Raneem El Welily v Nour El Tayeb
CIB Black Ball Quarters March 2020
[5] Nour El Tayeb 3-2 [1] Raneem El Welily 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9 (72m)
It was to be Raneem’s last PSA match…
Nour El Tayeb v Hania El Hammamy
CIB World Tour Finals Final
[5] Hania El Hammamy 3-2 [2] Nour El Tayeb 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-3 (81m)
3. Camille Serme v Hania El Hammamy
Windy City Round 3
[5] Camille Serme (FRA) 3-2 [9] Hania El Hammamy 11-7, 10-12, 7-11, 14-12, 11-9 (81m)
The pair had already met twice in the 2019-2020 season, with Serme winning in straight games at the Open de France – Nantes, while a month later, the young Egyptian had fought back from two games down to shock the Frenchwoman in the quarter-finals of the CIB PSA Women’s World Championship in front of the Pyramids.
Unsurprisingly, this one ebbed and flowed, with Serme, the then-World No.3 taking the first game 11-7. It was never going to be easy for the Frenchwoman, though, with El Hammamy winning both the second and third, the former on a tie-break, to take the advantage in the match.
‘La Panthere’ had to save match balls in the fourth game, before winning it 14-12, and she went on to eventually claim the victory after more than 80 minutes of scintillating action in the Cathedral Hall of the University Club of Chicago.
The pair would go on to face each other four more times in 2020, They battled at the CIB Black Ball Women’s Squash Open, the Manchester Open, CIB PSA World Tour Finals and the CIB Egyptian Open, with El Hammamy winning three of those remaining four clashes. It is a rivalry that could go on for a few more years yet.
Nour El Sherbini v Hania El Hammamy
CIB Black Ball March 2020 Final
[9] Hania El Hammamy 3-2 [4] Nour El Sherbini 11-6, 9-11, 12-10, 8-11, 13-11 (71m)
Match of the year: Camille Serme v Nouran Gohar
Tournament of Champions Semi-Final
[5] Camille Serme (Fra) 3-2 [3] Nouran Gohar 7-11, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 16-14 (78m)
Our choice for women’s match of the year takes us right back to the very first televised tournament of 2020, the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, held in the stunning Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Terminal.
Serme had already knocked out World No.1 Raneem El Welily to reach the last four, and she came up against the woman that would take the top spot in the World Rankings after El Welily retired in the summer, Nouran Gohar.
The Frenchwoman never found herself with the advantage in the match until the very end, as she had to fight her way back into the contest having gone behind twice.
However, ‘La Panthere’ was able to take the match into a deciding game, and what a game it was. It went deep into a tie-break, with both players having chances to win the match and book a place in the final.
It was Serme that did so, winning the final game on a tie-break 16-14, and she would go on to win the Platinum level event after beating Nour El Sherbini in the final. It was her first major triumph in three years, after winning the same title back in 2017.
