‘I’m concentrating on the court, not the view’
By SEAN REUTHE – Squash Mad Correspondent
World No.1 Raneem El Welily, World No.3 Nour El Tayeb and World No.5 Nouran Gohar all claimed wins on day two of the 2019-20 CIB PSA Women’s World Championship to secure a place on the iconic glass court held in front of Cairo’s famous Great Pyramid of Giza, the only remaining wonder of the ancient world.
This season’s women’s World Championship is the first to be held in front of the stunning landmark since the men’s World Championship in 2006 and El Welily is the only woman ever to win a trophy in front of the Pyramids courtesy of her Al Ahram Open victory three years ago.
She will appear there again in round three after getting the better of United States No.2 Olivia Blatchford Clyne at the Shooting Club 6th of October, winning 11-8, 12-10, 11-5 in 32 minutes.
“All in all, I was very prepared for Olivia today given how well she is playing this season,” said El Welily after her 11-8, 12-10, 11-5 triumph.
“She must be very disappointed to go out in the second round of this tournament. I honestly think with her level of squash this season she could have gone further. I wish her all the best in her next tournament.
“It’s definitely very good for us [playing at the Pyramids] but I’m not really thinking about it that much. I’m thinking about the glass court, that’s all it is for me. We’ve been looking at the Pyramids all week long, so by now it’s okay for me.”
The 30-year-old will play the experienced Englishwoman Alison Waters for a place in the last eight after she defeated compatriot Julianne Courtice, while 2018-19 World Championship runner-up El Tayeb defeated fellow Egyptian Rowan Elaraby in four games.
It was a meeting of two former World Junior Champions just two weeks after El Tayeb comfortably dispatched Elaraby at the U.S. Open but the latter proved much more of a test this time around, fighting back from three match balls down to force a fourth game this time around.
But El Tayeb held firm to win 13-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8, and she will take on Egypt’s Salma Hany in round three.
“I fell into the trap of being match ball up and thinking that the match was over, but I was very glad that I was able to come back in the fourth and win,” El Tayeb said.
“It’s the one tournament you want to do well at, especially in front of the Pyramids and with it being the World Championship. I’m sure there is going to be a lot of pressure on both of us, but hopefully we can enjoy it and play well.”
Gohar, who comes into the back of this match after winning her third PSA Platinum title at the U.S. Open – beating El Tayeb in the process – was in dominant form against Belgium’s Nele Gilis as she powered to an 11-1, 11-5, 11-5 victory in just 28 minutes.
She will take on Nele’s younger sister, World No.26 Tinne, in the next round, with Tinne overcoming Malaysia’s Aifa Azman 3-0.
“It was a little bit tricky to play this tournament straight after the U.S. Open, but I am just trying to take each game and forget about the U.S. Open and I’m really looking forward to my next match,” said Gohar.
“It feels extra special to be playing on the glass court. The last time we had a tournament there, I didn’t get to play on the glass because I lost first round, so to make it to the glass court in front of the Pyramids is huge and I can’t wait to be there on Sunday.”
There were also wins for the likes of England’s Sarah-Jane Perry and Tesni Evans of Wales. Perry dispatched 2007 champion Rachael Grinham – the 42-year-old playing an unprecedented 300th career PSA tournament – while Evans defeated France’s Coline Aumard and they will go head-to-head in round three.
The men’s CIB Egyptian Squash Open got under way today, with Frenchman Victor Crouin picking up the biggest win of his career to date as he twice came back from a game behind to upset World No.22 Cesar Salazar.
Crouin, ranked No.61 in the world, was making his first appearance at a Platinum tournament, but wasn’t overawed by the occasion as he twice came back from a game down to win 10-12, 11-4, 5-11, 11-1, 11-4 in a battling performance.
Salazar’s level of performance varied dramatically as he looked to be struggling with a hamstring issue at times which stunted his normally impeccable retrieval abilities.
Crouin took advantage as he forced his opponent into some long, testing rallies down the forehand side to force some errors, and he never looked back after going 2-1 down as Salazar dropped off considerably.
“Although he was injured, it’s my best win ever, he is 22nd [in the world], and I’m so happy to get to the next round, even in the circumstances,” Crouin said.
“I had a good start to the season, I won the Marietta Open, then was runner-up against [Greg] Lobban in Cleveland, I was happy with that match, I just lacked consistency I felt.”
Round two action at the CIB PSA Women’s World Championship continues tomorrow from 12:45 (GMT+2) onwards, while the second round of the CIB Egyptian Squash Open begins at 12:00.
Matches at the Great Pyramid of Giza begin at 17:30 and will be shown live on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and the official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour.
2019-20 CIB PSA $340k Women’s World Championship, Great Pyramids, Giza, Egypt.
Second Round (Top Half):
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [18] Olivia Blatchford Clyne (USA) 3-0: 11-8, 12-10, 11-5 (32m)
[11] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [29] Julianne Courtice (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 (33m)
[13] Salma Hany (EGY) bt Alexandra Fuller (RSA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-9 (29m)
[5] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [25] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) 3-1: 13-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8 (47m)
[7] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt [24] Rachael Grinham (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 (21m)
[9] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt [31] Coline Aumard (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 (28m)
[26] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt [L] Aifa Azman (MAS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-3 (26m)
[4] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [17] Nele Gilis (BEL) 3-0: 11-1, 11-5, 11-5 (28m)
Second Round (Bottom Half) October 26:
[3] Camille Serme (FRA) v [21] Millie Tomlinson (ENG)
[32] Nada Abbas (EGY) v [15] Yathreb Adel (EGY)
[14] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) v [27] Donna Lobban (AUS)
[30] Milou van der Heijden (NED) v Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)
[6] Joelle King (NZL) v [19] Zeina Mickawy (EGY)
[22] Nadine Shahin (EGY) v [10] Annie Au (HKG)
[12] Joshna Chinappa (IND) v Ho Tze-Lok (HKG)
[28] Hollie Naughton (CAN) v [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Third Round (Top Half) October 27:
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) v [11] Alison Waters (ENG)
[13] Salma Hany (EGY) v [5] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
[7] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v [9] Tesni Evans (WAL)
[26] Tinne Gilis (BEL) v [4] Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Men’s 2019 CIB Egyptian Squash Open
First Round:
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Vikram Malhotra (IND) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-6 (26m)
Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) 3-0: 13-11, 15-13, 11-8 (45m)
Max Lee (HKG) bt Ivan Yuen (MAS) 3-2: 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6 (69m)
Chris Simpson (ENG) bt Edmon Lopez (ESP) 3-0: 11-3, 4-0 retired (10m)
Lucas Serme (FRA) bt Shehab Essam (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-1 (26m)
Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) bt Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 (48m)
Tsz Fung Yip (HKG) bt Mazen Gamal (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-3, 11-8 (29m)
Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-0: 14-13 retired (30m)
Leo Au (HKG) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-2 (35m)
Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 3-2: 11-2, 8-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-7 (65m)
Nathan Lake (ENG) bt George Parker (ENG) 3-2: 13-11, 12-10, 8-11, 5-11, 11-7 (82m)
Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-1: 11-9, 13-11, 8-11, 11-5 (99m)
Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt Borja Golan (ESP) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 (44m)
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [WC] Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) 3-0: 13-11, 11-7, 12-10 (38m)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt [WC] Yahya Elnawsany (EGY) 3-1: 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 11-4 (46m)
Victor Crouin (FRA) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 3-2: 10-12, 11-4, 5-11, 11-1, 11-4 (42m)
Second Round (Top Half) October 26:
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v Mazen Hesham (EGY)
Max Lee (HKG) v Daryl Selby (ENG)
Chris Simpson (ENG) v [6] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
[5] Paul Coll (NZL) v Lucas Serme (FRA)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) v Iker Parajes Bernabeu (ESP)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Tsz Fung Yip (HKG)
Fares Dessouky (EGY) v [4] Simon Rosner (GER)
Second Round (Bottom Half) October 27:
[3] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v Greg Lobban (SCO)
Leo Au (HKG) v Adrian Waller (ENG)
Nathan Lake (ENG) v Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
Mostafa Asal (EGY) v [7] Diego Elias (PER)
[8] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) v Baptiste Masotti (FRA)
Raphael Kandra (GER) v Eain Yow Ng (MAS)
Victor Crouin (FRA) v Zahed Salem (EGY)
Joel Makin (WAL) v [2] Tarek Momen (EGY)
Report by SEAN REUTHE (PSA). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.
Pictures courtesy of PSA