World Tour Finals: Gohar Beats El Sherbini in Thriller

World No.1 Nouran Gohar has sent defending champion Nour El Sherbini out of the CIB PSA World Tour Finals after battling to a thrilling 11-7, 10-11, 11-8 victory to set up a mouthwatering title decider with World No.3 Hania El Hammamy.

Gohar hadn’t beaten El Sherbini in her three previous attempts, including in the final of the PSA World Championships last month, but played her game plan to perfection in the opening game to open up a 1-0 lead.

Gohar played at a relentless pace to unsettle her opponent, with El Sherbini – who beat Gohar in the final here 12 months – rarely afforded the time to use her hold and deftness of touch.

The second game in particular was typical of Gohar and El Sherbini, with a feast of attacking squash and exciting exchanges drawing raucous cheers from the crowd. With El Sherbini 9-7 up, both players used a Power Play, and it was Gohar who prevailed to bring the game level.

Two more points were then traded to set up a sudden death decider, with a frenetic rally finally seeing El Sherbini take it to send the match to a third game.

El Sherbini went up another gear at the beginning of the third, powering into a 5-1 lead and then an 8-5 advantage after Gohar had fought back to level. But Gohar once again showed immense powers of recovery, with each point won greeted with a fist pump from the 25-year-old and a cacophony of noise from a packed house.

After taking five points in succession, Gohar held two match balls and, despite El Sherbini calling for her second and final Power Play, she held strong, putting in a fabulous cross court drop to seal the win, cueing jubilant scenes.

Gohar, the 2020-21 champion, will renew her rivalry with 2019-20 winner Hania El Hammamy as both players aim to win their second World Tour Finals trophy.

As the final match of the women’s PSA World Tour season, it is fitting that Gohar and El Hammamy will contest it. The pair have met seven times already during the campaign, with three wins apiece. 

Two of their last three matches have lasted over 100 minutes, while they have already played in the group stage of this season’s World Tour Finals, with El Hammamy winning 2-1 on that occasion.

“Usually they say I show little emotion on court, but I was very emotional today,” said Gohar after booking a place in her 42nd PSA final.

“Firstly, I want to say how great Nour is as a competitor. She shocked me completely the last two times and she is one of the main reasons I keep coming back to improve and work on my weaknesses. Sometimes it’s not so great to compete against her, but I enjoyed this one for sure.

“It’s great [to finish the season as World No.1]. You earn it yourself against the one who will take the spot and it’s all part of the process. Recently I’ve enjoyed having challenges and Haitham [Effat] has really helped me this week. 

“I just wanted to enjoy myself on court tonight, I didn’t really think about the ranking or winning. I want to win every single match I play, but most importantly I wanted to enjoy it.

“You don’t usually play the same player twice in a week. It’s different, it will be a longer match and you remember where your weaknesses are and what you did wrong. Tomorrow is a new day, a new match, a new final.”

Result

[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) 2-1: 11-7, 10-11, 11-8 (56m)