ElShorbagy and El Sherbini Capture 2021 El Gouna
International Titles
Top
seeds Mohamed ElShorbagy and Nour El Sherbini are the 2021 El Gouna
International Squash Open champions after they overcame World No.4
Paul Coll and World No.2 Nouran Gohar, respectively, to win the PSA
World Tour Platinum event, which was held at the El Gouna Conference
and Culture Center for the first time.
ElShorbagy has won his second El Gouna International trophy after a
sensational performance from the World No.2 saw him outclass New
Zealand’s Coll 11-5, 11-2, 11-7 in 47 minutes - a win which sees him
close the gap on current World No.1 Ali Farag.
It’s ElShorbagy’s 43rd title on the PSA Tour, and it puts him just
one behind French veteran Gregory Gaultier, who currently sits fifth
on the all-time winners list.
“I’m
really happy to win here at home,” said ElShorbagy.
“To win my second title here means the world to me and to do it in
front of my parents, this means so much for me. I’m here today
because of them and I would have never dreamed of achieving
everything I have in my career if you didn’t take me to every
training session. My parents have done everything so thank you both
for everything.
“This is the ninth edition of El Gouna and I’ve played all nine
times. I can remember the first time [Tournament Promoter, Amr]
Mansi did this tournament and I remember all the conversations. Your
whole story is inspiring, and I’ve seen your story from day one,
everything you have achieved and thank you so much for everything
you have done for the sport, you’ve taken it to another level. I’d
also like to thank all the sponsors for getting us back here, they
have done an amazing job to support a great event.”
Meanwhile, El Sherbini has won her 24th PSA Tour title which puts
her level with the legendary Raneem El Welily, meaning they are the
most successful Egyptian women of all time.
El Sherbini, the World No.1, has lifted her first El Gouna
International trophy after beating Gohar 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 in 38
minutes.
The 25-year-old was immaculate throughout the match and put in a
peerless display to capture her third PSA Tour title of the season
after previous wins at the CIB Egyptian Open and CIB PSA Black Ball
Squash Open.
“I’ve
been playing Nouran for a long time now and at a Platinum event as
the No.1 and No.2 it was going to be a tough match,” said El
Sherbini.
“She has been playing well the whole tournament and we’re two
different styles, so I tried to bring my game more than her game and
that was my plan today.
“She is the World No.2, so I always have to be ready. Every point
she is fighting and never gives up, so I was making sure I won every
point and not give up. I had to bring my ‘A’ game and I’m glad it
was working today.”
ElShorbagy and El Sherbini win $22,800 for their efforts, while
ElShorbagy has automatically qualified for June’s CIB PSA World Tour
Finals as a result of his win. El Sherbini had already qualified
courtesy of her Egyptian Open win in October.
New
Zealand’s Paul Coll will feature alongside three Egyptian players on
finals day at the 2021 El Gouna International Squash Open after he
overcame reigning World Champion Tarek Momen at the El Gouna
Conference and Culture Center.
Coll put on a tactical masterclass against World No.3 Momen,
utilising height and slowing the pace down to put the Egyptian on
the backfoot as he claimed an 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 victory to reach his
first El Gouna International final, where he will meet World No.2
Mohamed ElShorbagy.
“I was super happy with my game plan and the way I stuck to it all
the way through,” said Coll afterwards. “It was really tough
mentally for me as well, but super happy. I used a lot of height,
Tarek loves the pace and tried to slow my movement down to 80% just
to really be balanced on the ball, I thought that was enough to pick
up a lot.
“I just tried to do that and put the ball away when I had the
opportunity and just soak it up as much as possible.”
The New Zealander’s opponent in the final will be former champion
ElShorbagy, who was forced to hold off a comeback from in-form
player Fares Dessouky as he triumphed 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6 in the
last match of the day.
ElShorbagy, who is the top seed at the tournament in the absence of
World No.1 Ali Farag, made sure to get his revenge on Dessouky, who
knocked him out at this event in 2019 at the quarter final stage as
he booked his place in his first PSA Platinum final since the COVID-enforced
suspension of the Tour last year.
“I
put in a lot of hard work the last period,” said ElShorbagy. “I
haven’t played all the tournaments in Egypt for the last year for
different reasons and to watch all of them play was hard for me.
“Hadrian Stiff back in Bristol has taken so much from me because it
was such a tough period but to be back here and back doing what I
love most, I think I belong in finals and to be back there again is
quite emotional for me.”
The women’s final will see top seeds Nour El Sherbini and Nouran
Gohar lock horns for the PSA Platinum title after they claimed
respective wins over Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy and USA’s Amanda Sobhy.
World
No.1 El Sherbini was forced to halt a fightback from World No.7 El
Hammamy after the 20-year-old battled back from two games down to
push the match to a tense fifth game.
However, the experience of four-time World Champion El Sherbini came
to the fore as she took the lead in the fifth and never looked back
to triumph 11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 7-11, 11-5 in 74 minutes and reach her
second final at the El Gouna International.
“She never gives up,” said El Sherbini. “She’s still young, she’s
top seven in the world, she’s very good and has been giving everyone
in the top 10 very tough matches. Last time I played Hania, I lost
3-2, so whenever you lose a match, you always wait for this match,
it doesn’t matter how many matches you won after, you just wait for
the match you lost.
“The fifth game, I always tell myself to play it as if it was the
first game. Try to win every point and of course taking the lead
made a huge difference. As you saw she kept fighting until the last
point, she still wanted to win.”
Meanwhile,
Gohar was in scintillating form from the first point as she found
her length and accuracy quickly to power into a one-game lead.
Sobhy looked as though she was going to get back into it in the
second, but Gohar fought back to double her advantage before seeing
out the semi-final win comfortably in the third as the American
looked to struggle with the hot conditions by the Red Sea.
The finals take place on Friday, May 28 and play begins at 20:00
(GMT+2). Action will be shown live on
SQUASHTV and the channels of
contracted broadcast partners.
Glass court action also continues tomorrow at the El Gouna
Conference and Culture Center, with play beginning there at 18:30.
Live action from that venue will be shown live on
SQUASHTV
as well as on
Facebook.
ElShorbagy Topples Makin During Night of Drama at El
Gouna International
It
took World No.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy 158 minutes and two separate
venues to finally get the better of Welshman Joel Makin as he booked
his place in the semi-finals on a night of drama at the El Gouna
International Squash Open.
ElShorbagy and Makin managed to play the first point of their
quarter-final clash at the El Gouna Conference and Culture Center,
but a slip from ElShorbagy resulted in over an hour delay in
proceedings due to slippery court conditions caused by humidity.
The match was then moved to the El Gouna Squash Complex - which
hosted matches in the early rounds of the tournament - where top
seed ElShorbagy finally pulled through in the fifth and final game
after Makin had fought back from a 2-0 deficit to avenge his defeat
to the Welshman in March’s CIB Black Ball Open.
“Me and Joel train so much together in England and we know each
other’s games very well,” ElShorbagy said.”
"Even when I won the second 11-2 or 11-3, I knew he is one of the
few people on tour who is going to fight. He’s not going to give it
to me easy, against a lot of people it would have been done with the
way I won the second because I dominated him completely.
“At the end of the day you could see the respect we have for each
other, we killed each other. We argued with each other throughout
the match, we trash talked each other, but afterwards we shook
hands. We’re both the kinds of people who say that whatever happens
on court and is said on court is done.”
ElShorbagy will take on the in-form Fares Dessouky after he came
back from 2-0 down to beat two-time World Junior Champion Mostafa
Asal, reaching his fourth successive semi-final in El Gouna by an
10-12, 8-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-9 scoreline.
Asal took the opening game in confident style, after which point
emergency medical attention was required for video referee Ralf
Harenberg, which meant a lengthy delay in proceedings while he was
attended to.
Everyone at the PSA wishes Ralf a swift recovery and will stay in
contact with him to offer him the support he needs.
Speaking
about his comeback, Dessouky said: “I did it before with the World
No.1 [Ali Farag], so I am used to these kind of situations. I am
happy to be through because he is a very dangerous player.
“Off-court, he is a brother, but on-court, he is a bit annoying, so
I am happy to keep my head today and to stay solid until the end. I
had to make it physical, I had to try and play to the very last
point and make the rallies a bit longer and play one more shot on
each point. I am lucky that it worked today because I thought I was
going to lose in three.”
World No.1 Nour El Sherbini and World No.7 Hania El Hammamy will
meet in the women’s semis after respective wins over England’s
Sarah-Jane Perry and France’s Camille Serme.
El Sherbini dominated England’s Perry to win 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 in 31
minutes and she will line up in the El Gouna International semis for
the second time.
“It
is always tough playing SJ,” said El Sherbini.
“You can see our head-to-head [9-4 to El Sherbini], it says it all.
We have been playing each other in every tournament this season, so
I was trying to stick to my plan and to focus until the very last
point.”
Meanwhile, El Hammamy will appear in the El Gouna International
semi-finals for the first time after she defeated World No.4 Serme
11-2, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7 in the latest chapter of their enthralling
rivalry.
El Hammamy and El Sherbini will go head-to-head for the first time
since the 2020 CIB Black Ball Open, where El Hammamy prevailed to
lift her maiden PSA Platinum title.
“I
wanted to get the first and try to be as sharp as I could from the
start because it wasn’t really very good for us with the conditions
and waiting outside,” said El Hammamy, whose match with Serme
started an hour behind schedule due to the humidity delays.
“I’m so happy to be in the semis for the first time in El Gouna.
Since I was a kid, I definitely loved this tournament and I always
wanted to be a semi-finalist and finalist, so I’m looking forward to
it and hopefully I can make it to the final.”
The semi-finals continue on May 27 and play begins at 18:30 (GMT+2).
Action will be shown live on
SQUASHTV and the channels of
contracted broadcast partners.
Glass court action also continues tomorrow at the El Gouna
Conference and Culture Center, with play beginning there at 18:30.
Live action from that venue will be shown live on
SQUASHTV
as well as on
Facebook.
Sobhy and Gohar Set up Mouth-Watering El Gouna
International Semis Clash
United States No.1 Amanda Sobhy and World No.2 Nouran Gohar will
lock horns for the first time since a stormy encounter at the Windy
City Open 14 months ago after both players achieved 3-1 victories
tonight at the El Gouna International Squash Open to reach the
semi-finals of the PSA Platinum event.
Gohar took the victory in straight games on that occasion, but it
was Sobhy’s comments in the post-match press conference - where she
bemoaned both the officiating and accused Gohar of blocking - that
caused a wave of discussion across social media.
The World No.5 will now have her chance for revenge after she came
back from a game down to dispatch No.9 seed Salma Hany at the El
Gouna Conference and Culture Center today, winning 9-11, 11-7, 11-2,
11-6 to reach the El Gouna International semis for the second time.
“That
match is still in my head,” said Sobhy referring to her clash with
Gohar in the Windy City.
“It’s definitely going to give me that extra fuel and incentive, but
I am not going to let it cloud my judgement or get too much in my
head.
"I know Gohar is going to bring her 'A' game on Thursday, so I fully
expect a battle."
Gohar, the 2019 El Gouna runner-up, earned her place in the last
four courtesy of an 11-2, 11-5, 11-13, 11-9 victory over fellow
Egyptian Rowan Elaraby.
The No.2 seed has lost six of her eight matches against Sobhy but
did end a three-match losing run to the 27-year-old with that win in
Chicago.
“In
the first two games I was playing really well,” said Gohar
afterwards.
“I felt good on court, was moving well and my targets were hit. I
guess I had a drop in concentration a little bit in the third, but
all credit to her, she took advantage. She played her’ A’ game, so
to come back and try and attack against her when she is playing that
well is difficult, but I’m just glad I was able to take it at the
end.”
In the men’s event, World No.4 Paul Coll and World No.3 Tarek Momen
will do battle in the last four in a repeat of the 2019-20 PSA World
Championship final following respective wins over two-time runner-up
Karim Abdel Gawad and Frenchman Gregoire Marche.
Coll quickly found himself a game behind due to the class of Gawad.
But after the Kiwi drew level, the heel injury that has dogged
Gawad’s season reared its head again as the Egyptian struggled to
move around court properly. Coll quickly closed out the third and
fourth games to earn his spot in the El Gouna semi-finals for the
first time.
“Against
Karim’s racket work, he just destroyed me [in the first game],” said
Coll.
“After the second, I started to see the ball better and dictate the
pace, settled down with my movement and I started to feel quite good
in the last three. It’s a real positive moving into the semi-finals.
I need to focus on the start a bit more [in the next match], settle
down quicker, find my targets and focus more at the start.”
World Champion Momen put in a commanding performance to defeat
Marche 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 which sees him move into the semis here for
the second year in a row.
The No.2 seed was immaculate as he outplayed his opponent, who was
appearing in his first major quarter-final since 2016.
“Playing
Greg is always a tough task for me,” Momen said.
“We’ve had many tough matches in the past, I know the head-to-head
is heavily in my favour but many of those matches went to five
games. I’ve always had my eyes on this match, I had to be on my toes
from the beginning. I started with this gameplan and it worked out
and I’m pleased to win in three."
Glass court action also continues tomorrow at the El Gouna
Conference and Culture Center, with play beginning there at 18:30.
Live action from that venue will be shown live on
SQUASHTV
as well as on
Facebook.
Asal Battles Past Abouelghar to
Reach El Gouna International Quarters
World
Junior Champion Mostafa Asal battled to a scrappy 3-2 victory over
compatriot Mohamed Abouelghar earlier today to reach the
quarter-finals of the El Gouna International Squash Open after 103
minutes of drama.
After a high-quality beginning to the match, the fixture then fell
into a scrappy battle which saw the referee called into action on
numerous occasions. After Asal took a third game littered with
strokes, Abouelghar - who downed the in-form Marwan ElShorbagy in
the previous round - pounced in the fourth as he drew level after
dropping a solitary point, before going 6-1 ahead in the decider.
Asal fought back though and a controversial no let on his second
match ball handed the match to the Egyptian, who completed a 12-10,
4-11, 14-12, 1-11, 12-10 victory to reach the quarters here for the
first time, where he will face World No.7 Fares Dessouky.
“I am so happy that I won today,” said Asal.
“It is unbelievable for me to beat someone like Abou. He is on top
form and we saw his match against Marwan, it was an unbelievable
match. I was expecting to go home today, but I am happy that I made
it today.
“I am thankful for the crowd and thankful for [Tournament Promoter]
Amr Mansi for this amazing tournament in El Gouna. As Mohamed [ElShorbagy]
said, it is also about the mental game, you have to be tough
mentally and this is what the last few years of experience have
given me. I am becoming more and more mentally tough and I am happy
that I recovered from 6-1 down in the fifth.”
Asal’s victory came following a 45-minute break in play due to
humidity earlier in the night, which saw top seed Mohamed ElShorbagy
and Baptiste Masotti forced to wait on the sidelines until the court
conditions improved.
Masotti made the stronger start of the two when they did eventually
get onto court, but ElShorbagy turned things around to record a
10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 win and he will take on Welshman Joel Makin
in the next round as he looks to avenge his defeat to the World No.9
in March’s CIB Black Ball Open.
“I
played him [Masotti] at Black Ball a month ago and he is a player
who goes out to win every single match and that is what I admire
about him, and he has the character to go all the way to the top one
day,” ElShorbagy explained.
“He is young but at the same time, he doesn’t want to wait, he wants
it now, he wants it more than anything. I can see it in his eyes
because that is how I was when I was young. I respect that about
him, and he gave me a huge battle.”
World No.4 Camille Serme moved through to the quarter-finals of the
women’s tournament after she beat Canada’s Hollie Naughton 11-5,
11-7, 11-2.
The Frenchwoman will play Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy next after the
World No.7 defeated Nada Abbas 3-1. The pair have met 10 times on
the PSA World Tour - with many of those going on to be match of the
season contenders - and Serme will look to extend her 6-4
head-to-head lead over her young opponent.
“I
found my targets better than the other day,” Serme said.
“I felt good physically and was moving pretty well, so I could get
her shots and I think she struggled a bit with the court. That’s the
advantage of having one more match on there, which is unlucky for
her.”
The other match on the glass court saw an injury to Alison Waters
cut her match with England teammate Sarah-Jane Perry short, with
Perry moving on to play World No.1 Nour El Sherbini in the last
eight. El Sherbini received a walkover into the quarter-finals after
her third round opponent, Yathreb Adel, withdrew through injury.
“Me
and Alison are really good friends and pre-COVID we were usually
roommates, so we have spent a lot of time together,” Perry said.
“I hope it's nothing too bad that she has done and that she is back
as soon as possible. There have always been questions about my
fitness to get through tournaments, but I think that’s why I was
pleased with the Black Ball win in December, to not just show I
could play five matches in five days but to still come out the other
end and to come out with the win.”
Glass court action also continues tomorrow at the El Gouna
Conference and Culture Center, with play beginning there at 18:30.
Live action from that venue will be shown live on
SQUASHTV
as well as on
Facebook.
Gohar and Momen Record Wins on Day Four of El Gouna
International
No.2
seeds Nouran Gohar and Tarek Momen recorded victories on day four of
the El Gouna International Squash Open as they appeared on the glass
court at the El Gouna Conference and Culture Center for the first
time at the PSA Platinum event.
Gohar reached the final of the 2019 edition of this tournament and
took a step closer to this year’s title decider with an 11-9, 12-10,
11-7 victory over Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam.
The match was a competitive affair in which Subramaniam could
perhaps count herself unfortunate not to take a game, but it will be
Gohar who lines up in the quarter-finals where she will take on
fellow Egyptian Rowan Elaraby, who outplayed World No.8 Joelle King
over at the El Gouna Squash Complex earlier today.
“Siva is not an up-and-coming player, she is already there, she is
one to watch,” said Gohar.
“We haven’t played since the World Juniors which was four or five
years ago, and I feel really old now. We have evolved and it was
completely different to the last time we played. I am just glad that
I managed to grab the last few points in each game to win in three.
“Physically, it was hard. The court is really bouncy, and it is hard
to kill the ball, so there are a lot of court sprints to do. I just
tried to stay tough even though I was not playing the best squash, I
was just trying to dig in and to win.”
Elaraby had won her only previous meeting with King on the PSA Tour
– a 3-2 victory at the 2019 U.S. Open – but made short work of her
opponent this time around as she powered to an 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 win
in just 28 minutes.
United
States No.1 Amanda Sobhy will also line up in the last eight after
she beat England’s Lucy Turmel 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 and she will play
Egypt’s Salma Hany in the quarter-finals in a rematch of their
semi-final clash at the CIB Black Ball Open in March.
“She [Turmel] is a feisty up-and-coming player, so she is young and
hungry, and it shows with the win she had previously,” said Sobhy.
“I wanted to just find my game, I wasn’t happy with my performance
on the first day and I wanted to get settled on to the glass court,
so it is good to get a match that tests you and she did that. I’m
really pleased to just win in three and not let her get any
momentum.”
Men’s
World Champion Momen made his first glass court appearance of the
tournament as he overcame the tricky Mazen Hesham in straight games.
Momen twice squandered heavy leads in the first and second games as
Hesham came back to challenge, but the World No.3 had enough in his
locker to see the wins over the line, before dominating the third to
close out the win.
“Mazen is a very tough player, he is very dangerous, he is extremely
skilful, and I knew from the beginning that my plan had to be to
elongate the rallies,” Momen said.
“I wanted to make it physical so I could have the edge. I have some
shots of my own, but I still wanted to make things conservative and
not give him openings to throw in those crazy nicks. Still, he
managed to throw in some crazy shots in the crucial moments, it is
very difficult to make those decisions and it worked for him, but I
was glad to close both games out.”
Momen will go up against Frenchman Gregoire Marche in the next round
after the World No.15 overcame Germany’s Raphael Kandra at the El
Gouna Squash Complex to reach his first major PSA quarter-final
since the 2016 Qatar Classic.
“I
haven't played a quarter for a long time, so I was a bit tense,”
said Marche.
“I really wanted to win that match, so from the second onwards, I
found a find a way to relax and settle down and found my length. I
knew that Rafi was coming back playing at a very high level, one
doesn’t beat Lucas Serme 3-0 [in the previous round] by playing poor
squash. I think it was a very mental match and that’s where I've
really improved.”
New Zealand’s Paul Coll was the other victor on the glass as he put
in an immaculate display to defeat Marche’s compatriot, Victor
Crouin, and he will clash with two-time runner-up Karim Abdel Gawad
in the next round, with Gawad requiring 70 minutes to see off Karim
El Hammamy in straight games.
The third round continues tomorrow (May 24) and play starts at the
El Gouna Squash Complex at 13:45 (GMT+2). The action will be shown
live on the official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour and the
PSA SquashTV YouTube channel.
Glass court action also continues tomorrow at the El Gouna
Conference and Culture Center, with play beginning there at 18:30.
Live action from that venue will be shown live on
SQUASHTV
as well as on
Facebook.
Abouelghar Ends ElShorbagy Hoodoo on Day Three of El Gouna
International
World
No.11 Mohamed Abouelghar finally got the better of fellow Egyptian
Marwan ElShorbagy at the sixth attempt on the PSA World Tour as he
eliminated the in-form World No.5 to reach the third round of the El
Gouna International Squash Open, PSA Platinum event.
ElShorbagy has been in magnificent form of late after winning the
CIB Black Ball Open in March, while he has often played his best
squash in El Gouna and captured his first major title here back in
2018.
But Abouelghar twice fought back from a game and then dominated
proceedings in the third game at the El Gouna Conference and Culture
Center to seal a 8-11, 11-3, 11-13, 11-5, 11-3 victory that will see
him take on rising Egyptian star Mostafa Asal in the next round.
“The last time I beat Marwan was 2010 [non-PSA], so that was 11
years ago,” said Abouelghar.
“I had nothing to lose. He has been playing great and he’s the man
of the hour. Getting on court, I wanted to enjoy myself and take it
one point at a time and see how the match unfolds. I’m happy with
how I held my head throughout it.
“I’ve always challenged the top guys, but I was losing more than I
was winning. The mental part played a big part in that, so I had to
find the balance and work on that, rather than just attacking
everything and I’ve been working on that.”
Meanwhile,
top seed Mohamed ElShorbagy got his title challenge under way with
victory over Scotland’s Greg Lobban.
The World No.2, who won this tournament in 2016 and is also a
two-time runner-up, beat World No.21 Lobban 11-7, 11-3, 12-10 to
book his spot in the last 16, where he will take on Frenchman
Baptiste Masotti.
“I love a physical battle,” said ElShorbagy afterwards.
“Going a game ball down, going to a tie-break, I think these are all
positive things. It all can get better from here, he played really
well in the third, he is a tough player. I’ve watched him so many
years and I know how he plays. He played the kind of squash that I
needed to play against to get myself sharp for the rest of the
tournament.”
Over at the El Gouna Squash Complex, World No.7 Fares Dessouky
defeated 2017 champion Gregory Gaultier and he will take on
England’s Patrick Rooney, who beat Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann
to reach a Platinum third round for the first time. Welshman Joel
Makin and Egypt’s Youssef Ibrahim were the other men’s winners on
day three.
El Sherbini, the women’s World No.1, collected a comfortable 3-0 win
over 19-year-old Farida Mohamed to ensure she will take on fellow
Egyptian Yathreb Adel for a place in the last eight after Adel beat
Hana Ramadan in a quick-fire 3-0 victory.
“Another
up-and-coming player, she’s playing so well and she’s very tough,”
El Sherbini said.
“She’s been giving some very tough matches for lots of the top
players now. It’s the first round and the first time to play her, it
was difficult in the beginning but I’m really glad I got back to my
game plan in the last two games. The first time playing an opponent
you have never played before means the first game is always tense.”
World No.4 Camille Serme was also in action on the glass court at
the El Gouna Conference and Culture Center as she achieved an
entertaining 3-1 win against Belgium’s Tinne Gilis.
Gilis battled back well from going a game down as she threw
everything she could at Serme, but the Frenchwoman was able to use
her experience to close the win out. Serme will face Canada’s Hollie
Naughton in the next round of the Platinum event, with Naughton
getting the biggest win of her career against India’s Joshna
Chinappa over at the complex.
“Because
of the COVID rules, we have trained together for the last two days,”
Serme said.
“We did play some rallies and I knew they were going to be long
rallies and it would be very physical. She had her chance today and
played really good squash. I had to work hard physically, mentally
and tactically as well.”
World No.7 Hania El Hammamy is also through after beating Wales’
Emily Whitlock, and she will take on World No.33 Nada Abbas next.
England’s Alison Waters will take on compatriot Sarah-Jane Perry in
the after her win over Mariam Metwally, while Perry received a
walkover after her second round opponent, Mayar Hany, withdrew from
the tournament earlier today.
Glass court action also begins tomorrow at El Gouna Conference and
Culture Center, which hosts the El Gouna International for the first
time. Play begins at 18:00.
Subramaniam Takes Out Evans in Round Two of El
Gouna International
Malaysian
World No.36 Sivasangari Subramaniam caused an upset on day two of
the El Gouna International Squash Open, PSA World Tour Platinum
event as she sent World No.10 Tesni Evans out after a five-game
battle at the El Gouna Squash Complex.
Subramaniam has played well on Egyptian soil in the past - beating
her first top 10 player, Amanda Sobhy, at the CIB PSA Women’s World
Championship in Egypt back in October 2019 - and found her range
early on to take a one-game lead.
Welshwoman Evans, making her first PSA Tour appearance of 2021,
fought back to take a 2-1 advantage, but it proved to be in vain as
she succumbed to 22-year-old Subramaniam in the fourth and fifth
games.
“Obviously I played very well in the first game, I was really warmed
up and very comfortable,” said Subramaniam afterwards.
“But in the second and third, I was giving her plenty of errors. She
was not winning, I was just giving her points and it was very
frustrating. From the fourth game on, I told myself I have the
fitness, so I was just going to keep pushing the ball back even if I
had the opportunity to volley.
“That worked well, the rallies were going longer, and I think she
was feeling it too. It’s a good win, so I’m happy to be back.”
Subramaniam will take on No.2 seed Nouran Gohar next after she got
the better of Zeina Mickawy in straight games, while England’s Lucy
Turmel enjoyed a surprise win over USA’s Olivia Clyne.
Turmel,
the World No.37, completed her first win over a top 15 player as she
beat World No.12 Clyne by an 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 scoreline to book her
spot in the last 16 of a Platinum event for the second time. The
21-year-old will take on World No.5 Amanda Sobhy next, with Sobhy
coming from a game down to beat Canada’s Danielle Letourneau.
“I spoke to my brother just before the match and asked him if he had
any advice,” Turmel said.
“His advice was to get in front of her and stay in front of her and
that’s the simplicity of what I did. Thanks to my brother for the
advice he gave me. This tournament I really wanted to prove to
myself I could play the level I think I can play at and the aim is
to go home happy with the way I performed.”
Sobhy’s USA teammate Olivia Fiechter upset the seedings with victory
over World No.13 Nele Gilis and she will play World No.9 Salma Hany
for a place in the quarter-finals. New Zealand’s Joelle King and
Egypt’s Rowan Elaraby were the other two women’s victors.
In
the men’s event, former World Junior Champion Karim El Hammamy
followed up his opening day upset of Qatar’s Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi
with a 3-0 win against World No.16 Zahed Salem.
Salem was coming off the back of a maiden Platinum quarter-final
last time out at the CIB Black Ball Open two months ago, but he
suffered an early exit to El Hammamy, who won an intense match 11-6,
13-11, 11-7 in 64 minutes.
“He doesn’t play high percentage squash, his shots are very
calculated, so I had to attack, I couldn’t just wait and sit as he
was going to put the pressure on me,” El Hammamy said.
"I’m playing Karim Abdel Gawad [next]. We don’t know how the
Baby-Faced Assassin is going to do. Yes, he’s just come back from a
foot injury, but believe me, he can win on one foot, so I have to
wait and see and watch."
Gawad, a two-time runner-up at this event, got the better of Mohamed
ElSherbini in four games, while World Champion Tarek Momen began his
tournament with a 3-0 win against Iker Pajares Bernabeu.
World No.15 Gregoire Marche was also victorious on day one as he
upset the seedings to eliminate World No.10 Miguel Rodriguez. Marche
ended a four-match losing run against the former British Open
champion when he beat him at the CIB Black Ball Open two months ago
and followed that up with a confident 3-0 win in El Gouna today.
The
Frenchman will play Germany’s Raphael Kandra after his win over
Marche’s compatriot, Lucas Serme, while World No.4 Paul Coll and
World No.41 Victor Crouin are also through courtesy of wins against
Youssef Soliman and Shahjahan Khan, respectively.
“It was a good draw, when you think that Grégoire has to play
Miguel, with all due respect to Alan [Clyne] and Shahjahan, it’s not
the same level of players,” Crouin said.
“I’m happy of course that I’m in the third round and I’m playing
Paul on the glass court. I’m feeling good, and I cannot express how
happy I am to play on the glass. I can’t wait as normally I watch it
from behind my screen on SQUASHTV.”
Glass court action also begins tomorrow at El Gouna Conference and
Culture Center, which hosts the El Gouna International for the first
time. Play begins at 18:00.
Gaultier Battles Past Lake as El Gouna
International Gets Under Way
French
veteran Gregory Gaultier battled to a 3-1 victory over World No.44
Nathan Lake as the 2021 El Gouna International Squash Open, PSA
World Tour Platinum event got under way at the El Gouna Squash
Complex.
Gaultier, the 2017 El Gouna champion, is making his first appearance
at this tournament for three years due to a combination of injury
problems and the COVID-19 pandemic - which resulted in the
cancellation of last year’s event - and he looked to be making up
for lost time as the 38-year-old charged into a one-game lead.
Englishman Lake rallied to take the second game, but the guile and
determination of his more experienced opponent shone through as
Gaultier closed it out by an 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6 margin to book
his spot in the last 32, where he will take on the in-form Fares
Dessouky.
“It felt a bit weird not to be able to do much for the past two
days,” Gaultier said.
“I got to play a bit at 10pm last night, but it was not enough for
me, I feel. I have been training very well, but at the start of the
match I felt a bit flat. Still, he is a very strong and talented
player, very good with the racket and he is a fair player.
“I enjoyed my match with him and now I’m playing Fares in the next
round.”
Gaultier was joined in victory by fellow Frenchmen Lucas Serme and
Victor Crouin as they enjoyed respective wins over Vikram Malhotra
and Auguste Dussourd, while one of the biggest upsets in the men’s
draw saw World No.49 Patrick Rooney defeat fellow Englishman Declan
James.
Despite
meeting in England Squash sanctioned events, the pair had never
played on the PSA Tour, and it was 23-year-old Rooney who showed his
credentials as one to watch with an impressive 11-8, 11-5, 9-11,
11-9 victory over the World No.24.
Rooney will play Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann in the next round.
Steinmann will compete in the second round of a Platinum event for
the first time after his first round opponent - experienced Spaniard
Borja Golan - succumbed to a leg injury in the second game of their
match, with Steinmann leading at the time.
There were also wins for Steinmann’s compatriot - Nicolas Mueller -
as well as the likes of former World Junior Champions Karim El
Hammamy and Eain Yow Ng.
In
the women’s event, Egypt’s Menna Hamed claimed her first win at a
Platinum event as she overcame France’s Melissa Alves in a
back-and-forth 53-minute battle.
The 23-year-old has been affected by the COVID-19 virus in recent
weeks but put the lack of match practice aside to win 9-11, 11-6,
13-11, 6-11, 11-6.
“I had COVID three weeks ago and I was in bed for a week, so I had
very little time to get prepared for the tournament,” Hany revealed.
“To add to that, Anna played really well, I was not expecting her to
play that well and she gave me such a hard time on court. Today I
was giving it 100 per cent despite having no expectation.”
World
No.49 Hana Ramadan caused the biggest upset in the women’s event as
she sent World No.18 Nadine Shahin crashing out courtesy of an 11-8,
11-4, 5-11, 11-7 victory.
The 23-year-old will play fellow Egyptian Yathreb Adel for the place
in round three.
“We’ve been playing each other for such a long time, we know each
other’s game pretty well,” said Ramadan afterwards.
“It was all about who was going to keep pushing and stay in the
rallies until the end, and keep the focus and the game plan. I’m
playing Yathreb [next] and we played such a long time ago, so I’m
going in there with a blank page. I will put my game plan down there
and go for my shots as much as I can without losing my concentration
as she is a very skilful player.”
Elsewhere, wildcards Nour Aboulmakarim and Habiba El Dafrawy saw
their tournaments come to an end at the hands of Farida Mohamed and
Olivia Fiechter, respectively.
The second round begins tomorrow (May 21) and play begins at 14:00
(GMT+2). The likes of men’s World Champion Tarek Momen and women’s
World No.2 Nouran Gohar will begin their title challenges. All of
the action will be shown live on the
official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour and the
PSA SquashTV YouTube channel.
ElShorbagy and El Sherbini Top El Gouna
International Draws
Egyptian duo Mohamed ElShorbagy and Nour El Sherbini will headline
the 2021 El Gouna International Squash Open when the PSA World Tour
Platinum event takes place in Egypt between Thursday May 20 - Friday
May 28.
World No.1 Farag misses out on defending his title due to prior
family commitments, meaning ElShorbagy will top the 48-player men’s
draw as he looks to win this title for the first time since 2016.
This year’s El Gouna International will be held at a new venue - the
El Gouna Conference and Culture Center - which will house the glass
court between May 22-28, while the El Gouna Squash Complex will be
used between May 20-24 for matches in the early rounds of the
tournament.
The World No.2 receives a bye into round two, where he will face
former World No.1 James Willstrop in a mouthwatering last 32 clash.
ElShorbagy is seeded on the same side of the draw as Welshman Joel
Makin - who he lost to in December’s CIB Black Ball Squash Open
quarter-finals - and the pair could meet again in the same stage in
El Gouna.
The man who took the Black Ball Open crown - Marwan ElShorbagy - is
also seeded on the top half of the draw and could have a rematch
with Black Ball Open runner-up Fares Dessouky in the quarter-finals,
before a prospective semi-final showdown with older brother Mohamed
if matches go to seeding.
World Champion Tarek Momen is one of the most notable names in the
bottom half of the draw and he features alongside the likes of World
No.4 Paul Coll, 2019 runner-up Karim Abdel Gawad and World No.8
Miguel Rodriguez.
World No.1 El Sherbini will get her tournament under way against
either Farida Mohamed or wildcard Nour Aboulmakarim in round two of
the women’s event and is seeded to face World No.6 Sarah-Jane Perry
and World No.4 Camille Serme en route to a predicted final match up
with 2019 runner-up Nouran Gohar in the title decider.
Gohar will get her tournament under way against either Zeina Mickawy
or Rachel Arnold in round two and has the likes of World No.8 Joelle
King and World No.5 Amanda Sobhy on her side of the draw.
The other women’s wildcard - Habiba El Defrawy - will play USA’s
Olivia Fiechter in the opening round - while the men’s wildcards -
Aly Abou Eleinen and Roger Baddour - will play Youssef Soliman and
Youssef Ibrahim, respectively.