Gilis Stuns World No.1 El Sherbini to Reach Maiden Platinum Final at El Gouna International
by Simon Dent June 2, 2023 -Nele
Gilis stunned World No.1 and seven-time World Champion Nour El Sherbini
to reach her first-ever Platinum-level final at the El Gouna
International following her 3-0 success at the El Gouna Conference and
Culture Center.
The Belgian No.1 is also the first player from her country to appear in
a major final, as Gilis claimed her maiden victory over El Sherbini
after five previous unsuccessful attempts where she hadn’t taken a
single game off the Egyptian.
A rejuvenated Gilis got off to a great start, and she earned herself
two game balls at 10-8, which she converted straight away after El
Sherbini hit the tin.
The errors continued to flow from the World Champion’s racket as Gilis
took full advantage to pull El Sherbini across the court. Gilis
converted game ball at the second time of asking to double her lead.
El Sherbini cut a frustrated figure throughout, and that frustration
turned into desperation in the third game as Gilis raced into a 5-2
advantage, which then became a 10-5 lead. Match ball was converted at
the first attempt for Gilis on what was a momentous occasion for the
Belgian.
“I think it was a bit of a mix, I was very relaxed and had nothing to
lose and [Nour] El Sherbini not being at her best, but you still have
to take those opportunities when they arise. I’ve been visualising for
the last 24 hours and not once did I think it would be 3-0. It’s a bit
surreal and I’m beyond happy,” she said afterwards.
“I just had to force myself to volley and stay in front of her and be
confident on my shots that I’ve been practising for years and just do
it because if I don’t I’m never going to win, so I might as well have a
crack and see how it goes and thankfully I did that.”
Gilis’ opponent tomorrow will be Nouran Gohar, who knocked out
defending El Gouna International champion Hania El Hammamy to reach a
second successive final in a monumental 107-minute battle - the fifth
longest women’s match of all time.
World No.2 Gohar, who will return to the top of the Women’s Rankings if
she wins the El Gouna International, defeated the reigning champion 3-1
to progress to the final.
It was a cagey opening from both players, but El Hammamy went 10-7
ahead only for Gohar to charge back to win four successive points to
take it into a tiebreak. Despite the World No.3 having two more chances
to convert game one, Gohar took it 15-13 in a physical 31-minute opener.
Mistakes were costly for El Hammamy in the second game, but she was
able to regroup and go 9-4 up. Despite Gohar battling back to 9-10,
defending champion El Hammamy levelled the match.
El Hammamy opened up another cushion in the third when she went 8-5 up,
only for Gohar to peg her back to eight-all. El Hammamy had game ball,
but was thwarted by the resilient Gohar once more to send the game into
another tiebreak.
Three game balls were squandered by El Hammamy, as Gohar capitalised to
clinch the third 17-15. The former World No.1 looked determined as ever
as she relentlessly pushed El Hammamy into the back corners and sealed
the match with an 11-6 victory in the fourth.
“I know they call me mentally tough but these kind of matches give me more confidence,” said Gohar.
“To be able to close it out in four in 107 minutes, it’s good but I’d
like to close it out sooner. It was tough physically but mentally as
well. I know the referees sweat more actually, we just want to win so
much.”
Mostafa Asal’s title defence remains intact after the defending
champion overcame his idol Mohamed ElShorbagy in a mammoth 110-minute
five-set encounter.
Asal stormed into a two-game lead with his devastating attacks proving
to be too much for ElShorbagy to handle, with the World No.2 winning
both games 11-8.
However ElShorbagy disrupted the rhythm Asal had found in the opening
two games to get a foothold back in the contest, edging a tense and
scrappy third game 16-14.
Asal’s concentration appeared to have dipped in the fourth as
ElShorbagy capitalised to level the match, and the wear and tear on the
Englishman's body was evident in the early stages of the fifth game, so
much so that Asal had to gift his older opponent some socks after
ElShorbagy had sweated through all of his own.
The break in play was beneficial to Asal, who marched into an 8-0 lead
before closing out the match moments later to crown a monumental battle
with ElShorbagy that had finished into the early hours of the morning.
“It was really difficult conditions,” said Asal.
“It’s all about sportsmanship between me and Mohamed [ElShorbagy], we
both lost a bit of control in the third game but I have so much respect
for him. I’m playing my idol - I was here years ago, watching him and
Greg [Gaultier], his coach, in the final. He’s the Beast for a reason.
“It’s a lot of emotions. I was suspended for two months and now I’m in
the final to defend my title. It was not my best season, despite
reaching World No.1. Last season was much better but I was trying to
get all my momentum for this tournament. It's not done yet, I have a
final tomorrow.”
Ali Farag will lock horns with Asal for the title, and he continued his
excellent form as he made it 19 wins in a row to secure a fourth
successive final appearance after seeing off World No.1 Diego Elias in
four games.
The four-time World Champion, who has lost the opening game in every
round of this tournament, continued that unwanted record against the
World No.1, who picked off Farag to draw first blood.
Farag, who will return to the summit of the World Rankings if he
clinches the El Gouna International, clicked into gear in the second
and was starting to find his rhythm, however Elias’ one game ball was
soon wiped out after Farag held tough and won the next thee points to
equalise.
The Egyptian hit top form in the third, winning comfortably 11-2, and
Farag’s pace was relentless in the next game as he proved to be too
strong for the Peruvian to make it four finals in a row.
“I have to dig in deep into my reserves, squash reserves, physical
reserves. If that was a true individual sport, I would have stopped in
Manchester,” said Farag.
“I have my wife [Nour El Tayeb], my coaches, my family, my physio. You
think it’s easy to push but it’s all the conversations I have with my
parents, they chill me out so if I was stressed out all day I would not
play the way I do. Hopefully I can push one more time tomorrow to make
them even more proud.”
The finals of the El Gouna International 2023 take place on Friday 2
June, with play starting at 19:00 (GMT+3) at the El Gouna Conference
and Culture Center. Both finals will be available to watch live on
SQUASHTV and selected broadcasters around the world. Men’s Semi-Final Results: El Gouna International 2023
[4] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [1] Diego Elias (PER) 3-1: 7-11, 12-10, 11-2, 11-7 (73m)
