El Sherbini Over Sobhy in World Championship Round of 16, Day 4 Report by Sean Reuthe
photos PSA
February 26, 2019
- Malaysia’s eight-time World Champion Nicol David has made her final
ever appearance at the sport’s pinnacle tournament after a 3-1 defeat
to France’s Camille Serme in the third round of the 2018-2019 PSA World
Championships presented by the Walter Family, which is currently
talking place inside the Great Hall of Chicago’s Union Station.
David, the 35-year-old from Penang, last week announced that she will
retire from the sport at the end of this season and she holds more
World Championship titles than any other woman, winning the event eight
out of ten times between 2005 and 2014.
David had won 16 of her 18 PSA Tour matches against Serme and started
on the front foot as she rose to the occasion, holding the French
player off to take a one-game lead. But Serme controlled the court well
from that moment onwards and came back to win 9-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 to
deny David the chance at a fairytale ending.
“She beat me so many times and of course she is a legend and it’s an
honour to be her last match at the World Championships,” said Serme.
“She’s such a fighter, even in the last game, I was 6-0 up, I had
really good length and she came out firing and I thought she could come
back, so I had to push really hard.
“She used to be called “Duracell” because she was physically so strong,
and I think that’s why the top girls push themselves so hard because
she was so physical. She’s so fair as well, she never cheats and she
will always say ‘good shot’, it’s just so enjoyable to play against
her.”
David said: “It’s been so great to be part of this major event. It’s
our first $1 million event and I got a chance to play in it, which is
great.
“Squash has come a long way, so to get this far is a thrill for me.
With [this being] my last Worlds, I gave it my all, I’ll take whatever
I got and I really enjoyed my match today.”
Serme will play New Zealand’s Joelle King in the quarter-finals after
she dispatched Hong Kong’s Joey Chan, while two-time World Champion
Nour El Sherbini survived a thrilling five-game encounter with United
States No.1 Amanda Sobhy to end home hopes at the event.
Buoyed by a partizan crowd, Sobhy went a game up on two occasions, but
El Sherbini dug in to take the win, displaying her title winning
credentials with a 10-12, 11-3, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7.
“This is the third time [playing Sobhy since the American’s achilles
injury] and every match is getting better and better,” said El Sherbini.
“This time was the toughest one and I didn’t want to leave the
tournament that early, so I had to fight until the end and I’m really
glad I won this one. I just tried to put the ball back deep into the
corners and attack more, but I think she was also doing the same.”
El Sherbini will play Welsh No.1 Tesni Evans for a place in the
semi-finals after Evans got the better of World No.6 Sarah-Jane Perry,
winning 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7 in 45 minutes to reach the last eight
for the second year running.
Meanwhile, Germany’s World No.4 Simon Rösner had a huge battle on his
hands against Spanish veteran Borja Golan as he recovered from 2-1 to
become the first German player ever to reach the quarter-finals of the
World Championships.
Rösner was tested throughout a mammoth 93-minute battle with former
World No.5 Golan but came out on top to see off the 36-year-old by an
9-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-5, 11-5 scoreline.
“I’ve had my best results in the US, so of course that’s something that’s in the back of your mind,” said Rösner.
“Each point, each game and each match is different so you’ve just got to be at your best throughout.”
Indian No.1 Saurav Ghosal lies in wait in the quarter-finals after he
defeated Welshman Joel Makin. World No.2 Ali Farag and New Zealand’s
Paul Coll will also do battle in the last eight after they advanced
courtesy of respective wins against Egyptian pair Mazen Hesham and
Fares Dessouky.
“I’m lucky that he didn’t start firing in the first two,” said Farag.
I did my homework and studied him well and I think it paid off. Two of
my three biggest titles have come on US soil – first with the US Open
with Nour and then last month the ToC, which got me to that number one
spot [in March]. I have great memories here and hopefully it’s going to
be a third one.”
The quarter-finals begin at 17:00 (GMT-6) on Wednesday February 27 and
all of the action from Union Station will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV
(Rest of World) Eurosport Player (Europe only) and on the the official
Facebook page of the PSA World Tour.
Results – Men’s Third Round (Bottom Half): 2018-2019 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family
[3] Simon Rösner (GER) bt Borja Golan (ESP) 3-2: 9-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-5, 11-5 (93m)
[11] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Joel Makin (WAL) 3-1: 11-13, 11-7, 11-7, 14-12 (80m)
[7] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [13] Fares Dessouky (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8 (71m)
[2] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Mazen Hesham (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-9 (36m)
Draw – Men’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half): To Be Played February 27th
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v [6] Miguel Rodriguez (COL)
[
[8] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v [4] Tarek Momen (EGY)
Draw – Men’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half): To Be Played February 28th
[3] Simon Rösner (GER) v [11] Saurav Ghosal (IND)
[7] Paul Coll (NZL) v [2] Ali Farag (EGY)
Results – Women’s Third Round (Bottom Half): 2018-2019 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family
[4] Joelle King (NZL) bt [18] Joey Chan (HKG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 15-13 (31m)
[5] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [13] Nicol David (MAS) 3-1: 9-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 (41m)
[10] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt [6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7 (45m)
[2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [11] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-2: 10-12, 11-3, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7 (52m)
Draw – Women’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half): To Be Played February 27th
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) v [8] Nouran Gohar (EGY)
[12] Annie Au (HKG) v [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Draw – Women’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half): To Be Played February 28th
[4] Joelle King (NZL) v [5] Camille Serme (FRA)
[10] Tesni Evans (WAL) v [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
