

Sale's Faf De Klerk, Saracens' Alex Goode, Northampton's Cobus Reinach, Exeter's Matt Kvesic and Bristol's Steven Luatua were also nominated.

Saracens' Mark McCall won the Director of Rugby of the Season award, after leading the north London club to a third European Champions Cup title, with a Premiership semi-final play-off against Gloucester on Saturday to come.

Cipriani has been pivotal to the Cherry and Whites' revival in his first season at Kingsholm, assisting more tries - 13 - than any other player in the Premiership to lead his side to third place.

"You have to adapt to the style of the team and the coaches involved, and I can only speak highly of Danny's commitment to the team," said Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann, who was also nominated for the director of rugby award alongside Exeter's Rob Baxter, Northampton's Chris Boyd and Bristol's Pat Lam.

"He's set up into the culture, he's open and of course he's made a serious impact on the field."

'Best skill I've seen from a fly-half'

Cipriani, who has won 16 caps for England, has only played twice for his country under head coach Eddie Jones on last summer's tour to South Africa.

But the former Wasps and Sale player still harbours hopes of forcing his way into Jones' preliminary World Cup training squad ahead of the tournament in Japan starting in September.

"He's probably got the best skill I've seen from a fly-half from an attacking point of view," Ackermann added. "He can kick well and he's extremely fast. He knows what he wants in attack and his distribution is top class."

Elsewhere, Sale's 20-year-old flanker Tom Curry, who established himself as England's open-side during this year's Six Nations, won the Discovery of the Season award.

Veteran Saracens scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth also won a special award after surpassing Steve Borthwick on the Premiership's all-time appearance list.

Sale's Denny Solomona and Northampton's Reinach shared the award for top try-scorer with 12, while Gloucester winger Ollie Thorley won the Try of the Season award for his score against Leicester.

Leicester fly-half George Ford won the Golden Boot award after amassing 201 points for the Tigers.

Premiership Dream Team: Alex Goode (Saracens); Santiago Cordero (Exeter), Henry Slade (Exeter), Mark Atkinson (Gloucester), Ollie Thorley (Gloucester); Danny Cipriani (Gloucester), Cobus Reinach (Northampton); Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Jamie George (Saracens), John Afoa (Bristol), Franco Mostert (Gloucester), Will Skelton (Saracens), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Tom Curry (Sale), Matt Kvesic (Exeter).

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Edsel B. Ford II was named winner of the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR as part of the 2020 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee announcement Wednesday afternoon.

Ford is a member of the Ford Motor Co. board of directors and was selected over fellow nominees Alvin Hawkins, Mike Helton, Dr. Joseph Mattioli and Ralph Seagraves.

Ford reacted to earned the award Wednesday evening.

“It means a great deal to me. I’m honored to be given this award and I feel I have an ambassadorial role within Ford Motor Co. and NASCAR, so it’s wonderful,” Ford said. “I’m truly honored.”

Ford said he was surprised to be recognized.

“It was surprise. I love this sport. I love being around NASCAR,” he explained. “I told my boys when they were growing up I said, ‘From my experience the one group of people that won’t disappoint you are racers.’ I say that because they’re transparent, they’re frank, they bring their families to the races. I’ve known a lot of race car drivers all my life. I’m going to Jackie Stewart’s 80th birthday in two weeks, so I’ve known them a long time. My kids love racing as much as I do, so it’s fun.”

Ford is the great-grandson of Ford founder Henry Ford.

“I think he’d be thrilled,” Edsel Ford II said. “He was a racer and he knew the benefit of automobile racing, so I think he would be thrilled. At least I hope he would be.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Two championship-winning drivers, one of stock car racing’s most popular wheelmen, a team owner and legendary crew chief make up the 11^thclass of inductees to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

The announcement was made Wednesday afternoon.

Interestingly, three members of the class worked together for several seasons as three-time NASCAR premier series champion Tony Stewart and 2000 premier series champion Bobby Labonte having both driven for Joe Gibbs Racing and team owner Joe Gibbs. All three will be inducted to the Hall of Fame on Jan. 31.

The final two inductees are driver Buddy Baker and crew chief Waddell Wilson.

In addition, NASCAR announced that Edsel Ford II earned the 2020 Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR

The NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel met Wednesday in a closed session at the Charlotte Convention Center to narrow the 20 Hall of Fame nominees down to a class of five.

The Class of 2020 was determined by votes cast by the Voting Panel, including representatives from NASCAR, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, track owners from major facilities and historic short tracks, media members, manufacturer representatives, competitors (drivers, owners, crew chiefs), recognized industry leaders, a nationwide fan vote conducted through NASCAR.com and, for the sixth year, the reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion (Joey Logano).

Fifty-seven votes were cast, with two additional Voting Panel members recused from voting as potential nominees for induction (Ricky Rudd and Waddell Wilson). The accounting firm of EY presided over the tabulation of the votes.

Stewart received a whopping 88 percent of the vote with Gibbs getting 72 percent. Wilson (72 percent), Baker (70 percent) and Labonte (67 percent).

The top vote getters to miss the cut were eight-time NASCAR touring champion Mike Stefanik, Ray Fox and Hershel McGriff.

Baker led the fan voting that was conducting via NASCAR.com. Following Baker in the fan vote were Neil Bonnett, Harry Gant, Labonte and Stewart.

CONCORD, N.C. – Twenty-year-old Devin Dodson will make his ARCA Menards Series debut during Thursday night’s General Tire 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Dodson, from Bishopville, Md., will drive the No. 35 Toyota for Vizion Motorsports at the 1.5-mile quad-oval as he makes his first start in the series.

“I’m looking forward to joining Jenn and all the folks with Vizion Motorsports for my first start at Charlotte with the ARCA Menards Series,” said Dodson. “We’ve talked about doing some other races, but for now, Charlotte is the only one we have for sure on our schedule. It’s one I’m really excited about, though. I know it’s going to a big challenge, but it’s one I’m looking forward to tackling.

“Going into Charlotte, I really do feel confident in the team and the car. It’s going to be the biggest track I’ve raced on, but I’m excited for the high speeds and the intensity that will come with that,” Dodson continued. “I can’t thank everyone involved enough for making this happen and hope we can give them all a great showing as I get my foot in the door with ARCA.”

Dodson made five NASCAR K&N Pro Series starts last season with Jefferson Pitts Racing, split between the East and West divisions. He earned three top-10 finishes in those appearances, including a career-best sixth in the first Twin 100 in Tucson, Ariz., with the West.

Team owner Jenn Brown noted she’s looking forward to helping Dodson develop his skills as he advances up the racing ladder and into the national spotlight for the first time.

“We’re excited to have Devin join us for this weekend’s General Tire 150,” said Brown. “He tested with us at Charlotte not too long ago, and he definitely has the skillset and the natural feel for the car that it takes to be successful. His feedback is already impressive for his age and we’re hoping for a successful outing with him on Thursday night under the lights.”

Dodson noted that his goals for his ARCA debut are straightforward: gain knowledge and finish.

“We don’t want to do anything too crazy; my goal is to finish on the lead lap and take this journey in baby steps,” Dodson noted. “I want to get through the race – race hard – but learn a lot and get prepared for the future.

“If we can do that and challenge for a top-15 spot, I’ll feel really good about where we’re at.”

INDIANAPOLIS — With 36 cars entered in the 103^rdIndianapolis 500, Ben Hanley and DragonSpeed Racing were given little chance of making the 33-car field.

A lot of people were wrong.

Not only did Hanley make it, the DragonSpeed Chevrolet made the field easily during Saturday’s qualifying.

It’s rather remarkable that this FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series team owned by Elton Julian and based in Jupiter, Fla., could enter the Indy 500 with little experience and easily get in the show.

Meanwhile, the famed McLaren team and two drivers from Carlin, which runs full time in the NTT IndyCar Series failed to qualify.

“It’s a massive relief,” Julian said. “It’s a big relief I think for both of us. I think for everybody. We expected to come and fight for the last row realistically, so there was always potential. We had a chance that maybe we could crack that and exceed our no-tow speeds during the week and thinking, ‘Well, maybe just maybe.’

“Little things make big differences, but sometimes little things make no difference. Sometimes you don’t gain any speed, you don’t gain any performance, and it’s easy to get frustrated. We had a little bit of that one day, but we stayed cool, and more important, Ben stayed cool, and we kept pretty much to the program, and here we are.”It took Hanley three attempts to get in the Indianapolis 500 starting lineup. He had an issue in his first attempt but did not panic.

The 34-year-old driver from England qualified with a four-lap average of 227.482 mph and will start 27^thin Sunday’s 103^rdIndianapolis 500.

“We got stuck in sixth gear on our first qualifying run, so that wasn’t helpful, especially the last two laps where I needed to downshift and we were stuck in sixth,” Hanley recalled. “We were just losing momentum every lap.

“But, obviously, we knew we could go a chunk quicker than our first effort, so it was always the plan to go again.

“And then we jumped up to 30th, which wasn’t enough because there was still plenty of time left, so other people were going to run. So again, I knew we were going to have to make another run. We made just a few small adjustments, and it came together really well for our last attempt. It was a big chunk for us.

“Even though it was small adjustments, this place is pretty special and unique, and tiny little changes, very, very small, has a big difference,” Hanley continued. “Those speeds, you don’t need to do much and the car gave me more confidence and was quicker. Take those two things together and we made a significant step forward. It was enough to make it straight through to the 500.”

Hanley and Julian hope to one day become full-time competitors in the NTT IndyCar Series.

When asked if it bothered them to hear most people predict they would be one of the three cars that would go home, Hanley was straightforward with his answer.

“No, because we weren’t planning on going home,” Hanley said. “I think that’s one of the key things that people can follow quite easily this week is we’ve never been at the top of the charts. More often in the bottom four. But it didn’t faze us and we knew our job, and we knew what we needed to do to get the job done, which our primary focus was make the race.

“So, whether that’s going through as we did Saturday, which is a fantastic achievement, we were just as ready to knuckle down Saturday night and try and make some more adjustments and come back Sunday and make it into the field,” he added. “We weren’t expecting to be in the top 10.

“But at the same time, we were working really hard and systematically to make the improvements to get us in the field.”

“It’s unrealistic to think you’re not in that group,” Julian said. “We’re fighting from the ropes. And we don’t plan on letting that mentality go away.”

NEW YORK -- Behind the microphone for the last New York Rangers championship in 1994, John Davidson is now front and center to try to parade the Stanley Cup down Broadway again.

Davidson recalled 1994 as one of the best times of his life, and after moving from broadcasting to the front office with St. Louis and Columbus has returned home to oversee the Rangers' rebuilding process. The proud, big-spending Original Six franchise is in the midst of a rare youth movement, attempting to step back to make the leap from annual playoff team to perennial title contender.

General manager Jeff Gorton began that at the 2018 trade deadline and will remain in control of day-to-day operations. Davidson is now his boss as team president and wants to be the soul of the organization by charting the right course to return New York to prominence.

"There's a lot of work to be done here," Davidson said Wednesday when he was introduced as the 11th team president in franchise history. "There's no shortcuts. It's nothing but hard work, and it takes patience and resolve, and I really want to make sure that I use the word 'patience' and I use the word 'resolve,' because we're going to be in a battle here to get this club to be better. But you have to be patient when you go through a build like this."

Patience generally isn't part of the fabric of New York sports or the Rangers' MO. But Davidson said he is on the same page with owner James Dolan, president-turned-adviser Glen Sather, Gorton, and coach David Quinn on doing this right.

It helps that Davidson knows the Rangers inside out from parts of eight seasons as a goaltender and two decades as a broadcaster. This is a different challenge than the ones he undertook with the Blues and Blue Jackets, which seemed daunting at those times.

In some ways it's easier because Gorton already took the first few steps and Quinn established a standard for players as a good starting point.

"I like that the entire organization stated that they were going to rebuild," Davidson said. "There's no secrets to it. There's no, 'Well, we're going to do this, but don't tell anybody.' This is something that has been very transparent and that's a good way to go. There's a game plan in place. The foundation is being built."

Based on his success in building the foundation in St. Louis that has now become the basis for a Stanley Cup finalist, and ushering in an era of success in Columbus, Davidson looks like the perfect person to steer the Rangers' ship. Dolan said Davidson's "knowledge of the game, experience and passion for the Rangers made him the ideal choice."

Davidson isn't as "green" as he was when he took over the Blues in 2006, and the lessons Davidson learned from his first two front-office jobs should only help guide Gorton.

"I think it's going to be a huge benefit," Gorton said. "He's gone through it in two organizations. He's done everything in hockey. His experiences, just his even-keel way about him, it's going to be a great asset for us as we go through this process, there's no question about that."

The Rangers missed the playoffs the past two seasons and likely will again in 2019-20. But with the No. 2 draft pick and one of two potential stars -- Jack Hughes or Kaapo Kakko -- on the way, and youth and competitive balance so prominent in the NHL, Davidson isn't acting like this is a long-range rebuild.

"It can be done because of the youth that plays in this league now," Davidson said. "Obviously the sooner you win the better and that's the goal, but you have to do it the right way to get there."

Hockey Hall of Famer Brian Leetch, a key piece of that 1994 Rangers Stanley Cup team, believes Davidson has accumulated the right credentials in his previous two jobs to deliver another championship to New York.

"He's made the transition each step along the way," Leetch said. "He's admitted that each one wasn't seamless: You had to learn, you had to ask others for help. And each one he's made that transition and risen to the top at each level. To expect anything different would be wrong. I just think all those things together, and then the strong feelings that he has for New York City and the Rangers organization, just makes him the perfect fit at the right time."