ElSherbini Cruises To El Gouna International Semi-Finals In Straight-Game Win Over Elaraby

Egypt’s Nour El Sherbini scored a 3-0 win over No.8 seed Rowan Elaraby to take the first spot in the 2024 El Gouna International semi-finals.

The World No.1 came into the match undefeated against her compatriot, winning all six of their previous encounters, most recently in the third round of the 2023 Qatar Classic.

The top seed raced to a quick-fire 4-0 lead as Elaraby struggled to contain ElSherbini. The World No.10 attempted to mount a fightback, but the ElSherbini took advantage of a number of unforced errors and took the first game 11-7.

The ‘Warrior Princess’ cruised to a commanding 7-2 lead in the second game, and again Elaraby showed good signs to bring the match to 5-8, but the consistency of ElSherbini shone through as she won the game 11-2 to take 2-0 lead.

The third game started with the players trading points to 7-7 as Elaraby seemed to have found the consistency that was missing in the first two games, but ElSherbini was just too strong as she scored four consecutive points to win the match in 35 minutes.

“I thought that was over 60 minutes!” El Sherbini said afterwards.

She added: “I thought I played more. It wasn’t that long but I think it was very hot so it felt longer than we thought.

“I’m not that character [who wants to prove people who say she is a slow starter wrong.] I only want to prove to myself. To be honest, every match for me is different and I approach it with a different perspective. I don’t think a lot about what happened before, it doesn’t take up much of my head so it doesn’t affect me. I try to play every match as different. It’s a different match against a different opponent with a different mindset.”

For updates on the El Gouna International Squash Open 2024, visit the PSA website or follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Result:
[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt [8] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 (35m)