McCue eliminated as New Yorker plays giant-killer

The big story was all about "the upset" as the round of 16 began on Wednesday at the Northern Ontario Open, the PSA (Professional Squash Association) tour stop that has currently invaded the Sudbury YMCA.

Unfortunately, from a local perspective, it wouldn't be Mike McCue in the middle of that story-line.

The local fan favourite was eliminated in three sets by Australian Ryan Cuskelly on exactly the same court where American Christopher Gordon had played giant-killer in the previous match, taking down the tournament No. 1 seed, Marwan Elshorbagy, also in three sets.

The 11-7, 11-8, 11-9 victory by Gordon had most squash enthusiasts excited about the tournament now being "wide open", with several potential contenders.

Ironically, Gordon (ranked 59th in the world) entered his matchup with the world's 12th ranked player with somewhat mixed emotions.

"The only time we've played was here, two years ago, and we had a massive five-setter, so I knew that it was possible," said Gordon. "But my season so far has been a little bit rocky, so I was just looking to play well.

"I know that it sounds cliché, but I was just trying to enjoy playing, play in a positive manner, and put myself at the very least in a position to win points and trouble him."

Though his pre-game expectations were somewhat reserved, Gordon has always maintained a clear image of the style of play that he needs to be successful.

"I'm a big guy, and I think I'm pretty athletic, so I want the pace to be quick," he said. "That's when I think the viewers know that I am playing well, when I'm getting up the court, volleying a lot. If you see me going to the back a lot and it's slow, then maybe I'm struggling."

The native New Yorker is making his third visit to Sudbury, one that he looks forward to if it can be worked into his schedule each and every year.

"It's got some amazing people here," Gordon said. "They put us with host families, they are extremely generous, they cook us some great good, they really look after us."

While the notion of using "host" families for PSA Tour events is quite common in both Canada and the U.S., it does not exist in most other parts of the world.

As for McCue, it wasn't so much losing to Cuskelly that bothered him, but more the gap on this particular night, with the No. 43 seed eliminating the graduate of Lockerby Composite by scores of 11-3, 11-5, 11-8.

"I played him last year in the same tournament, and I did much better last year than I expected," McCue said. "I was quite confident and thought that his style of play meshed well with mine.

"He came out at a much, much higher pace than he did last year, and I just couldn't handle the pace for the first two games."

The good news for McCue is that the opportunity to rebound is less than a week away, with the Canadian Squash Championships set to begin next Wednesday in Toronto.

While it appears that Shawn Deliere and Shahier Razik (both in attendance in Sudbury) will likely meet in the national final, McCue suggested spots three through eight are completely wide open.

Much the same as the Northern Open, with the following results now in the books:

Christopher Gordon over Marwan Elshorbagy (11-7, 11-8, 11-9);
Shawn Deliere over Todd Harrity (11-5, 1-11, 11-6, 11-7);
Campbell Grayson over Joe Chapman (11-2, 11-6, 11-7);
Laurens Jan Anjema over Shahier Razik (11-8, 11-3, 11-4);
Cesar Salazar over Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-4);
Diego Elias over Arturo Salazar (11-4, 11-1, 11-6);
Ryan Cuskelly over Mike McCue (11-3, 11-5, 11-8); and
Alister Walker over Christopher Binnie (11-7, 11-7, 11-6).