The quarter-Finals of the Milwaukee Hong Kong Squash Open started tonight at Edinburgh Place – have a look around the new venue.
All the matches went to seeding, but none were easy as top and fourth seeds Nour El Sherbini, Ali Farag, Olivia Weaver and Diego Elias booked their semi-final places.
Check out the reports, reaction and photos below the results …
Women’s Semis :
[1] Nour El Sherbini (Egy) 3-0 [8] Rowan Elaraby (Egy) 12-10, 13-11, 11-6 (41m)
[4] Olivia Weaver (Usa) 3-0 [5] Nele Coll (Bel) 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 (39m)
Men’s Semis :
[1] Ali Farag (Egy) 3-0 [6] Mazen Hesham (Egy) 11-6, 11-9, 15-13 (56m)
[4] Diego Elias (Per) 3-1 Youssef Ibrahim (Egy) 8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 (56m)
Diego recovers to deny Ibrahim
[4] Diego Elias (Per) 3-1 Youssef Ibrahim (Egy) 8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 (56m)
World Champion Diego Elias had to pull out all the stops to turn his match against Youssef Ibrahim around.
The Egyptian was on fire in the first game, taking it 11-8, and started the second strongly too. Elias started to get more into the match and although it was never easy, managed to turn it around enough to eke out the win as he took the next three games.
“That was a real tough one. Youssef is one of the most talented players on tour and I knew it was going to be very tough. Even more on a court like this where you can’t really move, it just made it even tougher but I’m very happy with the win,” Elias said.
“Two years ago, I had match balls to win this tournament and I lost it. So I want to come back and get the title!”
Olivia powers through to the semis
[4] Olivia Weaver (Usa) 3-0 [5] Nele Coll (Bel) 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 (39m)
Olivia Weaver won through to her first Hong Kong semi-final with an authoritative performance over Nele Coll which belied the fact that she came into the match 3-7 down in their previous encounters.
The American was ahead on the scoreboard for the whole match, with Coll unable to make a breakthrough. A 4-0 start for Weaver in the third made another Coll comeback harder, and so it proved as Weaver closed out the win to reach her first HK semi-final.
“I’m really happy with how I moved today and with my length. I really enjoyed playing on this court, hitting my lines and getting volley opportunities and I really found my game.”
“Nele and I always have battles, we both love making it physical and I’m happy today didn’t get too physical!
“It would be incredible if I could go all the way. I’ve loved my time in Hong Kong; last year my trip here was cut shorter than I’d like and I’d love to go all the way and play my best squash.”
Farag edges home past Mazen
[1] Ali Farag (Egy) 3-0 [6] Mazen Hesham (Egy) 11-6, 11-9, 15-13 (56m)
Top seed Ali Farag was given a stern test by compatriot Mazen Hesham, like Nour El Sherbini in the previous match winning in three games, but it was tough all the way.
Mistakes cost Hesham as the end of the first game as Farag took the lead 11-6, and Hesham then couldn’t hold on to a 7-5 advantage in the second as Farag went two up 11-9.
In the third Hesham managed to pull away from mid-game, earning two game balls at 10-8 and one more after Farag had saved those. In the end though it was an error from Hesham that decided it in Farag’s favour 15-13.
“That was really tough! I thought in the first game, I played well and then he came back into it. The second was the best of the match and when I won it, I thought I had him, but he came back really strong in the third.
“He’s lethal when the ball’s short. I tried to keep it simple and hit the back corners and give myself a good chance. I was very happy to see that last one go into the tin!”
“It’s the only title that’s eluded me, I’ve reached three finals but came up against great opponents and couldn’t convert. Hopefully I can do it this time, but I need to focus on my semi-final first and see how that goes.”
Sherbini comes through tough all-Egyptian affair
[1] Nour El Sherbini (Egy) 3-0 [8] Rowan Elaraby (Egy) 12-10, 13-11, 11-6 (41m)
Top seed Nour El Sherbini kept her quest to regain the HK title going with a tough three-nil win over compatriot Rowan Elaraby.
It was Elaraby who opened up a lead in the first, got to 10-7 only to see Sherbini take the last five points to take a 12-10 lead. The second was a similar tale, but Elaraby only had one game ball this time as El Sherbini doubled her lead 13-11.
The third was more routine for the world#1 as she extended her winning record over Elaraby and became the first semi-finalist.
“It was a tough two games so I’m really happy I won them. It would have made a huge difference if I’d lost one of them. She’s a tough opponent and when we played five months ago it was five games so I wanted to make sure I was more focused.”
“For next week’s World Teams, we try to switch quickly and move on, we played against each other today but next week we’re going to be one team and supporting each other and helping our team to win the title.”
