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El Welily & Gawad
2019 Champions |
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CIB World Tour Finals 2020
(also known as World Series Finals)
Men
28 Sep - 03 Oct
Cairo, Egypt, $185k |
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Final:
[4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY)
11-6, 11-5, 11-3 (47m)
Semi-finals:
[4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [7] Joel Makin (WAL) 11-9,
11-8 (39m)
[5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [1] Ali Farag (EGY) 11-9,
7-11, 12-10 (60m)
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3rd pool round:
Pool A
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [6] Diego Elias (PER) 14-16, 11-5, 11-3 (60m)
[4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [8] Simon Rösner (GER) 13-11, 11-8
(41m)
Pool B
[2] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) 11-8, 11-3
(14m)
[7] Joel Makin (WAL) bt [3] Paul Coll (NZL) 11-3, 11-5 (34m)
2nd pool round:
Pool A
[4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [1] Ali Farag (EGY) 11-8, 4-11, 11-8
(57m)
[8] Simon Rösner (GER) bt [6] Diego Elias (PER) 8-11, 11-9, 11-6
(46m)
Pool B
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [2] Tarek Momen (EGY) 11-9, 11-8 (45m)
[5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [7] Joel Makin (WAL) 11-8, 11-6 (48m)
1st pool round:
Pool A
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [8] Simon Rösner (GER) 12-10, 11-6 (31m)
[6] Diego Elias (PER) bt [4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 9-11, 11-3,
11-5 (55m)
Pool B
[7] Joel Makin (WAL) bt [2] Tarek Momen (EGY) 11-5, 6-11, 11-9 (50m)
[5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [3] Paul Coll (NZL) 11-6, 11-5 (43m)
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CIB World Tour Finals 2020
(also known as World Series Finals)
Women
28 Sep - 03 Oct
Cairo, Egypt, $185k |
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Final:
[5] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt
[2] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-3 (81m)
Semi-finals:
[2] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) 5-11,
11-6, 11-3 (30m)
[5] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [8] Joelle King (NZL) 18-20,
11-8, 11-2 (56m)
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3rd pool round:
Pool A
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 11-7, 12-10
(24m)
[8] Joelle King (NZL) bt [3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 12-10, 11-7 (28m)
Pool B
[2] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [5] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) 8-11, 11-3, 11-7
(40m)
[7] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt [4] Camille Serme (FRA) 11-9, 11-5 (25m)
2nd pool round:
Pool A
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 11-6, 11-7 (22m)
[8] Joelle King (NZL) bt [6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 11-7, 11-13, 11-8
(53m)
Pool B
[4] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [2] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 11-8, 11-5 (24m)
[5] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [7] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 12-10, 11-8 (41m)
1st pool round:
Pool A
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [8] Joelle King (NZL) 11-9, 11-1 (22m)
[3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 11-7, 12-10 (28m)
Pool B
[2] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [7] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 11-5, 11-5 (17m)
[5] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [4] Camille Serme (FRA) 9-11, 12-10, 11-7
(51m)
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El Hammamy and ElShorbagy Win 2019-20 CIB PSA World Tour Finals
 Egyptian
duo Hania El Hammamy and Marwan ElShorbagy added their names to the
rolls of honour at the prestigious CIB PSA World Tour Finals after
they claimed respective wins over Nour El Tayeb and Karim Abdel
Gawad in the women’s and men’s finals earlier tonight at Cairo’s
Mall of Arabia.
The CIB PSA World Tour Finals brings the curtain down on the 2019-20
season after being postponed from June, 2020 due to the COVID-19
pandemic. 20-year-old Hania El Hammamy has become the youngest
female ever to win the prestigious title after completing an
incredible come back from two games down against El Tayeb.
El Tayeb came into the match off the back of winning the Manchester
Open last week - the first event following the six-month suspension
of the PSA World Tour - but El Hammamy was appearing in her second
final in her last three tournaments after claiming her maiden PSA
Platinum title at the Black Ball Open back in March, which was the
final event before the suspension.
El Tayeb had won six of their previous seven matches and the match
looked to be going according to form as she played some immaculate
squash to go two games ahead.
But El Hammamy has a mental resilience that belies her tender years
and the World No.6 struck back in the third to claw a game back.
That rattled El Tayeb, who went off the rails completely as El
Hammamy stormed to an 9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-3 triumph to lift
her sixth PSA World Tour title.
 “I’m
over the moon, I can’t believe I actually did it,” said El Hammamy
afterwards.
“2-0 down against Nour El Tayeb, it’s a nightmare and it’s really
tough playing against her, she’s so strong physically and I’m really
proud of myself after being 2-0 down, I kept pushing and I kept
digging in.
“For the past week the positive thing has been that I kept fighting
and today I can add that I am so happy with my performance. At the
beginning I kept making a lot of errors and that gave her the
advantage in the first two games. When I became patient and I kept
playing straight lines and found my length and shots then that made
the difference.”
Like El Hammamy, ElShorbagy has lifted the second major PSA title of
his career and his first since the 2018 El Gouna International after
taking out reigning champion Gawad by an 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 margin.
 ElShorbagy
has been in red-hot form in Cairo this week and finished top of
Group B, with a 2-0 defeat against World Champion Tarek Momen - in a
dead rubber after he had already qualified for the semis - being his
only defeat of the tournament.
Gawad is a specialist in Egypt and was appearing in his fifth
successive final on home soil, but he was blown away by the World
No.7’s tactical nous and control of the racket and had no answer to
a rampant ElShorbagy.
ElShorbagy captures his 10th PSA World Tour title and keeps the CIB
PSA World Tour titles in Egyptian hands for a fourth successive
season in the men’s event, while El Hammamy’s win means the women’s
event has had three Egyptian winners in as many seasons.
“My performance couldn’t have gone any better today,” said
ElShorbagy.
 “Tactically,
mentally, I was really looking forward to today. I think this is the
best I’ve played since the beginning of the season, I knew that I
could play at this level, I was just waiting for the moment and it
couldn’t have come at a better moment. I’m really happy with the win
tonight and I’m already looking forward to next week.
“Mohamed [ElShorbagy, Marwan’s brother] better be worried. He’s the
current No.1, he isn’t here and I’m being realistic, I would have
loved to have played and beaten him here but I still have a lot of
work to do. He is the greatest player of our generation and he’s
been there for a long time for a reason. I hope I will be giving him
a hard time this year."
Both El Hammamy and ElShorbagy take home equal prize money of
$49,875 each which is the most lucrative winner's prize in the
history of the CIB PSA World Tour Finals.
They will next be in action at the CIB Egyptian Squash Open between
October 10-17, which is the first Platinum event to take place since
the restart of the PSA World Tour. The tournament will be held in
front of Cairo’s iconic Great Pyramid of Giza.
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Egyptian Quartet Reach Title Deciders at CIB PSA World Tour Finals
The CIB PSA World Tour Finals will feature all-Egyptian finals for a
second time in three seasons after Nour El Tayeb, Hania El Hammamy,
Marwan ElShorbagy and Karim Abdel Gawad all came through their
semi-final fixtures unscathed at Cairo’s Mall of Arabia earlier
tonight.
The World Tour Finals - which was rescheduled from June, 2020 due to
the COVID-19 pandemic - serves as the season finale of the 2019-20
season and a new name will be engraved on the women’s trophy after
El Tayeb and El Hammamy dispatched World Champion Nour El Sherbini
and New Zealand’s Joelle King, respectively.
El Tayeb scraped through to the semi-finals on the final day of
group stage action after France’s Camille Serme failed to get the
better of United States No.1 Amanda Sobhy last night. But the World
No.4 put together her best squash of the tournament so far as she
recovered from a game down to end a run that had seen her win just
one of her last nine matches against El Sherbini.
 “We
hear the commentary before the match,” said El Tayeb afterwards.
“And throughout the 10 minutes before the match, I could hear how
Nour El Sherbini is the favourite, how she’s unbeatable this
tournament, which actually made me relax a bit and I was thinking it
might put her under a little bit of pressure.
"I’ve never made it to any final in Egypt before, I never really
play well here. And especially after yesterday, I went back to the
hotel and ordered junk food because I thought I was out and then I
watched Amanda [Sobhy] and she did it. I’m very lucky and I’m
grateful.”
Her opponent will be World No.6 El Hammamy, who also recovered from
a game down, beating World No.8 King to become the second youngest
finalist in World Tour Finals history after compatriot Ramy Ashour.
The level of squash was exceptionally high, and a mammoth first game
went the way of King by a 20-18 scoreline after both players traded
multiple game balls. El Hammamy regrouped though to take the second
and the 20-year-old moved up through the gears in the third to book
her spot in the title decider, making it two PSA World Tour finals
in her last three tournaments.
El Hammamy fell to El Tayeb last night in their final group match
but tomorrow’s final will revert to the traditional best-of-five
games scoring.
 “Joelle
is so tough, especially on the volley, if you give her a volley then
she hits a winner, so I didn’t want to do that," said El Hammamy.
"I played Nour [El Tayeb] yesterday in a tough best of three and
tomorrow is best of five. We play at the same club, train together
and I really respect her, she is like a big sister and I hope
tomorrow will be a good match.”
In the men’s tournament, 2017 World Championship runner-up
ElShorbagy has secured a place in the final of the World Tour Finals
for the first time in his career after continuing his hoodoo over
top seed Ali Farag.
ElShorbagy beat Farag in the Manchester Open quarter-finals just 12
days ago and the 27-year-old completed an 11-9, 7-11, 12-10 victory
- recovering from a match ball down in the process - to make it five
wins in his last seven games against Farag.
 “Ali
is the toughest player to beat on the PSA World Tour by far,” said
ElShorbagy afterwards.
“Even if I win tomorrow, being realistic I know that my brother
[Mohamed] is not here. He’s the current No.1 and the best player in
the world, even if I win tomorrow, I know I still have a lot of work
to do and he is the player to beat. No matter who wins tomorrow, we
[ElShorbagy and Gawad] know we have a lot of work to do.”
ElShorbagy now has an opportunity to win his first major PSA title
since the 2018 El Gouna International when he takes on defending
champion Gawad in tomorrow’s final.
Gawad was up against World No.9 Joel Makin - only the second
Welshman to appear in the World Tour Finals - and beat him 11-9,
11-8 to reach a fifth successive PSA World Tour country in his
native Egypt.
 “I’m
very happy about my performance,” said Gawad.
"I think I played well, Joel was controlling the middle of the court
well today and I started slow with some errors, so I tried to get my
lines first before getting to the front corners. It worked well when
I controlled the middle of the court. I just tried to play straight
lines more and I’m pleased with my performance today."
The finals of the CIB PSA World Tour Finals will use the traditional
best-of-five games format and take place at 19:00 (GMT+2). Both
matches will be broadcast on SQUASHTV, ON Sport (Egypt), and
multiple mainstream broadcast channels around the world.
For more information on the 2019-20 CIB PSA World Tour Finals, visit
official
tournament website or
follow the PSA World Tour on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Also see: World’s
Best Squash Players to Line up at Mall of Arabia
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King Sends World No.1 Gohar Out as Semi-Finalists
Confirmed
 New
Zealand’s Joelle King sent World No.1 Nouran Gohar out of the CIB
PSA World Tour Finals at Cairo’s Mall of Arabia earlier today to
book her place in the semi-finals of this tournament for the first
time.
King’s only win in their last four meetings came at this event back
in 2018 at Dubai’s Emirates Golf Club and the best-of-three games
format looks to play in her favour against the hard-hitting Gohar.
It was a straight shootout between the two to join Group A winner
Nour El Sherbini in the semi-finals. And King, a day after her 32nd
birthday, recovered from four game balls down in the opening game to
take the lead, before an impressive showing in the second saw her
complete the win to book her place in the last four.
“I just tried to think that I was in the middle of a practice match
with one of the guys back in Bristol and just relax,” said King.
“I felt like I was playing some good squash in patches but not for
long enough. Nouran is such an amazing player and mentally tough, so
I knew I had to do something more. I just tried to play each point
as it came and I was lucky to scrape the first.
“I was pleased with the mental side and I need to trust the work
that I’ve done. I felt like it’s there and I didn’t quite get it out
in Manchester, I just wanted to see how well I could play really and
I’m pretty happy with that.”
King’s semi-final opponent will be No.5 seed Hania El Hammamy,
meaning there will be a guaranteed first-time finalist in the
women’s event.
El Hammamy finished top of Group B, a point clear of World No.3 Nour
El Tayeb despite a 2-1 defeat to her fellow Egyptian tonight. That
win kept El Tayeb’s hopes of semi-final qualification alive and she
faced an anxious wait in the hope that US No.1 Amanda Sobhy, who was
bottom of Group B, could upset France’s Camille Serme.
 "I
knew she had less to lose than I did, but I think after the first
game and after I lost, I knew there was a big chance that I would be
out of the tournament, I think I cared less and that’s when I played
better," El Tayeb said.
“It was hard until the end, even though Hania knew she was in the
semis, she gave me a hard time. All credit to her, she has been
doing amazing and giving everyone a very tough match and winning
matches. I’m pleased I got in the win in the end and I don’t think I
have ever wanted Amanda [Sobhy] to win more."
Sobhy hadn’t beaten Serme in seven encounters, with her last win
against the World No.3 coming back in 2014. But the American duly
delivered her best performance of the tournament so far to put her
first points on the board, meaning Serme misses out on a place in
the last four.
 In
the men’s event, Welshman Joel Makin will appear in the semi-finals
here for the first time after upsetting World No.5 Paul Coll to end
a five-match losing streak to the Kiwi.
After winning their first ever meeting at the 2016 Australian Open,
Makin has found it difficult to live with Coll but played some
immaculate squash to complete an 11-3, 11-5 victory in 34 minutes.
“The difference was tonight that I made sure I hit my spots,” said
Makin, who rose to a career-best World No.9 ranking today.
“I just got the length through to the back of the court and I knew
what I needed to do tactically. I knew I had to switch and get it
past him and I did that exactly how I wanted to. My quality going
short was much better and that’s more of the squash I want to play."
He will take on Group A winner Karim Abdel Gawad in tomorrow’s
semi-finals after the former World No.1 got the better of Germany’s
Simon Rösner by a 2-0 margin.
 Gawad
finished level on eight points with World No.2 Ali Farag at the
summit of Group A, but finished top as a result of his superior
head-to-head record over the top seed at this event having beaten
him in the previous group match.
"It feels great reaching a semi-final here, especially after a slow
start against Diego [Elias in match one],” said Gawad.
“I’m trying to enjoy the tournament as much as I can and I have a
very good record here in Cairo, but that doesn’t mean I’ll win all
the tournaments. I just try to enjoy the crowd and I like to play on
this court, especially in Cairo, so I’m just trying to enjoy the
tournament and not worry about anything else."
The other men’s match took place in Group B, with Tarek Momen
getting the better of group winner Marwan ElShorbagy 2-0 to leapfrog
Coll into third place.
The semi-finals of the CIB PSA World Tour Finals take place tomorrow
and play begins at 18:30 (GMT+2). All four fixtures from the Mall of
Arabia will be broadcast on SQUASHTV, ON Sport (Egypt), and multiple
mainstream broadcast channels around the world.
For more information on the 2019-20 CIB PSA World Tour Finals, visit
official
tournament website or
follow the PSA World Tour on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Also see: World’s
Best Squash Players to Line up at Mall of Arabia |
Farag and ElShorbagy Book Semis Spots on Day Three of CIB PSA World
Tour Finals
Egyptian duo Ali Farag and Marwan ElShorbagy have become the first men
to book their spots in the semi-finals of the CIB PSA World Tour Finals
after they beat Peru’s Diego Elias and Welshman Joel Makin,
respectively, at Cairo’s Mall of Arabia earlier tonight.
It was winner takes all in the Group A clash between Farag and Elias
after one win and one defeat each, and Elias made the better start as
the languid World No.6 found his attacking rhythm early on.
But some lengthy rallies sapped the energy from Elias’s legs and Farag
completed back-to-back victories in the second and third games to book
his spot in the last four at the expense of his opponent.
 “It
was very hard and they were very tough conditions out there," said Farag.
"Even when I was 10-8 down in the first, I thought maybe I should just
put some work into his legs and it did finally pay off at 1-0 and 5-5.
From that point on, I took more control of the match. That was one gutsy
performance, I didn’t necessarily play the best squash, but I was
talking to my mum yesterday and she gave me the confidence that I have
it in me. It is her birthday today tomorrow so I just wanted to send her
a message.
“The crowd made a big difference today. We are lucky to have a lot of
tournaments in Egypt, mostly thanks to CIB. Today I was really looking
at my brother. Ever since I was very young, he was the guy I was looking
up to and behind the glass, when he is here, he gets all my attention.”
Defending champion Karim Abdel Gawad and Germany’s Simon Rösner will
face off in the final Group A fixture tomorrow, with the winner joining
Farag in the semi-finals.
 In
Group B, ElShorbagy followed up yesterday’s win over New Zealand’s Paul
Coll with an 11-8, 11-6 win over Makin to seal his semi-final spot at
the World Tour Finals for the first time.
The World No.7 is appearing at this event for the first time since the
2016-17 season and he made it two wins out of two after a tactically
accomplished performance.
“I am really happy with the way I dealt with the conditions today, it
was really slippery and I had to deal with my movement,” ElShorbagy
explained.
“I am happy to win in two games against a very tough opponent and just
really happy with the way I am playing. I have worked really hard this
summer so results like this don’t surprise me. Maybe the way I played in
Manchester [in the semis] was disappointing, so I am looking forward to
improving on that here.”
Coll made it back-to-back wins over World Champion Tarek Momen to send
him out of the tournament and the Kiwi will go up against Makin in the
final day of group stage action tomorrow - with a place in the semis up
for grabs.
There are still three semi-final places on offer in the women’s event,
with Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy moving into pole position in Group B
courtesy of a 2-0 win over United States No.1 Amanda Sobhy.
A 12-10, 11-8 victory has put her within touching distance of a place in
the semi-finals after moving onto seven points in the group. The
20-year-old sits two points ahead of second-placed Serme and will
qualify for the semi-finals with anything other than a 2-0 defeat to
Nour El Tayeb in her final group match tomorrow.
 “I
tried not to think much about the match, but I wanted to win in two if
that was possible,” said El Hammamy.
“The first game was very crucial, Amanda was leading and then I found my
game and it was really tough from the first. I love playing in Egypt in
front of this crowd, my coaches, my family and my friends are all here,
so it’s always special playing in Egypt.”
World No.3 Serme avenged her defeat to El Tayeb in the Manchester Open
final eight days ago after an immaculate performance carried her to a
2-0 victory over the World No.4.
 Any
win for Serme over Sobhy tomorrow will see her qualify for the last
four.
“Yesterday was a pretty tough match, so today I wanted to stick to my
tactical plan and I think my coach will be happy at home,” said Serme.
“I didn’t do much wrong tonight, I think, and I stuck to that plan, so
I’m really happy about it. I will prepare [for the match about Sobhy]
like I did for the other ones. I’ll have a good recovery with the physio
now and will have a chat with my coach tonight and we’ll prepare for the
match tomorrow with some video [analysis]. Then I’ll rest and get
ready.”
Meanwhile, in Group A, World No.2 Nour El Sherbini continued her 100 per
cent record so far as she dismantled England’s Sarah-Jane Perry to
finish the group on 12 points. World No.1 Nouran Gohar and Joelle King
will play-off tomorrow in a bid to join El Sherbini in the semi-finals.
The group stage of the CIB PSA World Tour Finals continues tomorrow and
play begins at 18:00 (GMT+2). All six fixtures from the Mall of Arabia
will be broadcast on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe
only), ON Sport (Egypt) and the official
Facebook page of the PSA World Tour. (excluding
Europe and Japan) and multiple mainstream broadcast channels around the
world.
Squash fans can stay up-to-date tournament by visiting
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El Sherbini Qualifies for CIB PSA World Tour Finals Semis
 Reigning
World Champion Nour El Sherbini has become the first player to qualify
for the semi-finals of the CIB PSA World Tour Finals after she overcame
World No.1 Nouran Gohar earlier today in their Group A clash at Cairo’s
Mall of Arabia.
El Sherbini, the 2017-18 World Tour Finals champion, lost out to Gohar
when the pair met at this stage of the 2018-19 event but the 24-year-old
was immaculate as she dismantled her fellow Egyptian by an 11-6, 11-7
scoreline in just 22 minutes.
That win sees El Sherbini guarantee top spot in Group A with a maximum
eight points out of eight so far after back-to-back 2-0 wins. She now
qualifies for the knockout semi-finals, which will take place on Friday
October 2.
“It feels great after playing two very tough rounds after each other,”
said El Sherbini.
“Nouran has been playing really well over the last reason as you can see
from her results. Now she’s come back as World No.1 after the lockdown,
so I’m very happy with my performance and I’m really glad that I won
2-0.”
Gohar will go up against New Zealand’s Joelle King on Thursday October 1
in a play-off for second place in the group.
King, the World No.8, got the better of England’s Sarah-Jane Perry by a
2-1 scoreline to send her out of this year’s tournament. The Kiwi moves
third in Group A and now sits on three points, a solitary point behind
Gohar with it all to play for in their fixture.
 “I
was pretty disappointed with my match last night against Nour [El
Sherbini]," said King.
"I started well and had a couple of patches that were good, but that’s
not good enough for someone of her class. I knew that today I was coming
up against another top eight player, so I just tried to forget about
yesterday. That is the beauty of this format, I didn’t event think about
winning, I just wanted to play well and SJ is a really good friend, so
those are the hardest ones to get yourself up there."
The other women’s fixture saw World No.6 Hania El Hammamy come back from
a game down to beat World No.3 Camille Serme in their Group B opener. El
Hammamy goes second in that group with three points, a point behind
leader Nour El Tayeb, who dispatched United States No.1 Amanda Sobhy
last night.
 Defending
champion Karim Abdel Gawad recovered from an opening day defeat to
Peru’s Diego Elias as he overcame top seed Ali Farag to move second in
Group A of the men’s event.
Gawad could have been exiting the event tonight if Farag and Elias had
both achieved victories, but he was much improved against the World No.2
and achieved an 11-8, 4-11, 11-8 victory to keep his hopes of semi-final
qualification alive.
“It was very tough to play Ali," former World No.1 Gawad said.
"It was a tough match, and a deciding match for me, to continue battling
for a semi-final place or to be out of the tournament. It is tough,
there is a lot of pressure, but I think I played very well under that
pressure. My parents always told me to just play your best and to ignore
the pressure, winning or losing is all in your own hands."
Gawad sits third in Group A with four points, level on points with
second-placed Diego Elias but below him due to his inferior head-to-head
record at this event after his opening day loss to the Peruvian.
The winner of Gawad’s match with Rösner will determine which one of that
pair will qualify for the semi-finals, while top seed Ali Farag and
Elias will also go head-to-head in a bid to qualify for the last four.
Rösner overcame Elias 2-1 in tonight’s action. The German languishes
behind in fourth place with three points, but can still finish second in
the group if he can overcome Gawad.
In Group B, World No.7 Marwan ElShorbagy put in a masterclass
performance to dispatch World No.5 Paul Coll and move ahead of Welshman
Joel Makin into first place.
He lost out to the Kiwi when they met in the PSA Men’s World
Championship semis last November, but outwitted Coll to get his revenge
with an 11-6, 11-5 victory in 43 minutes.
 “Every
match you play in this event is really hard,” ElShorbagy said.
“I played Paul in the semi-finals of the World Championship last
November, so I knew it was going to be a tough match. The conditions
were really tough, it was really bouncy which could suit both of us but
maybe I dealt with it a little bit better than him today."
The group stage of the CIB PSA World Tour Finals continues tomorrow and
play begins at 18:00 (GMT+2). All six fixtures from the Mall of Arabia
will be broadcast on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe
only),
ON Sport (Egypt) official
Facebook page of the PSA World Tour. (excluding
Europe and Japan) and multiple mainstream broadcast channels around the
world.
Squash fans can stay up-to-date tournament by visiting official
tournament website or
follow the PSA World Tour on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Also see: World’s
Best Squash Players to Line up at Mall of Arabia |
World No.1 Gohar and World Champion El Sherbini Drawn
Together at CIB PSA World Tour Finals
 Women’s
World No.1 Nouran Gohar and World Champion Nour El Sherbini will lock
horns in Group A of the 2019-20 CIB PSA World Tour Finals as they do
battle for the prestigious title at Cairo’s Mall of Arabia between
September 28 - October 3.
The PSA World Tour Finals features the best squash players on the
planet, with players needing to secure either a top eight finish on the
CIB Road to Egypt Standings or win a PSA Platinum tournament to earn
their place at one of the most unique tournaments on the PSA World Tour.
A $370,000 prize fund will be split equally across both the women’s and
men’s events as players compete in a best-of-three games group stage
between September 28 - October 1. The top two from each group qualify
for the knockout semi-finals, where a place in the best-of-five games
title decider will await the winner of those fixtures.
Gohar will take to the court as the World No.1 for the first time
following her ascent to that coveted spot during the COVID-19 enforced
suspension of the PSA World Tour. She will line up against El Sherbini -
who finished top of the Road to Egypt Standings - England’s Sarah-Jane
Perry and New Zealand’s Joelle King.
King finished outside the top eight on the Road to Egypt Standings, but
qualifies after defending champion Raneem El Welily, who finished
second, retired from the sport in the summer.
Group B is made up of last year’s runner-up Camille Serme, World No.4
Nour El Tayeb, PSA World Tour Finals debutant Hania El Hammamy and World
No.7 Amanda Sobhy.
Meanwhile, World Championship finalists Tarek Momen and Paul Coll will
go head-to-head in Group B of the men’s event. Momen, who overcame Coll
to get his hands on the biggest prize in men’s squash last November in
Qatar, heads up the group and the pair are joined by World No.7 Marwan
ElShorbagy and Welshman Joel Makin, who makes his first appearance at
the PSA World Tour Finals.
World No.2 Ali Farag heads up Group A in the men’s event and will be
joined by defending champion Karim Abdel Gawad and Peru’s Diego Elias.
Germany’s Simon Rösner, who qualifies after Road to Egypt Standings
leader Mohamed ElShorbagy chose not to play due to personal reasons,
takes the other spot in that group.
Group stage action will begin on Monday September 28 at 18:00 (GMT+2).
Six matches will be played per night for the first four days of the
event until the group stage has drawn to a close.
Group stage matches will take place at 18:00, 18:45, 19:30, 20:15, 21:00
and 21:45 between September 28 - October 1. The semi-finals will be held
at 18:30 on Friday October 2.
The finals will begin at 19:00 on Saturday October 3.
Every match from the tournament will be shown live on SQUASHTV (rest of
world), Eurosport Player (Europe only), ON Sport (Egypt) official
Facebook page of the PSA World Tour. (excluding
Europe and Japan) and multiple mainstream broadcast channels around the
world.
Squash fans can stay up-to-date tournament by visiting official
tournament website or
follow the PSA World Tour on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Also see: World’s
Best Squash Players to Line up at Mall of Arabia
|
Men's
Pool Rounds
1st pool round:
Pool A
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v [8] Simon Rösner (GER)
[4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [6] Diego Elias (PER)
Pool B
[2] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [7] Joel Makin (WAL)
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) v [5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY)
2nd pool round:
Pool A
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v [4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
[6] Diego Elias (PER) v [8] Simon Rösner (GER)
Pool B
[2] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [3] Paul Coll (NZL)
[5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) v [7] Joel Makin (WAL)
3rd pool round:
Pool A
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v [6] Diego Elias (PER)
[4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [8] Simon Rösner (GER)
Pool B
[2] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY)
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) v [7] Joel Makin (WAL)
|
Women's Pool Rounds
1st pool round:
Pool A
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [8] Joelle King (NZL)
[3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
Pool B
[2] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v [7] Amanda Sobhy (USA)
[4] Camille Serme (FRA) v [5] Hania El Hammamy (EGY)
2nd pool round:
Pool A
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [3] Nouran Gohar (EGY)
[6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v [8] Joelle King (NZL)
Pool B
[2] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v [4] Camille Serme (FRA)
[5] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) v [7] Amanda Sobhy (USA)
3rd pool round:
Pool A
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
[3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [8] Joelle King (NZL)
Pool B
[2] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v [5] Hania El Hammamy (EGY)
[4] Camille Serme (FRA) v [7] Amanda Sobhy (USA)
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