Hong Kong Football Club

PHOTO ALBUM

Finals

[2] Aly Abou Eleinen 3-1 [3] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 11-7 (61m)

[7] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-0 [4] Amina Orfi  11-9, 11-8, 11-5 (39m)

Egypt’s Aly Abou Eleinen is the Hong Kong Football Club Open champion. He captured his maiden PSA World Tour title after playing some superb squash to oust Eain Yow Ng 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 11-7 scoreline.

World No.19 Eleinen started brightly, finding his length and putting work into the legs of his opponent to take a one game advantage. And despite Eain Yow rallying to claim the second, the No.2 seed remained unfazed, playing a methodical game that proved hard to break down.

Some of the brutal movements that the Malaysian had been forced into earlier in the match started to catch up with him in the latter stages of the third, with Eleinen retaking the lead and subsequently sealing the victory after just over an hour of play.

“I feel unbelievable,” he said after the match. “I’ve been putting in a lot of work over the last year and a half and everything is starting to click right now. Like I’ve said all week, starting well, finding my length and getting to the front is so crucial. Taking advantage of the lively ball here is so crucial.

“Yow loves stepping up and volleying, so I had to make sure that I got the ball to the back of the court, and I think I was the one who was actually making him move more.

“We’ve got the Hong Kong Open next week and it’s the final event of the year and I’m really excited to end on a high note.”

Semis

Amina in the final. AMINAAAAAAAAAA!
[4] Amina Orfi3-2 [1] Georgina Kennedy (ENG)  11-4, 8-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-8 (66m)

[3] Eain Yow Ng (Mas) 3-0 [1] Mohamed ElSherbini    11-9, 11-5, 11-4 (36m)
[2] Aly Abou Eleinen 3-0 [4] Iker Pajares (ESP)  11-2, 11-7, 11-5 (44m)

PSA reports

16-year-old Amina Orfi came from behind to defeat No.1 seed Georgina Kennedy in a five-game thriller and progress to the Hong Kong Football Club Open final. Amina will take on Sivasangari Subramaniam in the title decider after she completed an 11-4, 8-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-8 victory over World No.6 Kennedy in 66 minutes of breathtaking action.

Despite the pair having never faced each other on the PSA Tour, both players took no time in figuring each other out, playing at lightning speed right from the very first point.

After Kennedy fought back from a game-down to take a 2-1 lead, the match seemed to be heading in Englishwoman’s direction, but the World No.18 Orfi raised her game yet again to force a decider.

At 9-7 up in the fifth, the teenager hit a sublime backhand drop into the nick to set up three match balls, and despite Kennedy saving one of these, the tie was sealed on a no-let decision against the England No.1.

After the match, Orfi said: “It was a very tough match because after the first game I was sort of tired even though I won 11-4, so after that, her experience won over me in the next two games.

“In the last two games I just tried to focus on my squash and more on moving her around and not giving her any cheap opportunities, and I think that worked out pretty well.

On her final against Subramaniam, she said: “Siva is in very good form, and she beat Nour El Tayeb, so I know it is going to be a battle. I’m going to do my best to claim this title. I came a long way and it is just a matter of patience.”

In the men’s draw, No.2 and No.3 seeds Eain Yow Ng and Aly Abou Eleinen are both set to compete in maiden Bronze finals after coming through their last four bouts in straight-games, respectively.

World No.21 Eain Yow toppled No.1 seed Mohamed ElSherbini in a confident and composed performance which lasted just 36 minutes. Eleinen was the last player to book a spot in the finals tomorrow after a near-faultless performance against Spaniard Iker Pajares.

The Egyptian, who has looked at home on the court in the Hong Kong Football Club Open all week, found an immaculate line and length right from the offset, and never looked back from there.

“I’m super pleased,” Eleinen said after the match. “Getting a 3-0 win against Iker is never easy, it was physically tough, but I’m glad I got through.

“Like I’ve said all week, finding my length on this court has helped me a lot. I had never played Iker before, so I didn’t know what his strengths and weaknesses were, and in situations like these, you just have to stick to the basics and adjust your game, stay aware and pick up things here and there that you can use to your advantage.”

Quarters

[1] Mohamed ElSherbini 3-2 Henry Leung (HKG)  9-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 (54m)
[4] Amina Orfi 3-1 Rachel Arnold (Mas) 8-11, 11-2, 14-12, 11-2 (46m)

PSA reports

No.4 seed Amina Orfi by no means had it her own way in her quarter-final bout against Rachel Arnold, falling a game behind and later having to save two game balls in the third. Arnold, who claimed the scalp of No.8 seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir in the previous round, produced periods of superb squash early on but eventually fell away as the match drew to its conclusion. Orfi walked off court with a 3-1 win after 46 minutes of hard-fought action.

In the men’s draw, No.1 seed Mohamed ElSherbini had to fight back from two games down to defeat Hong Kong’s Henry Leung in a fiery encounter.

In front of his home crowd, Leung, who had already prevailed in two five-game matches this week, raced out of the blocks, pushing ElSherbini to the back of the court and proving the more aggressive of the two players. A visibly frustrated ElSherbini struggled to find his flow in an opening two games which were punctuated with a number of stoppages and refereeing decisions.

However, from the third, the Egyptian started to fire the ball in short on a more regular basis and reaped the rewards of this tactical change. After reducing the deficit to 2-1, there looked to be only one winner of the match, with ElSherbini eventually prevailing 9-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 in 54 minutes.

“I was being very passive and I’m still a little bit jet lagged at the moment”, ElSherbini said after his match. “If he was playing clean I think I would have lost in three games, but he blocked me and annoyed me, so I came back and I won.

“The crowd was with him, but I kind of liked that and I used it to my advantage so it’s a good experience. I’m lucky to be alive and to fight another day.”

Aly Abou Eleinen continued his impressive run of form at the Hong Kong Football Club Open by taking out local player Tsz Kwan Lau, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5 in 36 minutes.

The Egyptian was up against it from the offset, with a partisan crowd and a pumped-up Lau working in tandem to produce some superb moments of play, however, Eleinen kept his composure to take the first game.

After weathering the storm early in the match, the No.2 seed continued to hit some great lines and lengths, forcing Lau into some of ill-timed errors and eventually coming away with the victory in three games.

Round Two

 [6] Gregoire Marche (Fra) 3-1 Ibrahim Elkabbani 11-1, 11-3, 5-11, 11-7 (41m)
[1] Mohamed ElSherbini 3-2 Yassin Elshafei  11-5, 11-6, 10-12, 7-11, 11-6 (65m)
[2] Aly Abou Eleinen 3-0 Seif Shenawy  11-2, 11-9, 11-9 (29m)

[3] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) 3-0 Zeina Mickawy  11-8, 11-5, 11-3 (30m)
[4] Amina Orfi 3-0 Lee Ka Yi (Hkg)  11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (32m)
Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-1 [8] Fayrouz Aboelkheir  3-11, 11-3, 14-12, 14-12 (41m)

Round One

Ibrahim Elkabbani 3-0 Tang Ming Hong (Hkg)  11-2, 11-9, 11-7 (27m)
Yassin Elshafei 3-1 Todd Harrity (Usa)  10-12, 11-2, 11-7, 11-9 (45m)
Seif El-Shenawy 3-1 Addeen Idrakie (Mas) 15-13, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6 (46m)

Zeina Mickawy 3-0 [WC] Ching Hei Fung (Hkg)  11-8, 11-6, 13-11 (30m)
Tong Tsz-Wing (Hkg)  3-1 Menna Hamed 11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 11-3 (47m)
Lee Ka Yi (Hkg)  3-1 Nardine Garas 1-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-9 (26m)
Jessica Turnbull (AUS) 3-0 Kenzy Ayman 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (23m)

 

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