PHOTO ALBUM
Finals
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-1 Mohamed Abouelghar 11-6, 12-14, 11-7, 11-9 (58m)
[6] Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-0 [3] Farida Mohamed 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (28m)
Semis
Mohamed Abouelghar 3-1 [3] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 11-7, 11-8, 6-11, 11-6 (53m)
[3] Farida Mohamed 3-2 [2] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 6-11, 4-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9 (66m)
Egyptian duo Farida Mohamed and Mohamed Abouelghar upset the odds at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center as Mohamed recorded one of squash’s greatest-ever comebacks to beat Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam and unseeded Abouelghar took down Malaysian No.3 seed Eain Yow Ng in the China Open semi-finals. In the finals, they will face Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold and England’s Mohamed ElShorbagy.
No.3 seed Mohamed had made a dreadful start to her semi-final and looked all but beaten when No.2 seed Sivasangari took the first two games and then earned eight match balls at 10-2 in game three.
Opting to throw caution to the wind, Mohamed hit a flurry of winners. As the points began to stack up, Sivasangari appeared rattled and, incredibly, the Egyptian was able to score the ten consecutive points needed to take the game 12-10.
Mohamed followed this up with an 11-8 win in the fourth game to force an unlikely fifth, before what had been an epic contest was brought to a sad ending.
At 9-8 up, Sivasangari was accidentally caught by Mohamed’s racket and required a lengthy injury break after receiving a deep cut near her left eye.
Returning to court with the scores now at 9-9, the Malaysian was clearly still suffering from the effects of the contact and in a flat conclusion, Mohamed quickly picked up the last two points she needed to complete the win.
A visibly upset Mohamed said afterwards:
“I definitely didn’t mean it; it’s one of the worst endings I’ve ever had. I’m definitely not happy with the win, although I had to fight very very hard to come back from 0-2 and 2-10, but the ending made it so bad.
The men’s final, meanwhile, will pit Abouelghar against ElShorbagy for the ninth time in their careers.
2018 China Open champion Abouelghar, who had once risen as high as World No.7 but has struggled with injuries in recent seasons, has looked rejuvenated in Shanghai this week, recording a sublime 3-0 win over No.2 seed Marwan ElShorbagyin the quarter-final.
Today, the World No.49 again looked near his best as he reached his first final since the 2018-19 PSA World Tour Finals by dispatching Ng 3-1.
Abouelghar was sharp from the opening rally, perhaps a reflection of his comfortable 27-minute win the night prior, and quickly moved into a commanding lead with an 11-7 win in game one and an 11-8 in game two.
Ng fired back 11-6 in game three, but any hopes of a comeback similar to Mohamed’s were swiftly dashed by the experienced Egyptian, who kept calm to take game four 11-6.
“Last time we played was five years ago when I was the top player, and he was the underdog,” Abouelghar said afterwards. Now, things have changed a little, and I’m fighting back up the rankings while he’s established himself as a top player.”
Quarters
Mohamed Abouelghar 3-0 [2] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) 11-3, 11-8, 11-2 (27m)
[3] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 3-1 Mohamad Zakaria 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-2 (64m)
[3] Farida Mohamed 3-1 [5] Tomato Ho (HKG) 12-10, 11-4, 7-11, 11-9 (36m)
[7] Iker Pajares (ESP) 3-2 [4] Fares Dessouky 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 2-11, 11-9 (78m)[6] Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-1 [1] Rowan Elaraby 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 (46m)
[8] Aira Azman (MAS) 3-2 [4] Sana Ibrahim 2-11, 9-11, 14-12, 11-3, 11-6 (55m)
Round Two
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-1 Omar Mosaad 11-6, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8 (45m)
[4] Fares Dessouky 3-0 Jonah Bryant (ENG) 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 (41m)
[3] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 3-1 Yahya Elnawasany 11-4, 7-11, 11-5, 11-2 (51m)
Mohamad Zakaria 3-0 [5] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 11-7, 11-8, 11-5 (48m)[4] Sana Ibrahim 3-0 Ka Yi Lee (HKG) 11-6, 11-8, 12-10 (39m)
[8] Aira Azman (MAS) 3-1 Salma Eltayeb 10-12, 11-4, 11-6, 11-5 (33m)
[1] Rowan Elaraby 3-0 Nour Aboulmakarim 11-2, 11-1, 11-7 (19m)
[7] Georgia Adderley (SCO) 3-0 Nadine Shahin 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (27m)
[3] Farida Mohamed 3-1 Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) 11-4, 6-11, 11-7, 11-2 (28m)
Round One
Salma Eltayeb 3-0 Cheng Nga Ching (HKG) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 (22m)
Nour Aboulmakarim 3-0 Sehveetrraa Kumar (MAS) 11-5, 11-9, 11-6 (28m)
Ainaa Amani (MAS) 3-1 Amina El Rihany 9-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-6 (35m)
Nadine Shahin 3-0 Ziyi Liu (CHN) 11-4, 11-4, 11-9 (19m)Omar Mosaad 3-0 Zhou Penglin (CHN) 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (24m)
Mohamad Zakaria 3-0 Li Hai Zhen (CHN) 11-1, 11-6, 11-6 (21m)
Mohamed Abouelghar 3-0 Matthew Lai (HKG) 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 (25m)