Cardiff’s Elliott Morris Devred is a Wizard when it comes to squash and he underlined that on his Premier Squash League debut.
The 20-year-old, who joined the professional World tour this year, defeated Coolhurst’s Nick Mulvey 12-10, 11-5 in his opening match for Welsh Wizards and makes his second appearance against Trads@RAC in London this evening (6.30pm).
Morris Devred took over from World number three Marwan ElShorbagy against Coolshurst at the Wales National Sports Arena after the Egyptian had to return home because of a family illness.
“I was called five days before the match and couldn’t have been happier to be given my chance.” said Morris Devred. “To replace the World number three in our team and win.
It’s match day 🏴🧙♂️👏🏻
Good luck to the team travelling to @TraditionRAC tonight 💪🏻☕️
▪️@pvdcreed
▪️@EdmonLopez
▪️@devredelliott
▪️@djevs24
▪️@tesnievans #WelshWizards @pslsquash pic.twitter.com/SccDlVCnNZ— Welsh Wizards PSL (@welsh_wizards) October 23, 2018
“It was fantastic to be involved in the opening Wizards match. The team is great for squash in Wales.
“The crowd were brilliant and it was an unreal experience.”
Emyr Evans, Tesni Evans and Morris Devred were the Welsh Wizards winners against London club Coolhurst. PSL matches do not count towards World-ranking points, but Morris Devred, currently at 326, gained major confidence from beating World number 170 Mulvey.
“Playing for Welsh Wizards is the best of both Worlds,” he says. “Team squash and quality opposition. All the players get on great and most of play for Wales. I love it.”
Morris Devred, who won the Wales under-19 title three times, works with coach Nic Birt at Cardiff Squash Club and has since he was nine-years-old.
He joined UNSQUASHABLE in 2018 and uses their Tour-Tec Pro racket.
Wizards play the second fixture of their Premier Squash League season when they take on Trads@RAC in London this evening (Tuesday, 6.30pm).
There are four Welsh players in the Wizards line-up. Tesni Evans, fresh from her success at the US Open when she stormed into the semi-finals, takes on England’s Alison Waters, the former British champion who is just above the Welsh number one in the World rankings at number nine.
Caerphilly-born Peter Creed, who plays out of Rhiwbina SRC, is at number one, Morris Devred plays third string and former British Open champion David Evans will be at four.
David takes on George Parker, the inaugural Rhiwbina Welsh Open champion in 2017.
Matches for the Trads@RAC v Wizards match tonight (RAC players first): Paul Coll v Peter Creed, Daryl Selby v Edmon Lopez, Ben Coleman v Elliott Morris Devred, George Parker v David Evans, Alison Waters v Tesni Evans
One second round match was played last Friday when Coolhurst were 4-1 winners against Bexley.
Welshman Joel Makin, from Haverfordwest, plays for Birmingham this evening having claimed the biggest scalp of his career in a dramatic straight games victory over World number one Mohamed ElShorbagy at the Channel VAS Championship in Weybridge.
World champion Elshorbagy was fresh from his US Open, but was under pressure from the start as world number 33 Makin combined his typically strong retrieval skills with fine touches at the front of the court.
After conceding the opener, ElShorbagy showed more of his usual aggression as he came back from 9-4 down in the second to force a tie-break, but it spilled over as he received a conduct stroke against him after a disagreement with a refereeing decision, which handed the game to Makin.
That moment proved pivotal as Makin fought back from three game balls down in the third to complete the sensational 12-10, 13-11, 12-10 upset.
Makin showed great athleticism and strength, both mentally and physically. One brutal rally last four minutes eight seconds – and ended in controversy (see video coverage below).
“It’s massive,” said Makin. “I had a lot of belief and knew exactly what I needed to do. I really had to be disciplined and I didn’t think about his form, just focused on the process.
“If I was going to get into the match, I had to switch it and keep getting the height. I had to be positive and my short balls were better today than they have been.
“I’ve been working on them for a long time, but they came together. They were three really tight games.”
Makin’s opponent this evening in the Birmingham v Newcastle match is Australian Cameron Pilley.
Results:
Coolhurst 4 (11), Bexley 1 (3)
1 Greg Lobban 0-2 Mazen Hesham
2 Adrian Waller 2-0 Olli Tuominen
3 Vini Rodrigues 2-0 Bradley Masters
4 Karim Ibrahim 2-0 Curtis Malik
5 Donna Lobban 2-1 Misaki Kobayashi
The rest of the second round fixtures are being played this evening.
Follow the matches on the PSL Scoreboard, with reports to follow at the end of play.
PSL second round, one result and five fixtures:
Friday, October 19:
Coolhurst 4-1 Bexley (11-3)
Greg Lobban 0-2 Mazen Hesham
Adrian Waller 2-0 Olli Tuominen
Vini Rodrigues 2-0 Bradley Masters
Karim Ibrahim 2-0 Curtis Malik
Donna Lobban 2-1 Misaki Kobayashi
Tuesday, October 23:
Trads @ RAC v Welsh Wizards
Paul Coll v Peter Creed
Daryl Selby v Edmon Lopez
Ben Coleman v Elliott Morris devred
George Parker v David Evans
Alison Waters v Tesni Evans
http://https://youtu.be/09BbpwwBb9A
Chichester v St George’s Hill
Tim Vail v Mohamed ElShorbagy
Kyle Finch v Tom Richards
Miles Jenkins v Charlie Lee
Jared Carter v Matthew Broadberry
Alison Thomson v Jasmine Hutton
Bristol v Warwick/Kenilworth Squash
Youssef Soliman v Raphael Kandra
David Baillargeonv Iker Pajares
Mike Harris v Baptiste Masotti
James Peach v Harry Falconer
Joshna Chinappa v Julianne Courtice
Nottingham v Pontefract
Nick Matthew v James Willstrop
Declan James v Chris Simpson
Richie Fallows v Patrick Rooney
Lewis Walters v Abhay Singh
Coline Aumard v Laura Massaro
Birmingham v Newcastle
Joel Makin v Cameron Pilley
Jan Van Den Herrewegen v Alan Clyne
Stuart Macgregor v Rob Downer
Josh Owen v Owain Taylor
Millie Tomlinson v Lisa Aitken
PSL first round results:
September
Tuesday 25: Warwick/Kenilworth v 3 (10), Birmingham 2 (5); Welsh Wizards 3 (9), Coolhurst 2 (4); Pontefract 4 (11), UWE/Elite Sport Bristol 1 (3); St George’s 3 (10), RAC@Tradition 2 (7); Newcastle 0 (0), Northumberland Club/Nottingham University 5 (13); Bexley 4 (11), Chichester 1 (5).
