Tuesday Mid-Day ToC Summary: El-Sherbini, Natalie Grinham Roll Into Semis
by Rob Dinerman, for DailySquashReport.com
Nour El-Sherbini
Dateline January 24th, 2012 --- Still riding the momentum of her solid first-round victory Monday night over third seed Samantha Teran, Nour El-Sherbini, the talented Egyptian teenager who this past summer had won the deciding match that gave her country a gold-medal-round victory over the United States in the World Junior Girls Championship, defeated Latasha Khan 11-6 13-11 11-3 in the quarterfinal round of the WSA portion of the Tournament Of Champions in Grand Central Station in mid-town Manhattan. El-Sherbini thereby earned her way to a semifinal match-up Wednesday evening against second seed and four-time World Open finalist Natalie Grinham, who earlier had out-played Sarah Kippax by a score of 11-3 11-4 12-10.
Khan, the six-time U. S. National champion whose round-of-16 five-game win (11-1 in the fifth) over recently-crowned World Junior Individual Champion Nour El-Tayeb belied her 39th birthday late last week, started this afternoon's match somewhat slowly, but she noticeably picked up her quality and pace in earning three game-balls in the second game, during which she moved from 1-4 to 5-all and eventually 10-8. El-Sherbini won the ensuing two points, the first on a stroke call and the second when she steered a backhand cross-drop into the front-right nick to force a tiebreaker, one which Khan clearly had to win, given how much energy she had expended in getting the game to that juncture against an opponent more than 20 years her junior.
She was awarded a stroke call on an El-Sherbini backhand drop that wandered a little too far into the middle of the court to make the score 11-10, leading to the point of the match, a frenzied all-court exchange that ended when El-Sherbini not only made an amazing retrieve of a seeming Khan front-left winner but, even more amazingly, responded by a tin-defying, sharply-angled backhand cross-drop that barely eluded Khan's diving attempt. Thus reprieved after denying Khan a third game-ball opportunity, El-Sherbini then expertly slashed first a shallow backhand winner down the left wall and then a late wrist-flicking cross-court to come away with that game 13-11.
Clearly deflated by the outcome of a second game that she both needed and appeared to have had in her grasp, Khan was unable to offer much resistance in the third game, which El-Sherbini finished off with a swift 5-0 run from 6-3. Several times she cut off loose Khan serve returns and scored instant winners with her delicate volleys into the front-court nicks. She has wonderful hands, often placing the ball perfectly even when she hasn't set her feet properly, and by the end she was in full control of both the court and the scoreboard. Her upcoming match in the semis with the veteran Grinham should make for an interesting contrast in styles, as the latter still moves beautifully but looked a bit vulnerable late in her third game with Kippax before asserting herself in the close-out tiebreaker.
Results: WSA Tournament of Champions First Quarterfinals:
Natalie Grinham (NED) d Sarah Kippax (ENG) 11-3 11-4 12-10
Nour El Sherbini (EGY) d Latasha Khan (US) 11-6 13-11 11-3
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