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Semis

[8] Youssef Soliman 3-0 Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY)11-9, 11-8, 11-4 (45m)

[6] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-2 [5] Amina Orfi 11-9, 10-12, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9 (81m)

World No.11 Youssef Soliman continued his superb run at the Silicon Valley Open after claiming an impressive three-game victory over the unseeded Aly Abou Eleinen in the last match of semi-finals night.

Soliman, who defeated former World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad in the previous round, backed up this performance in impressive style as he sealed an 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 win in 45 minutes.

Despite Eleinen’s brilliant recent form, Soliman started the quicker of the two, finding his marks and looking a player full of confidence. This was typified by a pair of backhand overhead straight kills which drew animated applause from those within Squash Zone.

Eleinen flew out of the blocks in the second, racing into a 6-1 lead, but Soliman kept his composure to slowly peg back Eleinen – who he admitted after the match he was sharing a hotel room with. After drawing parity, all the momentum was with Soliman, and the No.8 seed soon after doubled his advantage.

Both players continued to play at an extremely high level in the third game, with Eleinen going toe-to-toe with Soliman and firing in his respective winners. However, Soliman wasn’t to be stopped, sealing his spot in a first Gold-level final since the Optasia Championships 2023.

Quarters

Aly Abou Eleinen 3-0 [7] Victor Crouin (FRA)  11-6, 11-8, 12-10 (48m)
[8] Youssef Soliman 3-2 [2] Karim Gawad  5-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 (72m)

[1] Olivia Weaver (USA) 3-0 [7] Farida Mohamed  11-8, 11-8, 12-10 (34m)
[3] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-2 [8] Zeina Mickawy  11-9, 9-11, 13-11, 11-13, 11-3 (55m)
[5] Amina Orfi 3-0 [2] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) 11-9, 11-6, 11-3 (38m)

No.8 seed Youssef Soliman mounted a magnificent comeback as he came from 2-0 down, 9-6 down, to conquer No.2 seed Karim Abdel Gawad in five games.

Gawad looked in unstoppable form for the first 30 minutes of the match, attacking into all four corners of the court and not giving Soliman a moment to settle into the match. Winner followed winner, with ‘The Baby-Faced Assassin’ surging into a two-game lead by 11-5 and 11-6 scorelines.

The match continued in a similar vein for the majority of the third, with Gawad within touching distance of the semi-finals at 9-6 up. However, in a flash Soliman was back into the contest, with a trio of Gawad errors allowing the No.8 seed to draw parity, before a straight forehand winner reduced the deficit to 2-1.

The momentum continued to swing in Soliman’s favour in the fourth, with the World No.11 putting more work into the legs of Gawad and not allowing the World No.5 to attack with anywhere near the same regularity. These lengthier exchanges favoured Soliman and he drew the match level to force a decider.

Gawad looked to have regained his composure early in the fifth, racing into a 4-1 lead, but Soliman once again showed impressive mental resolve to draw parity with Gawad and move into the latter stages of the game level.

From 9-9, it was Soliman who eventually managed to secure one of the biggest wins of his career when two refereeing decisions went in his favour.

Youssef said
“I know to get a win against Gawad is amazing, especially after the way he started – he was like a storm. I thought that it wasn’t going to go my way, but I told myself to fight and to get this win over him, it meant a lot.

“This season I knew that I could challenge the top guys. I mean, every match is a different scenario, but I think I have the performances to beat any of the top ten. I think that’s what I need to be inside the top ten. I’ve been ranked 11, 10, 11, 10 over the last couple of years, and I needed a win like this to prove that I can be like a top eight player.”

Unseeded Egyptian Aly Abou Eleinen continued his superb run with an impressive straight games victory over Victor Crouin. Eleinen, who defeated former World Champion Tarek Momen in the previous round, continued this fine form to down the No.7 seed by an 11-6, 11-8, 12-10 scoreline and set up a meeting with Youssef Soliman in the last four.

The Egyptian started as sharply as he left off from his second-round clash with Momen, pushing up the court and hitting crisp lines down both wings. Eleinen took an early lead and moved through a comfortable first game without too many worries.

French No.1 Crouin rallied in the second game with some impressive squash of his own, with the crowd within Squash Zone treated to a number of high-quality rallies. From 8-8 though, it was Eleinen who produced the more clinical squash, winning four consecutive points to double his advantage.

World No.15 Eleinen looked home and dry at 8-1 up in the third, but Crouin showed brilliant resolve to pull the score back to 9-9 and then force a tie-break. One game ball came and went for Crouin, but when the opportunity swung in Eleinen’s favour he didn’t need asking twice, claiming victory when he squeezed Crouin out with a forehand volley drop.

Aly said…
“Victor is an incredible player. He’s had such a great career, and the way he carries himself speaks for itself. He’s a great fighter and I always know it’s going to be a tough battle.

“If you play a tough player, when you’re 2-0 up, it actually gets tougher, because they always fight back, and that’s what Victor did tonight. Watching the couple of matches before, Gawad was up 2-0 and he lost in five, and then Amanda won the third as well when she was 2-0 down.

“I had a bit of a mental block in the third game, and Victor just kept fighting and fighting every point. I’m going to be working on that mental side of it. The biggest thing is that I didn’t panic when he started coming back. I still found a way to stick in and get the win.”

World No.10 Amina Orfi sent out a statement to the rest of the women’s draw with a dominant three-game victory over No.2 seed Georgina Kennedy at the Silicon Valley Open 2024 presented by Oracle NetSuite.

The pair had only met once on tour before tonight – a gripping five-game duel at the Hong Kong Football Club Open last year – but this time Orfi was able to race through to the win in more routine fashion, taking the match by an 11-9, 11-6, 11-3 scoreline.

Kennedy started the brighter of the two players, making good use of her backhand boast to disrupt the movement of Orfi. However, from 5-3 up, the Egyptian teenager began to move into the ascendancy, dominating the mid-court area with her impressive lengths. A couple of unforced errors from Kennedy when trying to fire the ball in short allowed Orfi to take the 16-minute first game 11-9.

Orfi continued to dominate the middle of the court in the second, hitting relentlessly down both wings and pushing Kennedy into some tough retrievals in the back two corners. After taking an early lead, Orfi wasn’t to be drawn back in, with the 17-year-old powering her way into a two-game lead with some blistering squash.

Although Kennedy adjusted her tactics in the opening phases of the third game, looking to lift the ball onto Orfi’s forehand wing, the England No.1 couldn’t quite find her marks with enough regularity to truly trouble the teenager.

No.5 seed Orfi wasn’t to be stopped after racing into an early 4-1 lead, wrapping up the match after 38 minutes of action on the all-glass court at Squash Zone.

What Orfi Had To Say…
“I honestly don’t feel that much pressure compared to the other players on tour. I’m younger and still not in the top five yet.

“I made sure that I watched back the match that we played in Hong Kong last year, I thought I learned from my mistakes that time. It was a 3-2 match, and I was leading in the second game, but I let her back into the match. So today, I made sure that when I was leading in the second game that I focused a lot and made sure I didn’t let her get back.”

Round Two

Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) 3-2 [1] Mazen Hesham 11-8, 11-9, 3-11, 8-11, 11-4 (56m)
[6] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-1 Mohamed Abouelghar  11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7 (46m)
Aly Abou Eleinen 3-1 [3] Tarek Momen  11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5 (59m)
[8] Youssef Soliman 3-0 Greg Lobban (SCO)  11-5, 13-11, 11-4 (49m)
[2] Karim Abdel Gawad 3-2 Ramit Tandon (IND) 7-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-4, 11-6 (65m)

[1] Olivia Weaver (USA) 3-0 Nadine Shahin  11-3, 11-2, 11-4 (20m)
[7] Farida Mohamed 3-0 Grace Gear (ENG)  11-6, 14-12, 11-9 (32m)
[8] Zeina Mickawy 3-0 bt Ka Yi Lee (HKG)  11-5, 11-5, 11-8 (24m)
[6] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-0 Kenzy Ayman 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 (27m)
[5] Amina Orfi 3-1 Sana Ibrahim  10-12, 12-10, 11-4, 11-8 (60m)
[2] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) 3-0 Malak Khafagy  11-2, 11-7, 12-10 (35m)

Aly Abou Eleinen delivered the second major shock of day two in California as he powered past former World Champion Tarek Momen in four games.

Eleinen started off as he meant to go playing at a relentless pace which was matched with impressive accuracy. Momen had few answers in a first two games which were littered with errors from the 36-year-old, but he managed to pull himself back into the match by taking the third 11-9.

This comeback was short-lived though, with Eleinen racing into an 8-1 lead in the fourth and sealing the statement victory after 59 minutes of action. The 24-year-old will now face Victor Crouin for a spot in the semi-finals.

After the match, Eleinen said: “It’s so hard against such a top player. I’ve been 2-0 up against players in the top five before and then they just find a way to turn it back, and that’s why they’re at the top of the game.

“I wanted to make it tough and put some work into his legs so he may feel it throughout the rest of the match. Since I was in college, I have looked up to Tarek. He’s a champion and although he’s in his mid-thirties he’s playing like he’s still 18. He’s put the standards so high both on and off the court, and it’s a massive win for me.”

Former World Champion and No.2 seed for the event, Karim Abdel Gawad, survived a major scare from an inspired Ramit Tandon before eventually advancing to the quarter-finals in five games.

In a match that often felt exhibition-like due to the incredible attacking qualities of both players, it was Indian No.1 Tandon who took the opening game and later moved 2-1 up. However, as the match entered its latter stages, it was World No.5 Gawad who began to find his stride, reasserting his dominance on the ‘T’ and limiting Tandon’s attacking opportunities from the middle of the court.

The No.2 seed took the final two games by 11-4 and 11-6 scorelines to set up a meeting with No.8 seed Youssef Soliman after the Egyptian saw off the threat of Greg Lobban in three games.

Round One

[9/16] Nadine Shahin v [WC] Riya Navani (USA)
Grace Gear (ENG) 3-0 [9/16] Mariam Metwally   11-4, 12-10, 3-0 ret. (27m)
Mena Hamed v [9/16] Ka Yi Lee (HKG)
Alicia Mead (ENG) 3-0 [9/16] Nour Aboulmakarim  19-17, 11-7, 11-9 (36m)
[9/16] Kenzy Ayman  v Cindy Merlo (SUI)
[9/16] Sana Ibrahim 3-0 Emilia Soini (FIN)  11-6, 11-8, 11-6 (28m)
[9/16] Malak Khafagy v [WC] Riva Bhagwati (USA)

Mohamed Abouelghar 3-1 [9/16] Baptiste Masotti (FRA)  9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-2 (40m)
Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) 3-2 [9/16] Mohamed ElSherbini 11-9, 10-12, 6-11, 11-8, 11-8 (69m)
[9/16] Aly Abou Eleinen v [WC] Bransten Ming (USA)
[9/16] Omar Mosaad v Curtis Malik (ENG)
Karim El Hammamy v [9/16] Greg Lobban (SCO)

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