Squash in the Land

PHOTO ALBUM

Men & Women’s $75k PSA Silver, 14-19 Jan, Cleveland, USA

Final

[4] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-0 [3] Tarek Momen  11-4, 11-6, 11-6 (35m)

Semis

[3] Tarek Momen 3-1 [1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG)  10-12, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7 (53m)
[4] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-1 [2] Karim Gawad  4-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (44m)

[5] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-2 [3] Amina Orfi  11-8, 6-11, 13-15, 11-6, 12-10 (77m)
[4] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-2 [2] Rowan Elaraby  13-11, 9-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-6 (58m)

Tarek Momen booked his spot in the Squash in the Land final, knocking out No.1 seed Mohamed Elshorbagy in the first men’s semi-final. The two players – both former world champions – were meeting for the 32nd time on Tour, with Elshorbagy having won 25 of the previous 31 encounters.

Their current world rankings – Elshorbagy at No.9 and Momen at No.7 – was perhaps a more accurate indicator of the type of match that was to follow, and the opening game was certainly true to that.

Never once in game one was there more than two points between the players, but it was the No.1 seed Elshorbagy who came up clutch in the crucial rallies, winning the tiebreak 12-10 after seeing his first two game balls saved at 10-8. The script was flipped in game two as Momen found his range with impressive accuracy, taking control at 2-2 to lose only one more point, wrapping up the game with a forehand drop at 10-3.

Elshorbagy headed off court to chat with England national team coach Stuart Crawford and was improved in game three, but not improved enough to get his nose back in front, saving one game ball at 10-7 down before crunching a backhand back towards himself on the following rally, handing Momen a stroke.

Five minutes into game four it looked as though the match was over as a contest, as the 36-year-old Egyptian cruised into an 8-1 lead, playing some immaculately clean squash, leaving Elshorbagy wondering what he needed to do to win a point.

Even Elshorbagy found the funny side when Momen eventually did make an error, shouting out ‘thank you’ as he closed the gap back to 8-3, but the tension suddenly rose again soon afterwards as ‘The Beast’ hauled his way back to 9-7. But that would be where his comeback fell short, as he found the tin with a backhand drop on match ball.

“I don’t think I have time to make up the deficit [to Elshorbagy’s head-to-head win tally], but I don’t really care about numbers! Every time we stepped on court we gave it 100 percent in every one of those matches and I’m always proud to compete against a legend such as him.

“You saw how he came back even at 8-1. When he made that [“thank you”] comment I knew he was going to make a move. I was prepared for it and yet with his experience he found a way to get into those positions and rattle off many points. I was really happy to close it out.”

Quarters

[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) 3-0 [5] Youssef Ibrahim  11-7, 11-3, 11-8 (36m)
[3] Tarek Momen 3-2 Jonah Bryant (ENG) 11-8, 11-5, 6-11, 11-13, 11-7 (77m)
[2] Karim Abdel Gawad 3-2 George Parker (ENG)  6-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-5 (67m)

[3] Amina Orfi 3-1 [6] Farida Mohamed   10-12, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (48m)
[2] Rowan Elaraby 3-2 [8] Tesni Murphy (WAL)  15-13, 7-11, 12-14, 11-1, 12-10 (79m)
[4] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-0 [7] Nada Abbas  11-5, 11-5, 11-7 (28m)

Rowan Elaraby booked her spot in the Squash in the Land semi-finals with a dramatic 3-2 win over Wales’ Tesni Murphy, saving a match ball along the way.

She knew she would be tested by the Welsh No.1.That proved to be the case throughout the opening game, which went into a tiebreak among plenty of discussion with the referee, with both players receiving a conduct warning.

It was the Egyptian who eventually came out on top, although only after an 18-minute first game which finished 15-13, Elaraby taking her fourth game ball after seeing Murphy save the first four. The two players displayed contrasting styles throughout game one and that continued into the second but with a reverse result, as Murphy overcame a slow start to race from 4-1 down to an 11-7 lead.

She then picked up where she left off at the start of game three, lifting the ball and using clever angles to stretch Elaraby across the court, with the Egyptian struggling to find her length and being given few opportunities to display her power.

Elaraby did fight her way back into the game and even had a game ball at 11-10, but after seeing it come and go and then having to head off court due to a broken racket, she went down 14-12 when a backhand drop found the tin.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Elaraby requested a new ball to start game four and it resulted in a stunning turnaround, with the World No.7 rediscovering her sharpness on her way to an 11-1 win to force a decider. Tensions were understandably high as game five got underway, with both players voicing further frustrations at their opponent’s movement and the referee’s decision, but it looked as though Murphy was heading for victory when she moved 9-5 in front.

But the young Egyptian had other ideas, winning the next four points before saving a match ball at 10-9 down, going on to take the tiebreak 12-10 with a backhand kill down the line.

Karim Abdel Gawad battled back from the brink of defeat to avoid a major upset on quarter-finals day at Squash in the Land, beating England’s George Parker 3-2 in Cleveland.

Parker had put in an impressive performance to beat Mohamed Abouelghar in round two, booking himself a quarter-final berth in a Silver-level event for the first time in his career. He had never beaten Gawad before, but did take the experienced Egyptian to five at the British Open in 2022, and made a perfect start here, taking game one 11-6 to draw cheers from the underdog-supporting crowd.

The unseeded Englishman used his speed to good effect throughout game one, with Gawad having little in the way of answers to his aggressive approach to play, and while the second was closer, it was once again the 28-year-old who came out on top, putting himself one game from a stunning upset.

England national team coach Stuart Crawford was in the coaching corner for Parker and it looked as though he would be congratulating his charge on a 3-0 win as Parker moved into a 9-6 lead in the third. But Gawad made his experience count when it mattered most, showing no signs of panic as he slowly reeled in the deficit, going on to take the game 11-9 when Parker found the tin on a backhand drop.

Parker continued to use his speed across the court well, particularly when defending Gawad’s attacking drops to the front, but he would once again fall short in game four, with ‘The Baby Faced Assassin’ showing plenty of emotion after sending the match to a decider.

And with momentum on his side and Parker continuing to push himself to his physical limits, Gawad took control of game five – helped by a conduct stroke against Parker for too much discussion with the ref – closing it out 11-5 to reach the final four.

“I didn’t want to lose this way, in three,” he said, discussing the turnaround from 2-0 down.

“George was playing amazing squash, it’s one of the best tournaments I’ve ever seen him play so very well done to all his team and George for playing such amazing squash.”

“But at the same time, I haven’t had my best season so far this season so I wanted to play at least without any pressure, play my squash, move like normal.

“It was hard, for sure, after being 2-0 down, to play without pressure but I just managed to squeeze the ball to the back. The third game made a huge difference for sure, it gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the match.”

Round Two

[5] Youssef Ibrahim 3-2 [9/16] Nathan Lake (ENG)  6-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 (57m)
[3] Tarek Momen 3-0 [9/16] Velavan Senthilkumar (IND)  11-4, 11-7, 11-8 (27m)
[7] Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) 3-2 Yahya Elnawasany 11-4, 4-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9 (47m)
George Parker (ENG) 3-0 [8] Mohamed Abouelghar  11-8, 11-7, 11-8 (38m)
[2] Karim Gawad 3-1 [9/16] Balazs Farkas (HUN) 7-11, 11-0, 11-3, 11-5 (31m)

[6] Farida Mohamed 3-0 [9/16] Kenzy Ayman  11-5, 11-5, 11-8 (23m)
[3] Amina Orfi  3-0 [9/16] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 11-4, 11-2, 11-4 (30m)
[7] Nada Abbas 3-0 [9/16] Salma Eltayeb 11-4, 11-6, 13-11 (25m)
[2] Rowan Elaraby 3-1 Nour Heikal  11-3, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7 (33m)

Round One

[9/16] Kenzy Ayman 3-1 Ainaa Amani (MAS)  11-6, 11-8, 5-11, 11-2 (32m)
[9/16] Emily Whitlock (WAL) 3-1 Nardine Garas v  8-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-5 (35m)
[9/16] Salma Eltayeb3-1 Alicia Mead (ENG)  13-15, 13-11, 11-9, 11-8 (43m)
Nour Heikal3-2 [9/16] Malak Khafagy 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 13-11 (61m)

Yahya Elnawasany 3-0 [9/16] Leandro Romiglio (ARG)  11-9, 11-5, 11-7 (29m)

PSA report:

Nour Heikal 3-2 [9/16] Malak Khafagy 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 8-11, 13-11 (61m)

At the Cleveland Skating Club, there was a dramatic encounter between Egyptian duo Nour Heikal and Malak Khafagy.

Khafagy is ranked 24 places above her fellow Alexandrian at No.28 in the world, but was soon staring down the barrel of defeat after losing the opening two games inside 15 minutes.

Heikal may feel she should have closed out proceedings in each of the next two games, squandering leads of 9-6 and then 8-6 to find herself in a decider suddenly.

She then had control of game five as well at 8-4 up but was once again reeled back in – with an injury break adding to the drama – as Khafagy forced a tiebreak and then brought up the match ball at 11-10.

She was unable to convert, though, staring up in disbelief after lifting a lob out of court, and Heikal took advantage, getting a stroke decision to bring up match ball before crunching a backhand winner down the line, letting out a roar of emotion as she did.