Sobhy Avoids Upset On Opening Day Of CIB Egyptian Open

In the first day of the CIB Egyptian Open 2022, World No.21 Sabrina Sobhy avoided a huge upset as she overcame 15-year-old wildcard Amina Orfi.

Sobhy took the first game 11-8 but Orfi, who had the backing of a passionate home crowd, stormed back to make it 1-1 when she clinched the second game 11-6.

Orfi, who’s 402 places lower in the world rankings than her opponent, produced an excellent performance in the third as she won 11-2 to edge 2-1 ahead.

The 15-year-old, who was crowned World Junior champion in the summer, had a golden opportunity to seal her place in the second round in the fourth game with a match point but she was unable to profit. An error from Orfi handed Sobhy the fourth game to tie the scores and force a decider.

But it was Sobhy’s experience over the young wildcard that helped her prevail in the decisive fifth game, claiming it 11-6 and moving into the next round by avoiding what would have been a big upset so early on in the tournament.

“I wouldn’t say it was one of my best (performances). With any wildcard, the difficulty is not ever having seen them on Tour and knowing their game plan and a clear strategy against the opponent,” Sobhy reflected.

“I was a little bit passive and on edge throughout the match and I was taken aback by her aggression. With her being a young Egyptian, she might not have had any experience with professional players or respect you should show your opponent.

“She’s a fit, young girl that’s very aggressive, attacking and has a fast pace. She’s very eager – she’s the World Junior champion so she’s a phenomenal young athlete so all credit to her at such a young age at 15. It was, of course, difficult to play with the conditions being a warm court, late at night and it was quite difficult to find my own game plan and get stuck into my own game.”

In the men’s draw in what was one of the matches of the day, USA’s Todd Harrity fought back from 8-1 down in the fifth game to beat Portugal’s Rui Soares.

Harrity had looked good value for his 2-0 lead before Soares pulled a game back with an 11-4 win in game three. The American then looked well set to end the match in four when he came back from 5-0 down to 10-8 up, only for Soares to rally and put together a four-point run to save the two match balls and force a fifth game.

Soares flew into the fifth game, rapidly opening up an 8-1 lead, only for a brilliant revival from Harrity. The American reeled off point after point as he battled back to 9-8 down. Harrity then saved two match balls at 10-8 and 10-9 before eventually bringing things to an end with a 12-10 win.

“That was very confusing and very up and down. I’m trying to play a certain way, which is coming along slowly. Rui’s a strong player and he played really well. Every time I let up a little, he took advantage. Honestly, I don’t know what happened in the end! I feel very lucky to come out on top there,” Harrity said.

“[At 8-1] I just thought ‘Forget about everything. Forget about winning or losing and just try and make this game last as long as possible. Somehow I got stuck in, he tightened up a bit and next thing you know I won!”

Elsewhere, Mazen Gamal shocked his Egyptian compatriot Moustafa ElSirty, and he will meet another fellow countryman, and the No.1 seed, Ali Farag in the second round.

The second day of the CIB Egyptian Open sees the seeded players enter the fray at the SODIC Club S, Giza. The action gets underway from 11:30 (GMT+2) and you can watch it all live over on SQUASHTV.

Results – Men’s First Round: CIB Egyptian Open 2022

Mazen Gamal (EGY) bt Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 11-13, 11-5, 13-11 (65m)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Faraz Khan (USA) 3-2: 11-9, 8-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-9 (70m)
Patrick Rooney (ENG) bt [WC] Karim El Torkey (EGY) 3-1: 11-3, 10-12, 11-6, 11-7 (50m)
Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt Zahed Salem (EGY) 3-2: 7-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-9 (77m)
Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt Nick Wall (ENG) 3-2: 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 12-10 (67m)
Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) bt Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-5 (43m)
Auguste Dussourd (FRA) bt Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-8 (54m)
Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) bt Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-1 (23m)
Declan James (ENG) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-1: 11-2, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9 (68m)
Todd Harrity (USA) bt Rui Soares (POR) 3-2: 11-3, 11-9, 4-11, 10-12, 12-10 (55m)
Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt David Baillargeon (CAN) 3-1: 11-9, 7-11, 11-1, 11-7 (45m)
Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) bt Lucas Serme (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (40m)
Shahjahan Khan (USA) bt [WC] Salman Khalil (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (31m)
Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Tayyab Aslam (PAK) 3-0: 11-7, 11-2, 11-5 (24m)
Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) bt Henry Leung (HKG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 12-10 (42m)
Borja Golan (ESP) bt Bernat Jaume (ESP) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-6 (47m)

Results – Women’s First Round: CIB Egyptian Open 2022

Mariam Metwally (EGY) bt Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) 3-2: 11-6, 11-5, 5-11, 7-11, 11-9 (50m)
Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 (23m)
Lisa Aitken (SCO) bt Marie Stephan (FRA) 3-1: 13-11, 15-17, 11-5, 11-6 (45m)
Hollie Naughton (CAN) bt Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 3-1: 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 11-2 (37m)
Melissa Alves (FRA) bt Emilia Soini (FIN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-7 (27m)
Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt [WC] Nour Heikal (EGY) 3-1: 18-16, 10-12, 11-3, 12-10 (44m)
Yathreb Adel (EGY) bt Ineta Mackevica (LAT) 3-1: 11-5, 8-11, 11-4, 11-1 (27m)
Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt [WC] Amina Orfi (EGY) 3-2: 11-8, 6-11, 2-11, 12-10, 11-6 (62m)
Nadine Shahin (EGY) bt Cristina Gomez (ESP) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 (25m)
Tomato Ho (HKG) bt Enora Villard (FRA) 3-1: 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-6 (49m)
Sana Ibrahim (EGY) bt Julianne Courtice (ENG) 3-1: 11-8, 14-12, 14-16, 11-9 (62m)
Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bt Jana Shiha (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 12-14, 11-5, 11-3 (33m)
Olivia Clyne (USA) bt Cindy Merlo (SUI) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-7 (22m)
Alexandra Fuller (RSA) bt Anna Serme (CZE) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-4 (20m)
Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt Ka Yi Lee (HKG) 3-1: 12-10, 11-6, 12-14, 11-7 (43m)
Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bt Grace Gear (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-8 (28m) 

Draw: Men’s Round Two: To Be Played Tuesday 20 September

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v Mazen Gamal (EGY)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) v Raphael Kandra (GER)
Patrick Rooney (ENG) v Gregoire Marche (FRA)
Youssef Soliman (EGY) v [6] Tarek Momen (EGY)
[7] Mazen Hesham (EGY) v Baptiste Masotti (FRA)
Dimitri Steinmann v Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
Auguste Dussourd (FRA) v [3] Mostafa Asal (EGY)
[4] Diego Elias (PER) v Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA)
Declan James (ENG) v Todd Harrity (USA)
Victor Crouin (FRA) v Leonel Cardenas (MEX)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v [8] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
[5] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) v Yahya Elnawasany (EGY)
Fares Dessouky (EGY) v Shahjahan Khan (USA)
Greg Lobban (SCO) v Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP)
Borja Golan (ESP) v [2] Paul Coll (NZL)

Draw: Women’s Round Two: To Be Played Tuesday 20 September

[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v Mariam Metwally (EGY)
Hana Ramadan (EGY) 20 Sep 2022, 11:30 (court 1) Tinne Gilis (BEL)
Lisa Aitken (SCO) v Hollie Naughton (CAN)
Melissa Alves (FRA) v [8] Georgina Kennedy (ENG)
[7] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) v Rachel Arnold (MAS)
Tesni Evans (WAL) v Yathreb Adel (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v Sabrina Sobhy (USA)
Nadine Shahin (EGY) v [4] Amanda Sobhy (USA)
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) v Tomato Ho (HKG)
Farida Mohamed (EGY) v Nele Gilis (BEL)
Sana Ibrahim (EGY) v Olivia Fiechter (USA)
Emily Whitlock (WAL) v [5] Joelle King (NZL)
[6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v Zeina Mickawy (EGY)
Olivia Clyne (USA) v Alexandra Fuller (RSA)
Lucy Turmel (ENG) v Jasmine Hutton (ENG)
Salma Hany (EGY) v [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)