Arnold causes upset to reach Gaynor Cup second round

Round one has drawn to a close at the Cincinnati Gaynor Cup Bronze event from the Cincinnati Country Club in Ohio.

Malaysian Rachel Arnold caused the only seeding upset of round one as she defeated Egypt’s World No.22 Farida Mohamed 3-1 in 48 minutes to advance to round two. Arnold took a commanding 2-0 lead before Mohamed managed to battle back to take the third game 13-11. Arnold regrouped for the fourth game to win 11-6 and was able to repeat the victory she claimed in July at the PSA World Championships. Arnold will now face USA’s Olivia Fiechter.

There was home success from World No.24 Sabrina Sobhy as she moves through to round two with a win over 2021 Malaysian Open winner Aifa Azman. Sobhy claimed the victory in just 27 minutes, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7. Sobhy has set up a round two clash with World No/2 and No.1 seed Nouran Gohar. The pair have only met once before with Gohar winning 3-0 in the 2021 US Open.

England’s Georgina Kennedy was back in action in round one, just three days after capturing her biggest PSA title to date, winning the Cleveland Classic bronze event. Kennedy defeated the top three seeds on her way to the title and started her Cincinnati Gaynor Cup campaign in similar fashion beating Scotland’s Georgia Adderly 3-0 in 35 minutes. Kennedy has set up a repeat of last week’s semi-final with No.4 seed, India’s Joshna Chinappa.

Canada’s World No.17 Hollie Naughton returned to PSA World Tour action since her semi-final appearance at the 2021 Malaysian Open. Naughton opened up with a comfortable win against Latvia’s Ineta Mackevica 3-0, 11-8, 11-4, 11-3 in 21 minutes. Naughton has set up a second round encounter with No.6 seed Olivia Clyne. The two have met five times previously on the PSA World Tour with Clyne leading 3-2 in the head to head.

There will be an exciting rematch from last week’s Cleveland Classic semi-final between England’s Sarah-Jane Perry and Belgium’s Tinne Gilis as the Belgian won an all European battle with Spain’s Cristina Gomez 3-0. Gilis will be hoping to get revenge on Perry as the Englishwoman won 3-2 to make last week’s final.

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2022 Cincinnati Gaynor Cup: First round results

Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt Aifa Azman (MAS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-7
[9/16] Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bt Haley Mendez (USA) 3-1: 11-8, 4-11, 11-7, 13-11 (37m)
Hollie Naughton (CAN) bt Ineta Mackevica (LAT) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-3 (21m)
[9/16] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt Georgia Adderly 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-6 (35m)
Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Cristina Gomez (ESP) 3-0: 11-8, 16-14, 11-5 (37m)
[9/16] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt Menna Nasser (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5, 11-6 (21m)
Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt Farida Mohamed (EGY) 3-1: 15-13, 11-6, 11-13, 11-6 (48m)
Mariam Metwally (EGY) bt Tessa Ter Sluis (NED) 3-0:  11-6, 11-6, 11-0 (18m)

2022 Cincinnati Gaynor Cup: Draw

[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v Sabrina Sobhy (USA)
[9/16] Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v [8] Nele Gilis (BEL) [bye]
[6] Olivia Clyne (USA) v Hollie Naughton (CAN)
[9/16] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) v [4] Joshna Chinappa (IND)
[3] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v Tinne Gilis (BEL)
[9/16] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v [7] Tesni Evans (WAL)
[5] Olivia Fiechter (USA) v Rachel Arnold (MAS)
Mariam Metwally (EGY) v [2] Amanda Sobhy (USA)