A career spanning 15 years on tour yields an abundance of ups and downs, especially one as demanding as squash.
However, few could have foreseen the plight which befell Amanda Sobhy on Sunday in the women’s denouement at the Hong Kong Squash Open when the American ruptured her right achilles — six years after injuring her left one on court.
Sobhy, the World No.4, was left in tears and was aided away from the venue in a wheelchair after bring forced to retire from the final in West Kowloon.
The 30-year-old was down 6-5 in the opening game to defending champion Hania El Hammamy when she fell on court. This after downing World No.1 Nour El Sherbini in the semis.
Never one to shy away from charting her injury or health updates in a bid to help others, Sobhy took to social media to express her feelings in the aftermath of this latest career challenge.
“I guess rupturing my left one in Colombia in 2017 wasn’t far enough, so I had to do my right in Hong Kong,” she said.
“I’m pretty sure I have no moisture left in my body at this point. How could this happen again? What did I do to deserve this?
“I am going to come back stronger… again. Because I am a champion.. and I’m never one to stay knocked down from a setback.”
Sobhy had previously taken 10 monts off tour to recover from rupturing her left achilles on match ball in Colombia in 2017.
Six years on, Sobhy had admitted that she was playing some of the best squash of her career.
Couldn’t sleep last night, so decided to get my thoughts & emotions out on paper🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/bw90yLEgZr
— Amanda Sobhy (@itssobhytime) December 4, 2023
On Saturday, Sobhy had downed Egyptian world No 1 Nour El Sherbini in straight games in their semi-final.
El Hammamy became only the third player (following Nicol David and Michelle Martin) to defend her HK title, yet expressed sadness at her opponent’s injury.
“It’s not the way I wanted to win the final today,” the 23-year-old said.
“It’s a heartbreak to see Amanda falling on the floor and crying halfway through the first game, so definitely not the way I would have loved to defend the title.”
Squash Mad wishes Amanda well in recovery.
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