ALL THE REPORTS THE PHOTOS
Final
2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 3-0 [1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) 17-15, 11-8, 2-0 retired (33m)
Semis
[2] Nouran Gohar 3-1 [6] Joelle King (Nzl) 5-11, 11-8, 14-12, 11-5 (59m)
[1] Nour El Sherbini 3-0 [8] Rowan Elaraby 11-6, 16-14, 11-4 (33m)
Quarters
[8] Rowan Elaraby 3-0 Nour El Tayeb 15-13, 11-7, 11-9 (33m)
[2] Nouran Gohar 3-0 [5] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 11-9, 11-8, 13-11 (38m)
[1] Nour El Sherbini 3-0 Georgina Kennedy (ENG) 11-3, 11-6, 11-7 (24m)
Round Three
[8] Rowan Elaraby 3-1 [wc] Jana Shiha 13-11, 16-14, 5-11, 11-9 (61m)
[5] Sarah-Jane Perry (Eng) 3-0 Nada Abbas 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 (30m)
[2] Nouran Gohar w/o [9/16] Olivia Fiechter (Usa) Olivia w/d injured
[9/16] Nour El Tayeb 3-1 [3] Hania El Hammamy 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 (60m)
[1] Nour El Sherbini 3-1 Hana Ramadan 10-12, 11-3, 11-6, 11-5 (36m)
[9/16] Gina Kennedy (Eng) 3-1 [7] Salma Hany 11-9, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7 (46m)
click on the links to see the reports
[6] Joelle King (Nzl) 3-2 Farida Mohamed (Egy) 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 11-13, 9-3 rtd (81m)
[8] Rowan Elaraby 3-0 Danielle Letourneau (Can) 11-4, 11-4, 11-7 (26m)
[9/16] Joshna Chinappa (Ind) 3-2 Zeina Mickawy 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 14-16, 11-8 (49m)
[WC] Jana Shiha 3-2 Tesni Evans (WAL) 3-2 3-11, 5-11, 14-12, 11-6, 11-8 (50m)
Hana Ramadan(Egy) 3-0 [9/16] Nadine Shahin 11-8, 11-4, 11-3 (24m)
[3] Hania El Hammamy 3-0 Lucy Turmel (Eng) 11-4, 12-10, 11-7 (39m)
[2] Nouran Gohar 3-0 Lisa Aitken (Sco) 11-6, 11-6, 11-2 (28m)
[1] Nour El Sherbini 3-2 Tinne Gilis (Bel) 11-3, 8-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-8 (55m)
[7] Salma Hany 3-1 Donna Lobban (Aus) 11-8, 7-11, 11-2, 11-7 (36m)
PSA reports
Home wildcard Jana Shiha produced the shock of the day to come from two games and match ball down to stun Welsh World No.17 Tesni Evans.
In her first-round match against Tze Lok Ho, World No.55 Shiha’s attacking volleys proved a potent weapon. Evans, though, was able to neutralise this threat early on, pushing the ball deep whenever possible to take the first two games 11-3 and 11-5.
The Welshwoman appeared on course for a routine 3-0 win when she took a 10-8 lead in the third, only for Shiha to save both match balls and force a tie-break. The 20-year-old then saved a further match ball at 11-10, before flipping the game on its head with a 14-12 win.
The 20-year-old stormed out in the fourth game to the delight of the fans watching, and she took the match to five games with an 11-6 win.
With momentum and the crowd truly behind her, Shiha continued to press relentlessly in the fifth game. As Evans began to tire, Shiha’s devastating range of attacking shots increasingly found their mark, and the World No.55 walked off the court to rapturous applause as she sealed a memorable victory with an 11-8 win.
Jana:
“I have no words! After being 2-0 down, I don’t think I’ve ever come back from 2-0 down, even in juniors, so I’m very very very proud of how I managed to win today! It was my first time playing Tesni so I didn’t know how to react. She’s very talented and her shots are amazing, so I knew this was going to happen. In those first two games, she really bagelled me. Usually, I let go of the whole match, but I didn’t today, for the first time which is a plus. In the third game I tried to hold onto the basic game, but then I had to attack. I tried to take as many volleys as I could, I tried to do my shots.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect this. I wasn’t training my best, but I had confidence because I’m at my home club. I didn’t want to let my home crowd down, so I’m on the right track and I hope tomorrow I play as well as today.”
On her next opponent, No.8 seed Rowan Elaraby, she said: “I’ve never played Rowan in an official match, but we’ve played as juniors. I’m very excited and confident. It’s my first time reaching the third round, which is a plus, and my home club, which is a second plus. So I’m positive about tomorrow, let’s hope it goes my way.”
Day One
Farida Mohamed 3-0 Millie Tomlinson (Eng) 12-10, 11-3, 11-6 (31m)
Sabrina Sobhy (Usa) 3-1 Yathreb Adel 10-12, 11-6, 11-1, 11-8 (35m)
[wc] Jana Shiha 3-1 Ho Tze Lok (Hkg)
Nada Abbas 3-0 [wc] Nour El-Sharkawy 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 (19m)
Lucy Turmel (ENG) 3-0 Mayar Hany 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 (27m)
Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-2 Sana Ibrahim 2-11, 15-13, 8-11, 11-1, 11-7 (49m)
C13
Zeina Mickawy 3-0 Anna Serme (Cze) 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 (24m)
Mariam Metwally 3-0 Cristina Gomez (Esp) 11-2, 11-9, 11-4 (19m)
Hana Ramadan 3-0 Ineta Mackevica (Lat) 11-1, 11-4, 11-4 (18m)
Donna Lobban (Aus) 3-1 Menna Nasser 8-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 (33m)
2022 Women’s PLATINUM, 12-17 March
Mayar
In the past few months, I wasn’t feeling really happy or excited to be on court. I didn’t feel I wanted to put that much effort at the sport, and I thought that maybe that if I just take a break, I would enjoy my life and everything would be great.
And it was like that at the beginning, then it felt like I wasn’t doing the thing I’m really good at, well I think, and I felt that life was boring. So after some months, I realised I wanted to play squash, and that I wanted to do the training every day, not because my mum was telling me to do it but because I wanted it.
So that’s why I started training again. But also, I was the only one that didn’t manage to get an appointment for my US visa, so I couldn’t go to the US where all the tournaments were happening, which was very frustrating.
But this event was here, so I got excited again, I trained for a month at least. So I’m happy that I’m back on track now..
Nour
It’s my first ever big event, less alone Platinium, it’s a really nice experience. I could have maybe moved a bit better, but Nada is older, more experienced than me, so all credit to her.
I think I played my best today, and all my friends and family came, and also family from my friends! It’s my home club, everyone here supported me, so I’m really happy.
Nada
“I’m really happy, it’s never easy to play a wildcard, especially in Egypt against a young Egyptian. They’re always fearless and want to win, so I’m really happy to be through and I’m looking forward to my next match.
“It’s really nice to have people that believe in me and support me here cheering me on. It always gives me a push, so I’m glad they’re here.”
Jana
“I haven’t played a match since the U.S. Open in October, so I wasn’t at my best in the first game.
“I found a better face in the middle of the first game, then I lost focus in the second game. In the third and fourth I pushed through. I was trying to control the pace because she is very talented too, so I had to be the first one attacking as she has good volley shots.”
Mariam
“I was just trying to stick to my game plan as much as possible; I wanted to play at a slower pace and I didn’t want to run a lot so I could save energy for tomorrow’s match. So it’s good to get through in three.
“After playing in Cleveland, I knew how the game plan was going to be, so I was trying to do the same this time. I feel fresh for tomorrow and I’ll give it my all to get the win.”
Yathreb
I don’t want to sound like excuses, I have having to mention it, but I’m asthmatic Still, when you get on court, you accept the conditions you are in. We had two heavy days of wind and sand in Cairo, and I have been struggling as I cannot take my normal medicine/inhaler because of doping. So I was struggling a lot with my breathing.
I’m happy I was playing well. But when she got me moving around a lot, I could feel a pain in my chest, and I was struggling to breathe. But at least I’m trying to get back to enjoy my time on court.
I have been struggling a lot after my mum passed away, but my husband is very supportive, he helps me, he understands what it takes to play competition, and what it is to lose as well. I didn’t have much pleasure on court anymore, and as I lost my ranking, I felt that all the work I had been doing for the past two years was lost. It was not an easy time and I struggled a lot mentally with my squash.
The game has changed as well, everybody has been improving, but I am now trying to put all the negative things aside, I lost weight to help my movement, which is something I always struggled with.
I’m happy to be back, enjoying my squash so much more than I used to, despite it all…
Zeina said
“I’m really happy I managed to finish this in three, I took time at the beginning to adapt to the court so I tried to stick to the basics. It worked out and I’m really happy to be through.”
On her next opponent, India’s Joshna Chinappa, she said: “Joshna is so experienced. We’ve never played before on the tour, so I’m really looking forward to it and hopefully I can get the win tomorrow!”
Farida
“It’s a good first round playing Millie, she’s very experienced,” said Mohamed.
“I’m not really satisfied with my performance today, but I’m glad I managed to finish this in three.
“I was happy with my start in the first game, but I lost focus when it was game ball. I knew the first game was very important, I was trying to push so hard and I knew I had to win the first game to be able to go through.
“There are a lot of positives. I played Millie in this tournament last year in the first round and today it was much better, so I saw improvements. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s match, I’m playing Joelle again for the third time, so I’m excited.
“Joelle is very experienced and she knows how to change her plan in the middle of the game when it’s not working. I always have more than one plan with Joelle. I have an advantage that she’s the older player, she’s been in the top five, she’s now in the top 10, so I don’t really have that much pressure.”
Forty-eight of the world’s leading female players will battle it out in Cairo, with the world’s top two women expected to meet in the PSA World Tour Platinum final. World No.1 El Sherbini will face either Finland’s Emilia Soini or Belgium’s Tinne Gilis in the second round, before potential clashes against Nadine Shahin, and either England’s Georgina Kennedy or Egypt’s CIB Salma Hany in the quarter finals.
The World No.1 was the victor on both of the PSA World Tour’s visits to Cairo in 2021, defeating US No.1 Amanda Sobhy in the final of the Platinum level event in March, before then beating compatriot CIB Hania El Hammamy in December’s Gold level final, bookending her year with success.
On the other side of the draw, CIB Nour Gohar starts her Black Ball campaign against Scotland’s Lisa Aitken or Swiss No.1 Cindy Merlo in the second round, and she could go on to meet USA’s Olivia Fiechter in the last 16, in a repeat of the Cincinnati Gaynor Cup final. Sarah-Jane Perry lies in wait in the quarter finals before a possible duel with USA’s Amanda Sobhy in the last four.
2020 winner CIB Hania El Hammamy will be the No.3 seed for the tournament, and after starting her week against either England’s Lucy Turmel or Hong Kong’s Tze Lok Ho in the second round, she could then meet compatriot CIB Nour El Tayeb in the last 16.
First Round Draw
[1] Nour El Sherbini – (bye)
Emilia Soini (FIN) v [17/32] Tinne Gilis (BEL)
[17/32] Hana Ramadan v Ineta Mackevica (LAT)
[9/16] Nadine Shahin – (bye)
Sana Ibrahim v [17/32] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)
[9/16] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) – (bye)
[17/32] Donna Lobban (AUS) v Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG)
[7] Salma Hany – (bye)
[8] Rowan Elaraby – (bye)
Nicole Bunyan (CAN) v [17/32] Danielle Letourneau (CAN)
[9/16] Tesni Evans (WAL) – (bye)
[WC] Jana Shiha v [17/32] Rachael Grinham (AUS)
[9/16] Nour El Tayeb – (bye)
[17/32] Lucy Turmel (ENG) v Tze Lok Ho (HKG)
[3] Hania El Hammamy – (bye) [4] Amanda Sobhy (USA) – (bye)
Yathreb Adel v [17/32] Sabrina Sobhy (USA)
[17/32] Zeina Mickawy v Anna Serme (CZE)
[9/16] Joshna Chinappa (IND) – (bye) [9/16] Olivia Clyne (USA) – (bye)
[9/16] Nele Gilis (BEL) – (bye)
[17/32] Farida Mohamed v Millie Tomlinson (ENG)
[6] Joelle King (NZL) – (bye) [5] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) – (bye)
Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG) v [17/32] Emily Whitlock (WAL)
[17/32] Nada Abbas v [WC] Nour El-Sharkawy
Cristina Gomez (E-SP) v [17/32] Mariam Metwally (EGY) [9/16] Olivia Fiechter (USA) – (bye)
Enora Villard (FRA) v [17/32] Hollie Naughton (CAN)
[17/32] Lisa Aitken (SCO) v Cindy Merlo (SUI)
[2] Nouran Gohar – (bye)
