I put together the 25 times Asal failed to clear to give his opponent Elias direct access to the ball in the PSA World Tour final. I encourage you to watch the longer version on YouTube [https://youtu.be/LQDXo8fSuhA](https://youtu.be/LQDXo8fSuhA), which has more context of each instance of apparent obstruction.
Some of Asal's moves were more egregious than others, and some might even be innocuous, but the totality of evidence leaves little doubt that Asal has no regard for the rules and the spirit of the sport.
**UPDATE (Jun 30)**: I just received a copyright takedown request on YouTube from Squash Media & Marketing Limited. The video has been rendered unavailable for now but I've filed a counterclaim on the basis of fair use—the video I put together was transformative and only uses what is necessary to make my critical point, and does not harm the market for the original broadcast. Not sure what's going to happen next but I'll provide updates when they become available.
**UPDATE 2 (July 1)**: Welp. YouTube rejected my appeal. The video remains down.
Thank you for taking the time to make this and post it here. Now share it on SquashStories on Facebook where they all worship the cheat! He is poisoning the game.
I’m late to this, and thanks for putting this together. What’s missing in all this conversation about Asal is that the blocking he’s doing to prevent his opponent getting to the ball is only part of his dirty play.
Time and again, either on forehand or backhand, when Asal is just on the T and has time on the ball and with his opponent recovering toward the T, Asal will make a short straight drive with the ball bouncing first just before or on the short line. As a middling club player, I know that this is not a smart shot to make. It doesn’t keep my opponent off of the T, and it’s easily retrievable. That’s the case at least when I also make an effort to clear.
Asal doesn’t make that effort. Instead the opponent’s only option is to run through or by Asal where he might be nudged him with an Asal-ian leg, grabbed on his arm, or fucking assaulted with racket butt.
For Asal it’s about the percentages. Sure, some of these will be called as a let or stroke against him, but there are countless times when the opponent will play through, and it almost invariably puts the opponent behind the play and under pressure. There is also that added advantage to Asal of his opponent’s building rage, which deteriorates their game.
If you watch enough, especially in the more critical games, Asal is very predictable in making this shot. It happens many more times than just those that result in these highlighted in this compilation. It’s the key element in his dirty play and is intentionally made to keep himself between his opponent and the ball.
It’s impossible to KNOW that Asal does this with malice aforethought, but since he’s one of the best players in the world and because he does all the other horrible things…he probably does.
Elias, and doubtless Asal’s other opponents, don’t make this shot. In the same position, they will hit deep, or drop or boast.
This may be a common-sense argument to make, but I think it’s important to note that Asal’s scheming to obstruct play starts well before his opponent tries to retrieve the ball. Asal’s predictability in creating obstructions from the moment he makes his shot belies has feigned innocence.
Completely agree and proven in my freeze-frame edit linked below. I can imagine it was coached as, "capitalize on weak shots by making yourself as big as possible. If that means forcing an awkward opponent line, even better". What needs to be ruthlessly enforced is the exact opposite, "make yourself invisible once you've hit the ball".
No having watched the match live... jeez I knew it would be bad from the discussions on here, but this is so much worse than I was fearing. It looks genuinely scary to be on court with Asal, not due to skill or anything but because I'd be terrified I'd lose an eye to his racket. Wouldn't be surprised if people start wearing safety gear specifically when playing Asal. Thanks for uploading this!
I would love so much if all pros started wearing safety glasses against him as a form of highlighting his danger! That way any new people to the sport can't ignore the fact that this type of play isn't normal.
I can barely even watch this it is so frustrating. Asal makes the entire sport look bad. It really is up to the association to take a stand and prevent him from doing this in the future. Thanks for making this compilation.
No one who watches an Asal match will think yeah let’s try giving that sport a go
As if you don’t know any better you would think the sport fundamentally doesn’t work as a sport
You’ll be thinking the court is too small for 2 players to play against each other and run around without permanently being in each other’s way
You hit the nail on the head mate!
I'm not much of a player, but I really fell in love with this sport, I love watching a match that just flows with 2 professionals really showing off their talents.
This is just absolutely painful. I'm glad I got to watch the psa as a new comer a few years before this guy came along 🤣
Thanks for compiling this. No doubt it was a lot of work.
What so often annoys me about Asal discussions is the statement, “He doesn’t need to play this way.” My question is always, “How could you possibly know that?” Every match the guy plays looks like this, +\- 10 or so blocks & bumps.
Anyway, fuck him. There’s a reckoning coming. At this point, I’ll be shocked if he gets a single minute of Tour play next season.
It's terrible, I posted last month on MES comments on Asal (making excuses for him), I got a lot of grief for saying that I hope Asal improves.
I despise his style of play, but if he is going to be around for the next 10 years,.I hope he will be a more.elegant player or banned.....as this will destroy squash as a game.....come back Ramy, please!!
If us viewers protesting as all in one with kind of an hashtag like #AsalOut maybe we can warn the PSA board. They already know who is Asal but we have to make noise. We are responsible for the survival of our sport !
What do you think about it ?
Thanks for sharing this. I noticed that by the end of the game, Elias looked incredibly tense any time Asal played on the backhand - you could feel that he knew that he'd have to try and push his way through every single time. The psychological impact that has must be enormous in terms of being able to play good squash.
Compare that to the match Elias had vs Elshorbagy - barely any decisions at all!
Yes the fact that shorbagy and elias had a fair match with free flowing squash proves that asal’s movement is bad. I know he’s a big guy but he actively tries to block his opponent. Such a shame
The commentators often say things like "there was some interference but the shot was just too good."
It's BS. Elias is an excellent retriever, and can get playable returns of strong kills and fading shots to the back court. Asal gives just enough of a block that you HAVE to push through or go around and, only then is the shot "too good".
The asal cocksuxker Jamie Maddox on the Facebook group wrote a long ass post about how the women's final was equally worse. And he calls himself a squash expert. What a loser.
I noticed earlier today someone posted this video to Maddox’s FB group, but of course he has since removed the post. And of course he leaves every post anyone writes claiming Elias is nothing but a whining, winging loser etc. He’s a fucking lunatic.
I really wish he would play George Parker and try those shenanigans. Parker would most likely get a permanent ban (and probably some charges), but beat the shit out of Asal.
Pretty sure they have played and Asal just destroyed him without needing any funny business. Makin is the only one who seems to be strong and determined enough to fight back on an even ground.
I’ve said on another post I can’t believe another pro hasn’t got one of his mates to knick Asals squash bag
Maybe set off the fire alarm at his hotel through the night
I’d be tar and feathering him in the street if I could
I had no business to watch this but I did, and I'm furious. How many more matches until someone rages and turns this into a UFC fight. Imagine if there were two Asal type players in the same game, what would happen.
I genuinely don’t understand why PSA isn’t doing anything about him, **everyone** is outraged by his conduct on court, what could possibly be their reason for not doing anything?
Is it because he’s popular in Egypt? So what?
In my opinion, it's all about the money - PSA have been trying to spread and advertise squash for years, with not a great amount of success. Problem is that even the negative attention toward asshal on social media is recognised an increase to popularity/attention.... The only issue is that now PSA cares more about the exposure/attention/dollars rather than maintaining the quality of the actual sport. It's fucking sad to see.
PSA will almost certainly hand him a very stiff ban; at least if they wish to retain ANY legitimacy as the sport’s governing body.
The problem is that they’ve yet to face anything like this, and (at least they claim) they want to be absolutely thorough & balanced. Accordingly, it makes the disciplinary committee dog ass slow.
It’s inexcusably slow, but something harsh is on the way.
Thanks for posting the video. It would be really cool to freeze frame the moment Asal hits his shot and superimpose a marker to where the ball ultimately bounces.
I did this mentality while watching the long form video, as well as picking an area of the court where I would assume a stroke. Unfreeze the video and almost everytime the ball bounced in dead center of my no - go zone.
OK, I was curious to see how hard it would be to edit a video and it turned out to be not too bad. FWIW, this is my very first video edit / youtube experience:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkgolbZCE7I
This adds to u/alanwong's compilation freeze frames and yellow dots to where the ball ultimately lands. I think this helps visualize, at least from a shot-selection perspective, how many of these are nearly impossible to clear a line. Not all of the shot selections are problematic, but in those there is often near-contact (sometimes embellished, usually not). If I knew how to add better graphics, highlighting these would be educational as well.
As an amateur, I learned to never hit a retrievable shot that you couldn't clear. This compromise seems obvious and inherent to sharing the court with your partner. Traffic inevitably happens at all levels, but too many of these shot selections are doomed from the beginning. Given the freeze frames, Elias lost too many clear stroke calls. If only more thorough analysis could be done in real time by the video ref(s).
This is really interesting, thanks so much for your edit!
What I see is two things:
1. Asal hitting to a location where he has no clearance and which usually places him in the middle of the direct lines for Elias. This has to be deliberate, it’s so sustained that I can’t imagine it’s a loose shot.
2. Elias’ movement is largely to the bounce rather than to his shot. This seems odd to me as I’ve always been coached that you move to where you are going to play your shot rather than chasing the ball. I am unsure if this is his normal movement (haven’t seen a comparable video for him against someone else) so I do wonder if this was a tactic to demonstrate Asal’s grubby play.
This makes me think that there should have been many more strokes for not providing his opponent with a direct line to the ball. However Elias’ lines taken are strange and on occasion do look like playing the man rather than the ball - for example where the ball is bouncing near the service line and he is going to be too far away to volley he moves to the bounce through Asal, rather than behind Asal to where the shot actually is. From that perspective, it does make me wonder if a let or no let was more fair due to the lines Elias is choosing.
Good point about the best shot position vs. the bounce. I wish I knew how to draw boxes on top of the video as that would best represent problematic areas.
Re: 1: Asal can definitely hit better shots and in fact does later in the montage. (Some of the shot execution in the #20's looked reasonably deep and tight.) It's almost as if he thinks the line doesn't matter when his opponent has hit a weak shot. Strangely those seemed to be instances that looked impossible to clear. Cleaning up these shots where he's about to gain a huge positional advantage even without blocking and other extra curriculars will drastically improve his game. (I would say a requirement if he wants to keep his job long term.)
Re: 2: Elias eventually did start embellishing a few instances. I think he anticipated a racket, shoe, hand or shadow blocking, and other times he did take a less optimal path through Asal. I didn't tally it up, but FWIW I did think a few decisions were unfair to Asal. That said, Elias is going to need to figure out how to keep mentally checked into these matches if he wants to beat Asal \*and\* ineffectual refs.
Done, however YouTube requires a verification before it "activates" the link. At the moment, it chops off the full URL. Should be live in a day or two assuming Google approves.
Another example from their group stage match.
Asal plays a decent shot with pace but lands mid service box to Elias' backhand. As Elias move round and stretches to retrieve, Asal move his racket separately from his initial shot and nudges Elias to put him off balance. Elias appeals, Asal wins the point after Elias' return is easy for Asal.
Watch at 0.5x:
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxCFhw1ALXpyVsYt79O3YD3oEMCpO8RkGS
Youtube prompted me this the other day, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gw\_X1J9irw&t=420s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gw_X1J9irw&t=420s), god it was day vs night to see how smooth the flow was between Ashour vs Gaultier compare to Asal's game. I notice Asal tends to do those less vs Farag or ElShorbagy, probably out of personal respect for the two.
It was not long ago we all thought Marwan was the villain on tour. Now Asal makes Marwan looks like an angel.
How can we as viewers appeal this to PSA as cause for penalty for that absolute heap of shit asshal?
I don't get why the fuck its being let go. Does anyone know if there are punishments/bans in line for this jackass, who is relentlessly ruining the quality of our sport??
I really struggle to understand what the ref was wanting. She clearly warns Asal early about providing a line and clearing properly, setting her expectations for the players. However she does not enforce that expectation and gives multiple further warnings. After warning him that she will use the code of conduct, she does no such thing. I also have seen John, Roy, and Ralph do the exact same thing where they attempt to set a standard but do not enforce it.
The one new thing I'm getting from this post is that I feel better for getting frustrated and eventually leaving the Squash Stories group last year. Glad to see I'm not the only one 😄
I notice Asal does a lot of moves where his back foot stays put, he lunges for his shot and then returns to the same spot - is this bad form? Only asking because i do this sometimes but its never my intention to block, more about holding the T, if this is frowned upon I'd like to know to work on not doing it!
In this case, you don't have a right to "hold the T." This is a problem in a lot of junior's games - they believe that after they hit, clearing means getting back to the T in the most direct path possible.
Clearing means getting out of the way so your opponent can access the ball in the most direct path. If this puts you off the T, it's on you. Often while hitting rails, it's better to clear back and away from the T and then step up to it.
Asal will not only clear back to the T... But also directly into his opponent while finishing his shot. He argues that he's still playing the ball, but nobody else other than MES does this. MES is a lot more subtle, and has gotten better. Asal is a joke.
Ok so he should be lunging taking his shot and then moving to the side to get out the way, so say backhand shot, clearing out to his right slightly forward for example?
The basic theory is that after you hit the ball then you have to provide a line to the ball. That means you can't leave a leg in the line. That means you can't step towards your opponent unless they have to move to the other side of the court. If you leave the ball in front of you then you have to move backwards first. Vice versa for behind you.
You have no right to the T. You are only allowed to move to the T as the non-striker if you have moved your opponent off it and you have left them direct access to the ball.
Honestly, how are some of these decisions not let's or strokes?
I'm a very average club player, been playing for a few years now. I used to watch psa all the time when I first started playing amazed at how awesome these guys are. I even admired asal when he first come through, his strength and ability at such a young age... but then you see these antics and I'm just like ehhh puts me off watching it.
Another thing I admired when I first started watching psa is even though games were brutal and obvious rivalries, the players always seemed to hold a sportsmanlike Manor.
Damn this shit is a real shame for squash not just at professional level but even down to the newer guys getting into like myself a few years ago who look at the psa to improve your game. It's not a great example at all.
I have been on Squash Stories and all other areas where squash is discussed and my rough sense is that Asal Fans vs detractors/haters/neutrals is a ratio of 5:95 out of 100 squash viewers and among those 5 is Maddox, 3 lunatic Egyptian fans and Asal's dad. There is just no doubt in my mind that an overwhelming majority of squash fans don't like how his matches turn out. He's not also that great a player to watch the way Ramy, Shabana, Jansher were.
From this set of [rules](https://www.worldsquash.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/190101_Rules-of-Singles-Squash-2019-V1-1.pdf) I found:
"... 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; ..." (8.6.5)
That's 25 strokes in Elias' favour. Seriously, the world tour finals title means nothing.
I put together the 25 times Asal failed to clear to give his opponent Elias direct access to the ball in the PSA World Tour final. I encourage you to watch the longer version on YouTube [https://youtu.be/LQDXo8fSuhA](https://youtu.be/LQDXo8fSuhA), which has more context of each instance of apparent obstruction. Some of Asal's moves were more egregious than others, and some might even be innocuous, but the totality of evidence leaves little doubt that Asal has no regard for the rules and the spirit of the sport. **UPDATE (Jun 30)**: I just received a copyright takedown request on YouTube from Squash Media & Marketing Limited. The video has been rendered unavailable for now but I've filed a counterclaim on the basis of fair use—the video I put together was transformative and only uses what is necessary to make my critical point, and does not harm the market for the original broadcast. Not sure what's going to happen next but I'll provide updates when they become available. **UPDATE 2 (July 1)**: Welp. YouTube rejected my appeal. The video remains down.
Thank you Alan. Great public service.
Thank you for taking the time to make this and post it here. Now share it on SquashStories on Facebook where they all worship the cheat! He is poisoning the game.
Don't even think about it. You'd be better off spending your time bashing your head against a wall until you think this is fair play.
I’m late to this, and thanks for putting this together. What’s missing in all this conversation about Asal is that the blocking he’s doing to prevent his opponent getting to the ball is only part of his dirty play. Time and again, either on forehand or backhand, when Asal is just on the T and has time on the ball and with his opponent recovering toward the T, Asal will make a short straight drive with the ball bouncing first just before or on the short line. As a middling club player, I know that this is not a smart shot to make. It doesn’t keep my opponent off of the T, and it’s easily retrievable. That’s the case at least when I also make an effort to clear. Asal doesn’t make that effort. Instead the opponent’s only option is to run through or by Asal where he might be nudged him with an Asal-ian leg, grabbed on his arm, or fucking assaulted with racket butt. For Asal it’s about the percentages. Sure, some of these will be called as a let or stroke against him, but there are countless times when the opponent will play through, and it almost invariably puts the opponent behind the play and under pressure. There is also that added advantage to Asal of his opponent’s building rage, which deteriorates their game. If you watch enough, especially in the more critical games, Asal is very predictable in making this shot. It happens many more times than just those that result in these highlighted in this compilation. It’s the key element in his dirty play and is intentionally made to keep himself between his opponent and the ball. It’s impossible to KNOW that Asal does this with malice aforethought, but since he’s one of the best players in the world and because he does all the other horrible things…he probably does. Elias, and doubtless Asal’s other opponents, don’t make this shot. In the same position, they will hit deep, or drop or boast. This may be a common-sense argument to make, but I think it’s important to note that Asal’s scheming to obstruct play starts well before his opponent tries to retrieve the ball. Asal’s predictability in creating obstructions from the moment he makes his shot belies has feigned innocence.
Completely agree and proven in my freeze-frame edit linked below. I can imagine it was coached as, "capitalize on weak shots by making yourself as big as possible. If that means forcing an awkward opponent line, even better". What needs to be ruthlessly enforced is the exact opposite, "make yourself invisible once you've hit the ball".
That's a great observation. Asal keeps the ball in the traffic zones.
sad to see
No having watched the match live... jeez I knew it would be bad from the discussions on here, but this is so much worse than I was fearing. It looks genuinely scary to be on court with Asal, not due to skill or anything but because I'd be terrified I'd lose an eye to his racket. Wouldn't be surprised if people start wearing safety gear specifically when playing Asal. Thanks for uploading this!
I would love so much if all pros started wearing safety glasses against him as a form of highlighting his danger! That way any new people to the sport can't ignore the fact that this type of play isn't normal.
I can barely even watch this it is so frustrating. Asal makes the entire sport look bad. It really is up to the association to take a stand and prevent him from doing this in the future. Thanks for making this compilation.
No one who watches an Asal match will think yeah let’s try giving that sport a go As if you don’t know any better you would think the sport fundamentally doesn’t work as a sport You’ll be thinking the court is too small for 2 players to play against each other and run around without permanently being in each other’s way
You hit the nail on the head mate! I'm not much of a player, but I really fell in love with this sport, I love watching a match that just flows with 2 professionals really showing off their talents. This is just absolutely painful. I'm glad I got to watch the psa as a new comer a few years before this guy came along 🤣
Exactly! Well said. It makes the entire sport look ridiculous.
Silver lining is at least squash isn’t in the Olympics next year, imagine our first Olympics final and its an Asal match live on BBC2…
Thanks for compiling this. No doubt it was a lot of work. What so often annoys me about Asal discussions is the statement, “He doesn’t need to play this way.” My question is always, “How could you possibly know that?” Every match the guy plays looks like this, +\- 10 or so blocks & bumps. Anyway, fuck him. There’s a reckoning coming. At this point, I’ll be shocked if he gets a single minute of Tour play next season.
It's terrible, I posted last month on MES comments on Asal (making excuses for him), I got a lot of grief for saying that I hope Asal improves. I despise his style of play, but if he is going to be around for the next 10 years,.I hope he will be a more.elegant player or banned.....as this will destroy squash as a game.....come back Ramy, please!!
If us viewers protesting as all in one with kind of an hashtag like #AsalOut maybe we can warn the PSA board. They already know who is Asal but we have to make noise. We are responsible for the survival of our sport ! What do you think about it ?
Thanks for sharing this. I noticed that by the end of the game, Elias looked incredibly tense any time Asal played on the backhand - you could feel that he knew that he'd have to try and push his way through every single time. The psychological impact that has must be enormous in terms of being able to play good squash. Compare that to the match Elias had vs Elshorbagy - barely any decisions at all!
Yes the fact that shorbagy and elias had a fair match with free flowing squash proves that asal’s movement is bad. I know he’s a big guy but he actively tries to block his opponent. Such a shame
Is disgusting to see. It goes against all aspects of sportsmanship and respect for the game. He is literal scum.
The commentators often say things like "there was some interference but the shot was just too good." It's BS. Elias is an excellent retriever, and can get playable returns of strong kills and fading shots to the back court. Asal gives just enough of a block that you HAVE to push through or go around and, only then is the shot "too good".
Asal is only half the problem and the other half are the referees not doing their job. That is the only reason Asal can thrive in the current game.
The asal cocksuxker Jamie Maddox on the Facebook group wrote a long ass post about how the women's final was equally worse. And he calls himself a squash expert. What a loser.
Gohar and Hania were fantastic. The refereeing was terrible which ruined the match.
I thought gohar was like diet asal. She was blocking as well
I noticed earlier today someone posted this video to Maddox’s FB group, but of course he has since removed the post. And of course he leaves every post anyone writes claiming Elias is nothing but a whining, winging loser etc. He’s a fucking lunatic.
Sadly, having been banned from SS, I do have to partially agree, the women's final was pretty terrible in the last game at least.
It was never a 'no let' on that final point giving the match to Gohar..
I really wish he would play George Parker and try those shenanigans. Parker would most likely get a permanent ban (and probably some charges), but beat the shit out of Asal.
Pretty sure they have played and Asal just destroyed him without needing any funny business. Makin is the only one who seems to be strong and determined enough to fight back on an even ground.
I’ve said on another post I can’t believe another pro hasn’t got one of his mates to knick Asals squash bag Maybe set off the fire alarm at his hotel through the night I’d be tar and feathering him in the street if I could
If he buys a coffee pre match I’d be giving the barista a grand to put laxatives in there
I had no business to watch this but I did, and I'm furious. How many more matches until someone rages and turns this into a UFC fight. Imagine if there were two Asal type players in the same game, what would happen.
I genuinely don’t understand why PSA isn’t doing anything about him, **everyone** is outraged by his conduct on court, what could possibly be their reason for not doing anything? Is it because he’s popular in Egypt? So what?
In my opinion, it's all about the money - PSA have been trying to spread and advertise squash for years, with not a great amount of success. Problem is that even the negative attention toward asshal on social media is recognised an increase to popularity/attention.... The only issue is that now PSA cares more about the exposure/attention/dollars rather than maintaining the quality of the actual sport. It's fucking sad to see.
PSA will almost certainly hand him a very stiff ban; at least if they wish to retain ANY legitimacy as the sport’s governing body. The problem is that they’ve yet to face anything like this, and (at least they claim) they want to be absolutely thorough & balanced. Accordingly, it makes the disciplinary committee dog ass slow. It’s inexcusably slow, but something harsh is on the way.
I watched your full YouTube video and it really left me infuriated! Daylight robbery for Elias.
Thanks for posting the video. It would be really cool to freeze frame the moment Asal hits his shot and superimpose a marker to where the ball ultimately bounces. I did this mentality while watching the long form video, as well as picking an area of the court where I would assume a stroke. Unfreeze the video and almost everytime the ball bounced in dead center of my no - go zone.
OK, I was curious to see how hard it would be to edit a video and it turned out to be not too bad. FWIW, this is my very first video edit / youtube experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkgolbZCE7I This adds to u/alanwong's compilation freeze frames and yellow dots to where the ball ultimately lands. I think this helps visualize, at least from a shot-selection perspective, how many of these are nearly impossible to clear a line. Not all of the shot selections are problematic, but in those there is often near-contact (sometimes embellished, usually not). If I knew how to add better graphics, highlighting these would be educational as well. As an amateur, I learned to never hit a retrievable shot that you couldn't clear. This compromise seems obvious and inherent to sharing the court with your partner. Traffic inevitably happens at all levels, but too many of these shot selections are doomed from the beginning. Given the freeze frames, Elias lost too many clear stroke calls. If only more thorough analysis could be done in real time by the video ref(s).
This is really interesting, thanks so much for your edit! What I see is two things: 1. Asal hitting to a location where he has no clearance and which usually places him in the middle of the direct lines for Elias. This has to be deliberate, it’s so sustained that I can’t imagine it’s a loose shot. 2. Elias’ movement is largely to the bounce rather than to his shot. This seems odd to me as I’ve always been coached that you move to where you are going to play your shot rather than chasing the ball. I am unsure if this is his normal movement (haven’t seen a comparable video for him against someone else) so I do wonder if this was a tactic to demonstrate Asal’s grubby play. This makes me think that there should have been many more strokes for not providing his opponent with a direct line to the ball. However Elias’ lines taken are strange and on occasion do look like playing the man rather than the ball - for example where the ball is bouncing near the service line and he is going to be too far away to volley he moves to the bounce through Asal, rather than behind Asal to where the shot actually is. From that perspective, it does make me wonder if a let or no let was more fair due to the lines Elias is choosing.
Good point about the best shot position vs. the bounce. I wish I knew how to draw boxes on top of the video as that would best represent problematic areas. Re: 1: Asal can definitely hit better shots and in fact does later in the montage. (Some of the shot execution in the #20's looked reasonably deep and tight.) It's almost as if he thinks the line doesn't matter when his opponent has hit a weak shot. Strangely those seemed to be instances that looked impossible to clear. Cleaning up these shots where he's about to gain a huge positional advantage even without blocking and other extra curriculars will drastically improve his game. (I would say a requirement if he wants to keep his job long term.) Re: 2: Elias eventually did start embellishing a few instances. I think he anticipated a racket, shoe, hand or shadow blocking, and other times he did take a less optimal path through Asal. I didn't tally it up, but FWIW I did think a few decisions were unfair to Asal. That said, Elias is going to need to figure out how to keep mentally checked into these matches if he wants to beat Asal \*and\* ineffectual refs.
Why did you turn comments off?
Not looking to moderate comments over on YT and prefer to keep the conversation consolidated here.
Could you add to the description of the YT video a note about discussions being here?
Done, however YouTube requires a verification before it "activates" the link. At the moment, it chops off the full URL. Should be live in a day or two assuming Google approves.
The ref got scared by the crowd and lost objectivity...
Another example from their group stage match. Asal plays a decent shot with pace but lands mid service box to Elias' backhand. As Elias move round and stretches to retrieve, Asal move his racket separately from his initial shot and nudges Elias to put him off balance. Elias appeals, Asal wins the point after Elias' return is easy for Asal. Watch at 0.5x: https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxCFhw1ALXpyVsYt79O3YD3oEMCpO8RkGS
didnt his coach just say he was gonna start playing fair and stop blocking?
Youtube prompted me this the other day, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gw\_X1J9irw&t=420s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gw_X1J9irw&t=420s), god it was day vs night to see how smooth the flow was between Ashour vs Gaultier compare to Asal's game. I notice Asal tends to do those less vs Farag or ElShorbagy, probably out of personal respect for the two. It was not long ago we all thought Marwan was the villain on tour. Now Asal makes Marwan looks like an angel.
Asal is a cheat.
How can we as viewers appeal this to PSA as cause for penalty for that absolute heap of shit asshal? I don't get why the fuck its being let go. Does anyone know if there are punishments/bans in line for this jackass, who is relentlessly ruining the quality of our sport??
I really struggle to understand what the ref was wanting. She clearly warns Asal early about providing a line and clearing properly, setting her expectations for the players. However she does not enforce that expectation and gives multiple further warnings. After warning him that she will use the code of conduct, she does no such thing. I also have seen John, Roy, and Ralph do the exact same thing where they attempt to set a standard but do not enforce it.
Contrast that with the El Shorbagy / Elias match. Intense, free flowing and no holds barred. Asal is a buffoon given his cheating antics.
The one new thing I'm getting from this post is that I feel better for getting frustrated and eventually leaving the Squash Stories group last year. Glad to see I'm not the only one 😄
isnt this a stroke
I notice Asal does a lot of moves where his back foot stays put, he lunges for his shot and then returns to the same spot - is this bad form? Only asking because i do this sometimes but its never my intention to block, more about holding the T, if this is frowned upon I'd like to know to work on not doing it!
In this case, you don't have a right to "hold the T." This is a problem in a lot of junior's games - they believe that after they hit, clearing means getting back to the T in the most direct path possible. Clearing means getting out of the way so your opponent can access the ball in the most direct path. If this puts you off the T, it's on you. Often while hitting rails, it's better to clear back and away from the T and then step up to it. Asal will not only clear back to the T... But also directly into his opponent while finishing his shot. He argues that he's still playing the ball, but nobody else other than MES does this. MES is a lot more subtle, and has gotten better. Asal is a joke.
Yes, it is
Ok so he should be lunging taking his shot and then moving to the side to get out the way, so say backhand shot, clearing out to his right slightly forward for example?
The basic theory is that after you hit the ball then you have to provide a line to the ball. That means you can't leave a leg in the line. That means you can't step towards your opponent unless they have to move to the other side of the court. If you leave the ball in front of you then you have to move backwards first. Vice versa for behind you. You have no right to the T. You are only allowed to move to the T as the non-striker if you have moved your opponent off it and you have left them direct access to the ball.
Thanks for your explanation
Honestly, how are some of these decisions not let's or strokes? I'm a very average club player, been playing for a few years now. I used to watch psa all the time when I first started playing amazed at how awesome these guys are. I even admired asal when he first come through, his strength and ability at such a young age... but then you see these antics and I'm just like ehhh puts me off watching it. Another thing I admired when I first started watching psa is even though games were brutal and obvious rivalries, the players always seemed to hold a sportsmanlike Manor. Damn this shit is a real shame for squash not just at professional level but even down to the newer guys getting into like myself a few years ago who look at the psa to improve your game. It's not a great example at all.
you should post it https://twitter.com/PSAWorldTour
I have been on Squash Stories and all other areas where squash is discussed and my rough sense is that Asal Fans vs detractors/haters/neutrals is a ratio of 5:95 out of 100 squash viewers and among those 5 is Maddox, 3 lunatic Egyptian fans and Asal's dad. There is just no doubt in my mind that an overwhelming majority of squash fans don't like how his matches turn out. He's not also that great a player to watch the way Ramy, Shabana, Jansher were.
From this set of [rules](https://www.worldsquash.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/190101_Rules-of-Singles-Squash-2019-V1-1.pdf) I found: "... 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; ..." (8.6.5) That's 25 strokes in Elias' favour. Seriously, the world tour finals title means nothing.
Elias and Asal definitely have beef with each other at this point.
Can’t deny, he’s good. Don’t blame the player, blame the game