Odense Open QFs: Elsirty Back from the Brink, Pragasam Continues Hot Streak

Moustafa Elsirty came back from the brink of suffering a huge upset to book his place in the Odense Open semi-finals, while in-form Darren Pragasam knocked out the No.2 seed Ivan Perez. 

Elsirty had come through a tough test in the form of rising star Mohamad Zakaria to reach this stage, and would have been full of confidence going up against World No.168 Ziad Ibrahim. 

Ibrahim, though, was fresh from an impressive round-two win of his own, beating Mohamed Nasser 3-2, and pushed Elsirty all the way on the glass court at Squash Center Danmark. 

In fact, he will likely feel it was an opportunity missed, having been two games up and then having had multiple match balls in a dramatic fourth-game tiebreak, only to let them slip away. 

Elsirty – the former World No.22 – eventually won that tiebreak 16-14 and that perhaps took the wind out of Ibrahim’s sails, with game five the most one-sided of them all, ending 11-4 to steer Elsirty to victory. 

That match was one of three men’s quarter-finals to go the distance, with both Declan James and Pragasam also coming from behind to win in five. 

James had to fight back from 2-1 down to sink Scotland’s Alasdair Prott and set up a semi-final clash with the day’s other winner, Owain Taylor, while Pragasam overturned the same deficit to upset No.2 seed Ivan Perez. 

Both Perez and Pragasam won their most recent Challenger Tour events, and the battle of two in-form players did not disappoint. 

The Spaniard had his extraordinary athleticism on full display throughout the match, sliding from one corner to the next, throwing himself across the court at will, and even producing some sort of reverse worm at one stage, in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid a stroke having fallen to the floor. 

Ultimately though, his efforts would be in vain, as the Malaysian continued his hot streak with a 9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6 victory. 

In the women’s draw, 16-year-old duo Nadien Elhammamy and Lauren Baltayan remain on course for a potential final matchup, after both winning on quarter-finals day. 

The pair went head-to-head in both the Les Elles de l’Est final and the British Junior Open semi-finals earlier this season, and will go head-to-head once more for the title here should they win their respective semi-finals. 

Baltayan reached the final four with a 3-0 win over fellow Frenchwoman Elise Romba, while Elhammamy saw off the threat of Kiera Marshall, winning a testing battle 3-1 in 41 minutes. 

Their respective semi-final opponents will be No.1 seed Nardine Garas and No.6 seed Amina El Rihany, who both won their quarter-finals 3-1, against Habiba Hani and Lowri Roberts. 

You can see a full breakdown of all the results and fixtures at the Odense Open here.