British Open QFs: El Sherbini Holds Off Weaver To Continue Hunt For Fifth Title

World No.1 Nour El Sherbini continued her quest for a fifth British Open title after defeating Olivia Weaver in a strong four-game showing at The Rep Theatre.

The ‘Warrior Princess’ sealed an 11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5 victory over the American No.1 to set up a semi-final date with Egyptian compatriot Nour El Tayeb. 

Coming into the match, El Sherbini held a perfect head-to-head record against Weaver – winning all seven of their prior encounters on the PSA World Tour – but last month’s brutal five-game clash at the World Championships highlighted that Weaver certainly had the tools to upset the top seed.

However, the early signs from El Sherbini showed otherwise, with the top seed charging through the opening two games in 17 minutes, volleying well and forcing Weaver into some uncharacteristic errors due to the pressure she was applying from the ‘T’. 

Weaver, who is currently sat at a career-high ranking of World No.4, managed to inject more physicality into the encounter to extend the match to a fourth game, testing the movement of El Sherbini with some clever combinations of height in the third. After taking an early lead, the American refused to allow El Sherbini get back ahead, taking the third by an 11-8 scoreline.

However, a comeback wasn’t to be, with Weaver forcing her play too quickly, taking the ball short too early and opening up the court for El Sherbini to hit into. The seven-time World Champion moved to match ball after 39 minutes, and didn’t need asking twice, progressing to her seventh semi-final at the PSA World Tour Platinum event.

After the match, El Sherbini said: “Olivia is now at World No.4, which shows how much she has improved this season, and she’s been the most consistent player after the top three, to be honest. 

“Everyone saw the match at the World Championship, but this time I tried to be sharp from the beginning. I think in the third I lost it a little bit, but she has such a good fighting spirit, she kept pushing, but I’m just happy that I won.”

“I watched my match against her from the World Championships and I tried to avoid the errors that I made last time, so I love this one better. I learned a lot. I think it has been my best performance of the tournament so far.

“I love playing here, the venue is amazing, the crowd is amazing. It’s something different and I also have really good memories here from the British Open, so I love coming and playing here, so hopefully it goes well this week.”

On her upcoming semi-final with Nour El Tayeb, she added: “Nour [El Tayeb] is my lifelong friend. We always have amazing battles since the juniors, we haven’t actually played this season, but I’m looking forward to this one and I hope it is a good match.”

Result:

[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt [8] Olivia Weaver (USA) 3-1: 11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5 (40m)