Saturday, December 7, 2024

Canadian Women’s Open Squash: Tinne Gilis beats defending champ Sobhy

Belgium’s World No.6 Tinne Gilis produced a fine performance on finals night in Toronto to claim the Canadian Women’s Open 2024 title, downing defending champion Amanda Sobhy 3-0 in a high quality final.

Gilis took an early lead in game one of the Silver event final, catching Sobhy slightly flat footed in the opening exchanges and took a 6-2 lead. Back came the American, using her accuracy to find areas to pick Gilis off around the middle of the court. Sobhy ran through to lead 10-8 but a Gilis winner and Sobhy error sent us into a tiebreak. Sobhy had another two chances to seal the game but on Gilis’ second attempt she took the high quality opener 15-13.

The World No.6 looked the happier of the two to endure the longer rallies and backed her superb movement to cover whatever Sobhy could throw at her. Sobhy made several rare unforced errors due to the pressure being put on her by Gilis which proved critical. The Belgian’s accuracy was superb at the front of the court, forcing Sobhy to do a lot of work rally after rally. Gilis rattled off several winners to storm into a 2-0 lead, winning 11-4.

Gilis looking so free on the court after securing a 2-0 lead, expressing herself in both her shots and movement. Sobhy looked like she was struggling to find answers in all areas of the court, which only spurred Gilis on. The Belgian No.2 established a healthy lead in the game at 5-2 and never looked back. Gilis surrendered only three more points on her way to victory, sealing the win with a deft cross court drop which was too far for Sobhy to reach.

“I’m a little speechless at the moment.” said Gilis afterwards.

“I set one goal for this season and it was to win a Silver event and i’m so glad it was here at this tournament in front of this amazing crowd.

“I have to give Amanda [Sobhy] so much credit. The way she has come back has been so impressive and we all knew that she would but how quickly she has is so impressive.

“It’s been a really special week for me and Toronto will definitely have a special place in my heart after this week and I just can’t wait to come back already.”

In the Cambridge Group of Clubs Classic 2024, an accompanying men’s Copper event, Mexico’s No.2 seed Leonel Cardenas took the title after he defeated top seed Baptiste Masotti in straight games. 

Both players looked to be feeling each other out and finding their range on the court in opening rallies of the first game. Cardenas pulled away in the mid stages of the game to lead 10-4 and won 11-6. The Mexican was too steady and too accurate for the top seed and deservedly took the opener.

The World No.18 knew that his simple but quality approach was frustrating the Frenchman and saw no reason to change his winning formula. Masotti was clearly not at the races but take nothing away from the quality of his opponent who romped home in the final two gams, winning 11-7, 11-3 to claim his second PSA Squash Tour World events title.

“I’m so happy. I’ve been in two finals recently of Copper tournaments and lost them both so third time is the charm for me guess.

“I think my game is a lot more mature, I’ve been training really hard to maintain my consistency on court and that’s been paying off. Staying disciplined in matches is something that I was struggling with but I’ve managed to improve that a lot and I think that’s made a big difference.”

Result: Canadian Women’s Open 2024 – Final:

[2] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt [3] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-0: 15-13, 11-4, 11-5 (41m)

Result: Cambridge Group of Clubs Classic 2024 – Final: 

[2] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt [1] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-3 (41m)

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