PHOTO ALBUM
Finals
[1] Nour El Sherbini 3-1 [2] Nouran Gohar 5-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8 (70m)
[3] Mostafa Asal 3-1 [1] Ali Farag 11-3, 13-11, 5-11, 11-8 (82m)
Preview Finals
Men’s top seed Ali Farag has featured in all five men’s finals, losing out in the 2019 opening edition to Karim Abdel Gawad, then claiming victory in the next three finals against Tarek Momen, Mohamed ElShorbagy and Paul Coll. Tonight he faces a new opponent in Mostafa Asal, appearing in the final for the first time.
Their history only goes back to Dec 2018, but already they’ve met 24 times with Farag leading the H2H 18-6. Farag won their two meetings in this year’s World Tour Finals, but the tally in their six completed best-of-five meetings in 2023/24 is 4-2.
Women’s top seed Nour El Sherbini won the 2019 World Champs, which was staged alongside the first men’s event and the 2020 edition for good measure, before losing the 2021 final to today’s opponent, second seed Nouran Gohar, who will be appearing in her fourth consecutive CIB final.
Their rivalry dates back to 2014, with Sherbini holding a 22-12 overall H2H advantage. Apart from two World Tour Finals best of three matches, since their 2020 CIB final they’ve only met in finals and this will be the 20th in a row! Of the previous 19 Sherbini has won 12 but Gohar has won the last four – which average 78 minutes in duration.
Semis
[1] Nour El Sherbini 3-2 [3] Hania El Hammamy 6-11, 11-5, 12-10, 9-11, 11-7 (86m)
[2] Nouran Gohar 3-0 [9/16] Nada Abbas 11-3, 11-6, 11-2 (38m)[1] Ali Farag 3-0 [4] Diego Elias (Per) 11-9, 11-3, 11-9 (49m)
[3] Mostafa Asal 3-0 [9/16] Marwan ElShorbagy (Eng) 11-4, 11-5, 11-1 (40m)
Quarters
[2] Nouran Gohar 3-0 [7] Rowan Elaraby 11-7, 11-9, 13-11 (53m)
[9/16] Nada Abbas 3-1 Sana Ibrahim 11-9, 11-4, 9-11, 11-4 (61m)
[3] Hania El Hammamy 3-0 [5] Gina Kennedy (Eng) 11-7, 11-9, 12-10 (41m)
[1] Nour El Sherbini 3-0 [6] Tinne Gilis (Bel) 11-8, 11-1, 11-7 (28m)
[3] Mostafa Asal 3-0 [8] Mohamed ElShorbagy (Eng) 11-8, 6-2 rtd (30m)
[1] Ali Farag 3-0 [5] Mazen Hesham 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 (34m)
[4] Diego Elias (Per) 3-0 [7] Tarek Momen 11-5, 6-2 rtd (21m)
Round Three
[6] Tinne Gilis (Bel) 3-0 [9/16] Fayrouz Aboelkheir 11-8, 13-11, 16-14 (36m)
[3] Hania El Hammamy 3-0 Jasmine Hutton (Eng) 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 (35m)
[1] Nour El Sherbini 3-2 [9/16] Amina Orfi 6-11, 4-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-9 (65m)
[7] Tarek Momen 3-2 Fares Dessouky 11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 10-12, 11-8* (82m)
[5] Mazen Hesham 3-1 [9/16] Aly Abou Eleinen 3-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 (49m)
[1] Ali Farag 3-1 Nicolas Mueller (Sui) 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (48m)
Round Two
Jasmine Hutton (Eng) 3-0 Zeina Mickawy 11-2, 11-9, 11-5 (27m)
[9/16] Fayrouz Aboelkheir 3-1 Mariam Metwally 15-13, 7-11, 11-2, 11-7 (41m)
Lucy Turmel (Egy) 3-2 Nadine Shahin 15-13, 9-11, 9-11, 11-1, 11-4 (55m)
Sana Ibrahim 3-1 [4] Nele Gilis (Bel) 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 14-12 (63m)
[6] Tinne Gilis (Bel) 3-0 Menna Hamed 11-3, 11-8, 11-5 (28m)
[1] Nour El Sherbini 3-0 Sabrina Sobhy [9/16] 11-8, 11-4, 14-12 (38m)
[3] Hania El Hammamy 3-0 [9/16] Farida Mohamed 11-7, 11-3, 12-10 (31m)
[9/16] Nada Abbas 3-1 [9/16] Sarah-Jane Perry (Eng) 11-3, 10-12, 11-9, 11-5 (53m)
[Q] Nour Heikal 3-2 Malak Khafagy 13-15, 10-12, 11-7, 11-4, 11-5 (68m)
[9/16] Amina Orfi 3-0 [Q] Marina Stefanoni (Usa) 11-5, 11-2, 11-7 (34m)
Georgia Adderley (Sco) 3-2 Hana Ramadan 5-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-5 (52m)
[9/16] Rowan Elaraby (Egy) 3-1 Salma Eltayeb 11-1, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6 (30m)
[2] Nouran Gohar 3-0 [Q] Barb Sameh 11-4, 11-6, 11-2 (25m)
Fares Dessouky 3-0 Juan Camilo Vargas (Col) 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 (32m)
[7] Tarek Momen 3-1 Leonel Cardenas (Mex) 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 (57m)
[9/16] Aly Abou Eleinen 3-0 Dimitri Steinmann (Sui) 11-9, 11-1 rtd (30m)
[5] Mazen Hesham 3-1 Karim El Hammamy 11-5, 10-12, 11-7, 13-11 (68m)
[1] Ali Farag3-0 Curtis Malik (Eng) 12-10, 11-7, 11-8 (40m)
[3] Mostafa Asal 3-0 [9/16] Joel Makin (Wal) 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 (53m)
[9/16] Marwan ElShorbagy (Eng) 3-2 [6] Karim Abdel Gawad 8-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-7 (60m)
[9/16] Youssef Soliman 3-1 [9/16] Youssef Ibrahim 11-3, 6-11, 11-3, 11-7 (64m)
[9/16] Victor Crouin (Fra) 3-2 [Q] Mohamad Zakaria 11-8, 9-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-3 (74m)
Ramit Tandon (Ind) 3-0 Mohamed ElSherbini 11-5, 11-4, 11-8 (34m)
World No.32 Sana Ibrahim provided the shock of the day as she stunned Belgian World No.4 Nele Gilis in a fantastic four-game fight at Club O West, Cairo.
The second-round match appeared to be going to seeding when No.4 seed Gilis took the opening game 11-8, only for Ibrahim to launch a brilliant counterattack, levelling with an 11-6 win.
From here, the 21-year-old threw Gilis off her rhythm with relentless pressure, explained afterwards by Ibrahim as part of a renewed focus on building up her own stamina.
This proved extremely effective, with Ibrahim taking game three 11-8 and, after saving Gilis’ game ball at 9-10, clinching the victory as she converted her third match ball for a 14-12 win in game four.
Day FOUR, Fri 30th Aug, Main Draw Round One
Jasmine Hutton (Eng) 3-0 [LL] Habiba El Shazli 11-7, 11-7, 11-2 (24m)
Zeina Mickawy3-0 [LL] Hannah Craig (Irl) 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 (32m)
Nadine Shahin 3-2 Nicole Bunyan (Can) 15-13, 3-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6 (58m)
Sana Ibrahim 3-0 Marie Stephan (Fra) 11-9, 11-7, 11-9 (33m)
Menna Hamed 3-2 Nour Aboulmakarim 10-12, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5 (60m)
Malak Khafagy 3-0 [wc] Nour Megahed 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 (32m)
Lucy Turmel (Eng) 3-1 Kenzy Ayman 11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 11-3 (50m)
Hana Ramadan 3-0 [wc] Nardine Garas 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 (23m)
[Q] Nour Heikal3-1 Lucy Beecroft (Eng) 11-4, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6 (37m)
Mariam Metwally 3-0 [Q] Rana Ismael 11-9, 11-4, 13-11 (36m)
[Q] Marina Stefanoni (Usa) 3-0 Hana Moataz 11-5, 18-16, 11-9 (46m)
Salma Eltayeb 3-0 Alicia Mead (Eng) 11-4, 11-2, 11-8 (22m)
[Q] Barb Sameh3-1 Tomato Ho (Hkg) 13-11, 1-11, 15-13, 11-9 (65m)Abdulla Al-Tamimi (Qat) 3-0 [wc] Omar El Torkey 11-9, 11-6, 11-3 (29m)
Fares Dessouky 3-0 [Q] Yassin Elshafei 11-9, 11-5, 11-4 (39m)
Karim El Hammamy 3-2 Timothy Brownell (Usa) 7-11, 2-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-3 (71m)
Nicolas Mueller (Sui) 3-2 [Q] Moustafa El Sirty 8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8 (68m)
Raphael Kandra (Ger) 3-0 Yahya Elnawasany 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 (32m)
Iker Pajares (Esp) 3-0 [wc] Omar Mosaad 12-10, 11-4, 11-5 (44m)
Nathan Lake (Eng) 3-1 Mohamed Abouelghar 13-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4 (43m)
[Q] Mohamed Zakaria3-0 Nick Wall (Eng) v 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (40m)
Mohamed ElSherbini 3-0 [wc] Kareem El Torkey 11-7, 11-6, 12-10 (39m)
Teenage qualifiers Barb Sameh and Mohamad Zakaria stole the show on the opening day of the CIB Egyptian Open as the first ever diamond-level PSA Squash Tour event got underway at O West, Cairo.
Home duo Sameh and Zakaria each had to come through a gruelling three matches of qualifying to reach today’s first round, and they made sure they didn’t let the golden opportunity go to waste as they wowed with wins over Hong Kong, China’s Tomato Ho and England’s Nick Wall, respectively.
17-year-old Sameh, ranked 168th in the world, was in fine form today, backed loudly by the home crowd as she confidently took the game to World No. 23 Ho.
After clinching the opener 13-11, Sameh was pegged back 11-1 in the second. The Egyptian responded fantastically, though, taking a tight third game 15-13 and then sealing the win with an 11-9 victory in the fourth game to set up a second-round clash with reigning world champion Nouran Gohar.
“I’m over the moon right now, I came here, didn’t expect anything, just to enjoy the experience and try to challenge the top players,” Sameh said.
16-year-old World No.62 Zakaria, meanwhile, followed up his WSF World Junior Championship title this summer with a hugely impressive win over World No.35 Wall, with Zakaria wrapping up a 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 win in 40 minutes to make a statement of his professional ambitions.
“Today, out of all days I feel good because, as I said before I started: As the days go, as the tournament goes on, I play better. Today was maybe one of my best performances. I think I played better than I played at the World Juniors. I was I was fierce, I was aggressive, I was very active on court. I sent a message from the beginning,” Zakaria said.
