Ali Farag and Nour El Sherbini kicked off their world title defences with respective wins over Todd Harrity and Jessica Turnbull at the Palm Hills Club in Cairo, Egypt.
Farag is on the hunt for a fifth World Championship title this week – which would see him surpass the legendary Amr Shabana to become the most successful Egyptian man at the World Championships – however the World No.1 made an inauspicious start as an inspired Harrity took the first game.
The Egyptian took control in the second game though and he never relinquished his command of the match as he closed out an 8-11, 11-3, 11-1, 11-5 victory. The 32-year-old will go up against Scotland’s Greg Lobban in the next round.
“Karim [Darwish] told me not to take any risks and to find my weight of shot,” Farag said.
“I think it was [Amr] Shabana who told me when I first started on the tour to take the game into stages, start with length hitting first, hit the back corners with angles, and then go to the front corners. I had Shabana’s and Darwish’s advice, so it couldn’t get any better.
“There is pressure, you play this sport because you want to achieve the pinnacle of it, and the World Champs is that. I want to win it, but not any more than any other player, so it’s a good kind of pressure and I hope I can take it positively into the next match.”
El Sherbini had a contrasting start to Farag as she won the opening game of her match against World No.61 Turnbull without dropping a single point.
The World No.1 is aiming to draw level with the iconic Nicol David this week on eight World Championship titles and she made the perfect beginning to her title defence as she stormed to an 11-0, 11-4, 11-4 win after just 19 minutes.
“I’m a slow starter, but I’m really happy with my performance today,” El Sherbini said.
“I started strongly, I’ve been looking forward to this tournament and I hope I carry on playing like I did today. I don’t want to put any pressure on myself. It’s another tournament, another one in Egypt, so I’m going to stay motivated and take the support from the crowd.
“This is my first time ever at Palm Hills and it’s another amazing place to be. The gym and the court is perfect for us. It’s amazing to have all the kids coming to watch us and this is what you want for our sport.”
Results – Men’s First Round (Top Half): 2023-24 CIB PSA World Championships
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Greg Lobban (SCO) 3-1: 8-11, 11-3, 11-1, 11-5 (38m)
Greg Lobban (SCO) bt [WC] Mazen Gamal (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-4 (28m)
Rui Soares (POR) bt Moustafa Elsirty (EGY) 3-2: 11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 11-8 (69m)
Leandro Romiglio (ARG) bt [15] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) 3-0: 12-10, 11-7, 11-7 (57m)
[11] Victor Crouin (FRA) bt Andrew Douglas (USA) 3-1: 11-7, 11-4, 10-12, 11-5 (50m)
Simon Herbert (ENG) bt Leung Chi Hin Henry (HKG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 (43m)
Addeen Idrakie (MAS) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-2: 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9 (87m)
[8] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt George Parker (ENG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-6 (27m)
[5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Timothy Brownell (USA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-3, 11-7 (29m)
Rory Stewart (SCO) bt Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 (40m)
Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) 3-1: 11-4, 11-5, 6-11, 11-3 (40m)
[14] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) bt Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) 3-1: 11-6, 9-11, 11-1, 15-13 (64m)
[16] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) bt Shahjahan Khan (USA) 3-0: 11-2, 11-9, 14-12 (38m)
Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) bt Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY) 3-2: 5-11, 12-10, 11-6, 8-11, 11-2 (68m)
Iker Pajares (ESP) bt Tom Walsh (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 12-10, 11-7 (56m)
[3] Diego Elias (PER) bt Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) 3-0: 11-2, 11-3, 11-6 (30m)
Draw – Men’s First Round (Bottom Half): To Be Played May 10th
[4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) v Bernat Jaume (ESP)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v Hamza Khan (PAK)
Curtis Malik (ENG) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
Raphael Kandra (GER) v [10] Joel Makin (WAL)
[12] Youssef Soliman (EGY) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)
Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) v Joseph White (AUS)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) v Lucas Serme (FRA)
Farkas Balazs (HUN) v [6] Mazen Hesham (EGY)
[7] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) v Martin Svec (CZE)
Ramit Tandon (IND) v Faraz Khan (USA)
David Baillargeon (CAN) v Fares Dessouky (EGY)
Auguste Dussourd (FRA) v [9] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG)
[13] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) v Eain Yow Ng (MAS)
Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) v Spencer Lovejoy (USA)
Cesar Salazar (MEX) v Leonel Cardenas (MEX)
Tsz Kwan Lau (HKG) v [2] Paul Coll (NZL)
Draw – Men’s Second Round (Top Half): To Be Played May 11th
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v Greg Lobban (SCO)
Rui Soares (POR) v Leandro Romiglio (ARG)
[11] Victor Crouin (FRA) v Simon Herbert (ENG)
Addeen Idrakie (MAS) v [8] Tarek Momen (EGY)
[5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v Rory Stewart (SCO)
Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) v [14] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY)
[16] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) v Juan Camilo Vargas (COL)
Iker Pajares (ESP) v [3] Diego Elias (PER)
Results – Women’s First Round (Top Half): 2023-24 CIB PSA World Championships
[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt Jessica Turnbull (AUS) 3-0: 11-0, 11-4, 11-4 (19m)
Menna Hamed (EGY) bt Nardine Garas (EGY) 3-2: 5-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 (51m)
Tesni Murphy (WAL) bt Enora Villard (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-0 (22m)
[11] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt Ka Yi Lee (HKG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-3, 11-6 (28m)
[15] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-1: 13-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8 (48m)
Cindy Merlo (SUI) bt Danielle Ray (CAN) 3-2: 4-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-14, 11-7 (46m)
[WC] Amina El Rihany (EGY) bt Millie Tomlinson (ENG) 3-1: 11-13, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (46m)
[7] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Aifa Azman (MAS) 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-2 (20m)
[8] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt Haya Ali (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-1, 11-1 (21m)
Marta Dominguez (ESP) bt Yiwen Chan (MAS) 3-1: 11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8 (40m)
Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt Alex Haydon (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 12-10, 11-5 (28m)
[10] Salma Hany (EGY) bt Hollie Naughton (CAN) 3-2: 11-5, 11-4, 11-13, 9-11, 11-7 (60m)
Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt [16] Nada Abbas (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 (30m)
Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) bt Georgia Adderley (SCO) 3-2: 6-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 (48m)
Torrie Malik (ENG) bt Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 5-11, 11-3, 11-5 (40m)
[4] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt Marina Stefanoni (USA) 3-1: 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6 (61m)
Draw – Women’s First Round (Bottom Half): To Be Played May 10th
[3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v Emilia Soini (FIN)
Hana Moataz (EGY) v Nadine Shahin (EGY)
Kenzy Ayman (EGY) v Salma Eltayeb (EGY)
Alicia Mead (ENG) v [12] Sabrina Sobhy (USA)
[13] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) v Emily Whitlock (WAL)
Ainaa Amani (MAS) v Marie Stephan (FRA)
Mariam Metwally (EGY) v Zeina Mickawy (EGY)
Tomato Ho (HKG) v [5] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
[6] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) v Rachel Arnold (MAS)
Aira Azman (MAS) v Lowri Roberts (WAL)
Malak Khafagy (EGY) v Grace Gear (ENG)
Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) v [9] Rowan Elaraby (EGY)
[14] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v Ineta Hopton (LAT)
Nicole Bunyan (CAN) v Caroline Fouts (USA)
Melissa Alves (FRA) v Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY)
Lucy Turmel (ENG) v [2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY)
Draw – Women’s Second Round (Top Half): To Be Played May 11th
[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) v Menna Hamed (EGY)
Tesni Murphy (WAL) v [11] Amina Orfi (EGY)
[15] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v Cindy Merlo (SUI)
[WC] Amina El Rihany (EGY) v [7] Tinne Gilis (BEL)
[8] Olivia Weaver (USA) v Marta Dominguez (ESP)
Hana Ramadan (EGY) v [10] Salma Hany (EGY)
Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) v Chan Sin Yuk (HKG)
Torrie Malik (ENG) v [4] Nele Gilis (BEL)
