Sobhy Secures Emotional Windy City Win Over Gohar, Day 4 Report by Ellie Mawson
photos PSA
February 25, 2018
- American World No.30 Amanda Sobhy cemented her return to top form
following a career-threatening injury with an emotional win over World
No.6 Nouran Gohar in the second round of the 2018 Windy City Open
presented by the Walter Family & EquiTrust Life Insurance Company.
The charismatic US star endured a 10-month injury lay-off following a
torn achilles in the early stages of 2017, during which time a return
to the top of the World Rankings seemed beyond reach. After an
under-par return to action earlier this year at New York’s Tournament
of Champions she showed that she is back to her best as she recovered
from dropping the first game to prevail 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-5.
Gohar took the first game to put Sobhy on the defensive, but she
battled back in the second showing impressive resolve and went from
strength-to-strength from there, leaving the Egyptian struggling to
find an answer to her attacking onslaught as she booked a place in a
third successive Windy City Open quarter-final – which this year offers
a record high prize fund of $250,000 in both the men’s and women’s
draws.
“It’s been such a long journey,” said an emotional Sobhy following her
win. “I know I came back at ToC but I really had my eye set on this
tournament. I really wanted to prove to myself that I’ve got this and
told my coaches that I wanted to go on my own to do it by myself.
“I wanted to prove to myself that I’ve come all this way and I’ve fought back from injury and I can still beat the top people.
“The fact that I’ve come so far and gone through so much and built
myself back up from the ground and got this win against a top six
player, I’m really happy.
“I have a massive team around me and it has been a major team effort -
I couldn’t have done it without all of their help and support. It has
been a long process, but they have stuck by me and I can’t thank them
enough.
“If there was ever a tournament to win then this would be a good one. I
love Chicago - being the home girl is awesome and having everyone’s
support.”
Elsewhere in the women’s event, England’s former World No.1 Laura
Massaro was knocked out by New Zealand’s Joelle King after the World
No.9 produced a phenomenal comeback to reach the quarter-finals of this
year’s tournament.
King looked down and out in the first game as a confident Massaro took
full control before the Kiwi regained her composure to use her
athleticism to full effect to win 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6 in 70
minutes.
“Playing Laura is never easy,” said the 29-year-old.
“I’ve only beaten her once, and that was last year, so it’s always a
tough mental battle. I had to dig deep to come back so I’m really proud
of that win.
Defending champion Raneem El Welily also kept her title defence alive
as she conquered England’s Emily Whitlock in straight-games, while
England’s Alison Waters completes the women’s winners on day four.
In the men’s draw, Colombia’s Miguel Angel Rodriquez and Hong Kong’s
Max Lee played out one of the matches of the tournament so far as they
brought the crowd inside the University Club of Chicago’s Cathedral
Hall to their feet during a 78-minute thriller.
Rodriguez took the opener, before Lee – who dumped World No.9 Mohamed
Abouelghar out in round one - battled back to take a 2-1 lead forcing
Rodriguez to dig deep to claim an 11-7, 11-13, 10-12, 11-5, 11-6
victory in a humdinger of a match.
“We are good friends and I’ve played with Max many times before,” said Rodriguez.
“He was 2-1 up and mentally it is very tough to come back from that but
I think I stayed positive. I saw at the end of the fourth he was tired
so I had to come back stronger.
“I’m pleased to see that he is back at his best, he is a fantastic
player. We enjoyed the game and I think the crowd did too but I’m happy
to win and to be in the quarter-finals and with my performance.”
Rodriguez will go up against soon-to-be World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy
in the next round after he sailed through, defeating France’s Mathieu
Castagnet in straight-games, while Egyptian pair Tarek Momen and Karim
Abdel Gawad also prevailed - with Momen securing his first ever victory
over three-time World Champion Ramy Ashour.
Ashour started the match strongly, moving with grace and ease as he
unleashed an array of sublime winners, but as the match wore on it was
clear to see that the Egyptian was struggling with his movement as
Momen – who has reached the Qatar Classic and Tournament of Champions
finals this season – maintained his focus to close out the win.
“It’s a very tricky match playing against Ramy,” said Momen.
“We grew up in the same generation and he is only a few months older
than me and for the past 25 years I haven’t beaten him once.
“The way he played the first game is a taste of what he can do on
court. He’s had some struggles for the past few years and he’s trying
to comeback and so, I’m always on edge because I don’t know what to
expect.
“I’m very happy with the way I played today and how I handled the
situation because I couldn’t tell if something was going to happen. I
felt like we both played some good squash and I’m happy that I’m
through.”
Results: Men’s Round Two – 2018 Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family & EquiTrust Life Insurance Company
