2010 U.S. Squash Open: Touminen zips through to round four
Seeded no. 9 at the championship, Finland’s Olli Touminen has shown endless potential at the 2010 U.S. Squash Open so far. Upon defeating Egypt’s Mohamed El-Shorbagy, the sportsman made a place for himself in the fourth round of the tournament and will be
opposed by Egyptian professional, Wael El-Hindi.
As Touminen’s third round match started off, the professional instantly started exercising his authority on the game, as he took the first set 11-8. El-Shorbagy on the other hand, did not seem to have been performing up to par as he went on to lose the second
set 5-11.
However, the Egyptian sportsman by that point in the game had not given up. Mohamed bagged the second set based upon his 11-9 win. Things seem to have picked up for El-Shorbagy right after, as himself and Touminen went nip and tuck in the deciding fourth
set.
Nevertheless, after battling it out, the fourth set tussle was brought to an end as the Finish athlete took the game 12-10, to seal the victory. Upon sending El-Shorbagy home, Touminen made a place for himself at the fourth round of the championship to face
Wael El-Hindi.
El-Hindi eliminated Switzerland’s Nicolas Muller, 15-13, 11-9 and 11-8 to qualify for the fourth round. Earlier, Touminen got through with America’s Julian Illingworth in the second round match of his draw, to advance at the championship.
Illingworth and Olli went head to head as the Finish sportsman took the first set 14-12. As the match commenced, Touminen went on to win the second set 11-6, right after which, the American athlete took the third set 12-10.
As evenly contested as the two remained throughout the match, Touminen had a game in hand, which gave him a slight advantage over the American professional. However, it was Olli who came out triumphant in the deciding fourth set, as the score-line showed
11-9, in favor of the Finish sportsperson.
In the initial stages, Olli was made to oppose Italy’s Stephane Galfi, in the first round of his draw. As the grueling five set match took off, it was Touminen who took the first set 11-4. However, in a reverse of fourtune, Galfi bagged the second set based
upon his 11-4 win.
Tied at one game each, Olli took the third set 11-5, right after which he lost the fourth set 8-11, to be tied up with Galfi for the second time in the match. After an arduous fifth set, Touminen took the decider, 13-11, to canter through to the following
round at the tournament.
Both Touminen and El-Hindi are extremely able and the fourth round match played between the two, will hopefully be an interesting, action-packed one.
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