ElSherbini Continues Title Defence After Surviving Subramaniam Scare
In the opening match of the day’s play, Nour ElSherbini booked her spot in yet another Windy City Open semi-final, a sixth in total for the 8x World Champion, after coming through a quality five-set clash with Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam, keeping her title defence alive.
ElSherbini stormed out of the blocks in game one, firing the ball in short and testing the movement of the Malaysian No.1 early in the match. One ElSherbini found her rhythm of hitting winners, the game was over quickly, 11-6 to the No.3 seed. Subramaniam wanted to show the Chicago crowd that she herself could hit winners just like her opponent and that she did. The Malaysian No.1 rattled off the points and held off a comeback from ElSherbini to equalise.
The next two games followed a very similar pattern to the first two games as ElSherbini responded in true championn fashion to lead 2-1. Subramaniam raced out to another strong lead in the fourth game and sent the match to a decier, for the first time in the pair’s match history. It was the No.5 seeded Malaysian who started the stronger again in the deciding game. She ran out to a 4-1 lead but after making an error that would have seen her lead 5-1, Subramaniam’s momentum weakened. The Warrior-Princess has been in this position so many times and used that experience to navigate her way to match ball, eventually winning 11-8.
“Well yeah, it’s never easy playing Siva. She’s playing amazingly this week, and we train together, so we know each other’s game very well and the same style of play. It wasn’t comfortable on court, but I just tried to push every point and a win is a win, so I’m just happy to be through. It’s a huge boost for me.
“I’ve been in this situation many times so this helped me a lot. 4-1 down in the fifth is a long way to come back, but I tried to think point by point, so I was just wanting to get the next point so calming down helped me in the fifth for sure.”
Result:
[3] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt [5] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-2: 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8 (52m)
Magnificent Marche Wins Thriller To Reach First Major Semi-Final
The first men’s match of the day saw Gregoire Marche and Marwan Elshorbagy produce an absolute thriller as the 35-year-old Frenchman claimed the 82-minute contest to earn a spot in his first major event semi-final.
In a match full of incredible shot-making, amazing retrievals and intelligent play, Marche drew on the energetic Chicago crowd to produce one his best performances in years to move into the final four.
Marche started the better of the two in the opening game and tried to put work into the legs of Elshorbagy early in the match. Marche squeezed errors from the World No.8 and took the game 11-9 to take an early advantage. Elshorbagy’s intelligent play made Marche worry in game two. The Englishman started to utilise his front-court weapons to hurt Marche but it was the Frenchman who earned the first game ball at 10-9 to take a 2-0 lead. Elshorbagy battled back to eventually take the game 14-12 and level the match up.
The pair then shared the next two games, both 11-9, to send the tie into a thrilling decider. The rallies throughout the third and fourth games were long and arduous, with both feeling the effects heading into the final game. Despite Elshorbagy clearly feeling the effects of the rallies, he moved ahead on the scoreboard, looking sure to be booking his spot in the semis. Marche continued to push Elshorbagy into the corners of the court and continued to retrieve Elshorbagy’s attacks. Marche moved to 10-8, eventually winning 11-9 from a backhand drop to claim a third ever win over the former World No.3 and reach a first career major semi-final, set to play the winner of Asal v Bryant.
“I had to wait almost 36 years to make my first semi-final in a Platinum, I just have to take some time to realise this, because I have had so many battles in the past with Marwan, I lost so many of them in the fifth and when I was 7-3 down, so today I just tried to avoid all of those mistakes that I was doing.
“We had the same kind of match as well in Shanghai , I think I was 8-2 down and I came back to 9-9. But this time it is my turn, and that’s sport you know, one day it is yours and the other day it is not, all credit to Marwan today, I just love these kinds of battles and that is why I play squash, it is all about fun and enjoy it.
“There were some years in my career where I didn’t enjoy my game and I am just so relieved like I finally, I don’t know, but finally I just want to spend time on court and fight for this with no reason, as I have nothing to prove anymore and I just love the game.
“It is a real pleasure to fight on this court.”
Result:
Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt [6] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) 3-2: 11-9, 12-14, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10 (82m)
El Hammamy Roars On In Chicago
World No.1 Hania El Hammamy secured her place in another major event semi-final in the penultimate match of today’s play, as she beat Belgium’s Tinne Gilis in a hard-fought 3-0 match.
El Hammamy has been a dominant force on the PSA Squash Tour this season, already winning four of the five major titles and losing only two matches all season. She continued this form in today’s quarter final and ran out to a 7-3 lead. Gilis responded well from this point and mounted a comeback to sit at 8-8 with the game in the balance. The World No.1 grabbed back the momentum to win the next three points and take the lead.
Game two followed a similar pattern to the opener, with El Hammamy taking early control of the game, giving Gilis no opportunity to attack. The top seed moved through the gears to take a 2-0 lead. Despite trailing by two games, Gilis wasn’t deterred and was determined to showcase her best squash in the third game. A combination of Gilis winners and El Hammamy errors saw the Belgian move to 9-6. El Hammamy has become a master of comebacks and once again won five points in a row to win the game 11-9 and the match in 37 minutes.
“I feel like we both produce good matches, we are both physical and we like to run and pick up attacks. I thought she played really well today. I had leads, but she kept coming back apart from the third game where I had to come back but I enjoyed the match and happy to be through to the next round.
“If you don’t focus on each roudn you won’t get through. I try to keep focused on the daily things and each round at a time. I analyse each round and try to find ways to be better, so today was good for me heading into the semis.”
Result:
[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [7] Tinne Gilis (BEL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 (37m)