Teenager Nouran beats her idol, Nicol David, in El Gouna
By SEAN REUTHE
World No.5 Nouran Gohar will take on reigning World Champion Nour El Sherbini for a place in the final of the Orascom Development PSA Women’s World Championship after they managed respective wins over Malaysia’s Nicol David and England’s Sarah-Jane Perry in El Gouna, Egypt.
World Junior Champion Gohar put in an unrelenting display to go two games and five match balls up against David, an eight-time winner of the most prestigious tournament on the Women’s Tour.
David fought tooth and nail for every point and saved four of the match balls, but a loose shot from the 33-year-old towards the end of an intense rally saw a stroke awarded against the 81-time PSA World Tour title winner, handing the match to Gohar.
“It feels amazing to beat my idol, it was a very, very tough match today, mentally more than physically,” said the 19-year-old.
“At 2-0 up and five match balls up, I still couldn’t believe it and then she started playing amazingly, like it was still 0-0. She came back really strongly, so I just tried to stick to my game plan and not try to think about the win.
“There were nerves for sure at that point, but the crowd supported me really strongly, so I’d like to thank them, my coaches and the support from my family. They were the reason why I won those last points.”
World No.1 El Sherbini got the better of Gohar in last year’s British Open final and in the same stage of the World Championship 12 months ago.
And the 21-year-old – who beat World No.2 Laura Massaro in last year’s final – earned her place in the last four courtesy of a 11-6, 11-3, 12-10 scoreline over British Open runner-up Perry.
“I get a lot of support when I play here, I get a lot of people coming and it makes me push to win because I want to win in front of them,” El Sherbini said.
“I’m happy that I’m through 3-0, it was nearly longer than that, but I’m happy to finish it in the third game.
“I think that the court conditions changed from the other days and it was hotter and bouncier. I just tried to change my plan and she was playing well at the end, but thankfully it worked and I managed to win the match.”
Orascom Development PSA Women’s World Championship, El Gouna, Egypt.
Quarter-Finals (Top Half):
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [7] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 12-10 (41m)
[4] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [6] Nicol David (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 (45m)
Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half):
[3] Raneem El Welily (EGY) v [5] Laura Massaro (ENG)
[12] Joshna Chinappa (IND) v [2] Camille Serme (FRA)
Pictures courtesy of PSA