Egyptian World No.13 Aly Abou Eleinen reached his maiden Platinum quarter-final after defeating England’s World No.9 Marwan ElShorbagy in an exciting four-game encounter on day four of the El Gouna International Squash Open 2024.
The 24-year-old, who in round two shocked World No.6 Mazen Hesham, continued his excellent run with a comprehensive performance on the traditional court at the El Gouna Squash Complex.
Eleinen clinched a tight opener 13-11 before doubling his lead by the same scoreline in game two.
ElShorbagy hit back with an 11-4 win in game three, but the lightning fast Eleinen came storming back in game four, covering every inch of the court to win it 11-6.
Eleinen will take on compatriot Mostafa Asal in the quarters after the No.4 seed eased past Dimitri Steinmann.
“I enjoyed it all. I enjoyed the pressure, I enjoyed the match, the tactics, the reffing, the decisions, the arguing, the easy parts, the tough parts, I enjoyed the whole package!” Eleinen said.
Joining Eleinen and Asal in the quarters are No.2 seed Paul Coll of New Zealand and No.5 seed Karim Abdel Gawad of Egypt, after Coll cruised past France’s Gregoire Marche and Gawad came from a game down to beat Scotland’s Greg Lobban.
In the women’s draw, defending champion Nouran Gohar came through a feisty encounter with rising star Amina Orfi.
After a hard-fought opening game win, Gohar appeared to be cruising when she took game two 11-3.
16-year-old World No.13 Orfi impressed in game three as she pulled a game back, but Gohar – who returned to World No.2 earlier today – proved too strong, with the World No.2 wrapping up the match with an 11-5 win.
Afterwards, Gohar said: “I think it’s more about winning titles now, thankfully I’ve been to World No.1 on multiple occasions. Obviously I would do anything to come back to World No.1 but that box is already ticked on that objective and there are other goals in my mind.”
Gohar will play USA’s Olivia Weaver in the last eight after the No.5 seed stormed past Egypt’s Malak Khafagy.
Also through today were English No.4 seed Georgina Kennedy and Egyptian No.6 seed Nour El Tayeb, with Kennedy overcoming Malaysia’s Aira Azman and El Tayeb defeating England’s Sarah-Jane Perry.
Results – Women’s RD3 (Bottom Half): El Gouna International Squash Open 2024Â
[4] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt Aira Azman (MAS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 (30m) [6] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-9, 11-8 (31m) [5] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt Malak Khafagy (EGY) 3-1: 11-0, 8-11, 11-6, 11-2 (36m) [2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt Amina Orfi (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 11-3, 9-11, 11-5 (57m)Results – Men’s RD3 (Bottom Half): El Gouna International Squash Open 2024Â
[4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 3-0 11-5, 11-3, 11-7 (43m)Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) bt Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-1: 13-11, 13-11, 4-11, 11-6 (59m)
[5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Greg Lobban (SCO) 3-1: 6-11, 11-2, 11-3, 11-7 (38m) [2] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 (35m)Draw – Women’s QF (Top Half): El Gouna International Squash Open 2024 – to be played 23 April
[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) v [8] Rowan Elaraby (EGY)[7] Tinne Gilis (BEL) v Salma Hany (EGY)
Draw – Men’s QF (Top Half): El Gouna International Squash Open 2024 – to be played 23 April
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v [6] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) [8] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [3] Diego Elias (PER)