Eleinen Shocks World No.6 On Day Two Of The El Gouna International Squash Open

In an exciting second day of the El Gouna International Squash Open, Egypt’s Aly Abou Eleinen took out World No.6 Mazen Hesham, while Egypt’s Amina Orfi defeated compatriot Hana Moataz in a five-game epic and Mexico’s Leonel Cardenas beat World No.10 Joel Makin.

In a match that was competitive from the first rally, Eleinen knocked out the first seed of the tournament in a four-game thriller. Hesham fought quickly to 10-8 in the first game, but a spirited resurgence from Eleinen levelled the match at 10-10. Hesham claimed a third game ball, but it was Eleinen who claimed the first game 13-11.

It was Hesham who again earned the first game ball of the second game at 10-9, but this time the World No.6 kept his composure as the game entered a tie-break and restored parity at 1-1.

The pair traded points to 8-8, before Eleinen won a string of three successive rallies to retake the lead in the match. Eleinen looked to be storming to a 3-1 win after taking a quick 5-2 lead in the fourth game, but Hesham rallied back and took a 10-9 lead. The World No.13 saved two game balls before converting the match on the first time of asking at 13-11.

Speaking after the match, Eleinen said: “Twelve years ago, when this tournament started, I was a little kid watching these top guys play, and all I wanted was to be one of those guys. My dream is to win El Gouna.”

Egypt’s Orfi triumphed over compatriot Hana Moataz in a five-game thriller that drew a packed crowd to Court 1 at Squash Complex El Gouna.

Orfi, who lost 3-1 to Moataz in round two of the Black Ball Squash Open just seven days ago, took the first game 11-8 in a strong start to proceedings, but Moataz struck back, and restored parity at 1-1 after a tense tie-break. The pair traded games to 2-2 to set up an exhilarating fifth game. Both Moataz and Orfi had match balls, but it was Orfi at 15-14 that finally won the 87-minute epic after Moataz struck the tin.

Afterwards, Orfi said: “I felt I didn’t play my best today. Coming into the match I was a bit nervous because I lost to her last week at Black Ball; I was thinking about revenge and my ranking and all that. I just tried to keep pushing because I felt my squash wasn’t the best and that wasn’t what was going to make me win the match so I tried just to keep going and in the end she’s the one who made the errors and I’m the one who won the match.”

Earlier in the day, Cardenas came back from 2-0 behind to claim victory over Welshman Makin. The World No.9 looked in command as he took the first game 11-7 before dominating the second game to win 11-1.

The Mexican halved the deficit as he won 11-8 to breathe life back into the affair. Makin struggled to implement the brutal consistency and physicality that had earned him a 2-0 lead and Cardenas pushed to win three successive games to beat the Welshman.

Elsewhere, India’s Ramit Tandon took down France’s Victor Crouin, Malaysia’s Aira Azman defeated Georgia Adderley to reach a maiden Platinum third round, and in an all-England affair, Sarah-Jane Perry beat Lucy Turmel in five games.

The El Gouna International Squash Open continues tomorrow with the top half of the third round draw split across Squash Complex El Gouna and the El Gouna Conference and Culture Center.

Results – Women’s RD2: El Gouna International Squash Open 2024 

[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-3 (25m)
Nada Abbas (EGY) bt Hollie Naughton (CAN) 3-2: 13-11, 11-6, 3-11, 2-11, 11-7 (54m)
Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bt Nadine Shahin (EGY) 3-0: 13-11, 11-4, 12-10 (30m)
[8] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) bt Mariam Metwally (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-0, 11-8 (22m)
[7] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8 (48m)
Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt Tomato Ho (HKG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-3 (29m)
Salma Hany (EGY) bt Jasmine Hutton (ENG): 3-1: 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-3 (45m)
[3] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt Tesni Murphy (WAL) 3-0: 12-10, 11-7, 11-2 (41m)
[4] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt Sana Ibrahim (EGY): 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 (29m)
Aira Azman (MAS) bt Georgia Adderley (SCO) 3-2: 11-7, 8-11, 6-11, 14-12, 11-9 (67m)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt Lucy Turmel (ENG) 3-2: 11-13, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 13-11 (81m)
[6] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt Melissa Alves (FRA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-8 (33m)
[5] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt Katie Malliff (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-4 (32m)
Malak Khafagy (EGY) bt Aifa Azman (MAS) 3-1: 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5 (49m)
Amina Orfi (EGY) bt Hana Moataz (EGY) 3-2: 11-8, 12-14, 11-8, 6-11, 16-14 (87m)
[2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 (29m)

Results – Men’s RD2: El Gouna International Squash Open 2024 
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Curtis Malik (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 (34m)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Raphael Kandra (GER) 3-1: 7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 (46m)
Youssef Soliman (EGY) bt Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) 3-1: 11-6, 11-9, 2-11, 11-1 (54m)
[6] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Iker Pajares (ESP) 3-1: 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9 (62m)
[8] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt Farkas Balazs (HUN) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-8 (33m)
Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt Joel Makin (WAL) 3-2: 7-11, 1-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 (78m)
Ramit Tandon (IND) bt Victor Crouin (FRA) 3-1: 11-9, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5 (52m)
[3] Diego Elias (PER) bt Baptiste Masotti (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-3 (33m)
[4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt Rui Soares (POR) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-5 (24m)
Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt Leung Chi Hin Henry (HKG): 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-3 (32m)
Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Leandro Romiglio (ARG) 3-1: 11-7, 9-11, 11-3, 11-7 (47m)
Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) bt [7] Mazen Hesham (EGY) 3-1: 13-11, 11-13, 11-8, 13-11 (85m)
[5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Fares Dessouky (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 7-11, 11-2, 11-7 (45m)
Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Miguel Rodriguez (COL) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 (57m)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 3-2: 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 12-10 (84m)
[2] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 11-9 (73m)

Draw – Women’s RD3 (Top Half): El Gouna International Squash Open 2024 – to be played 21 April
[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) v Nada Abbas (EGY)
Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v [8] Rowan Elaraby (EGY)
[7] Tinne Gilis (BEL) v Satomi Watanabe (JPN)
Salma Hany (EGY) v [3] Nele Gilis (BEL)

Draw – Men’s RD3 (Top Half): El Gouna International Squash Open 2024 – to be played 21 April
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
Youssef Soliman (EGY) v [6] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG)
[8] Tarek Momen (EGY) v Leonel Cardenas (MEX)
Ramit Tandon (IND) v [3] Diego Elias (PER)