PAC Open de Squash QF: Ismail Downs Top Seed To Reach Semis

Egypt’s Sohaila Ismail caused the big upset on quarter finals day in Rio de Janeiro, beating top seed Tessa ter Sluis to reach the semis of the PAC Open de Squash.

The 18-year-old Egyptian suffered an early exit from last week’s Regatas Resistencia Open at the hands of eventual winner Lucia Bautista. This week, she is the one causing the upsets, and her victory against ter Sluis moves her through to her first semi-final on the PSA Tour.

Ismail won the opening game of their contest, the last of the day’s play, 11-2. From there, she was full of confidence, and although the games were tighter, she was able to come through in three, downing the Dutchwoman to advance.

The young Egyptian will now take on Ukraine’s Alina Bushma, the No.3 seed. The Ukrainian got the better of Scotland’s Ellie Jones in a tough four-game contest. She won the opener 11-8, but then lost a mammoth tie-break 18-16 in the second. She was able to regroup, and took the third before battling through the fourth game to secure victory.

The other semi-final will see Colombia’s Lucia Bautista and Laura Tovar do battle once more. Bautista got the better of her compatriot in the semis in Resistencia last week on her way to winning her maiden Tour title. She is through to another semi-final this week, thanks to a tricky 11-9, 12-10, 12-10 win over the Netherlands’ Sanne Veldkamp.

Meanwhile, Tovar won a more comfortable straight games contest against Japan’s Erisa Sano Herring. The Colombian No.1 won 11-7, 11-5, 11-4, and will now be looking for revenge against her compatriot on Saturday evening in Rio de Janeiro.

The semi-finals of the PAC Open de Squash will take place on Saturday, May 20 at the Paissandu Athletic Clube in Rio de Janeiro. You can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook. 

Quarter Final Results: Latina Tour de las Americas – PAC Open de Squash
[5] Sohaila Ismail (EGY) bt [1] Tessa ter Sluis (NED) 3-0: 11-2, 11-8, 11-7 (27m)
[3] Alina Bushma (UKR) bt Ellie Jones (SCO) 3-1: 11-8, 16-18, 11-5, 11-8 (44m)
Lucia Bautista (COL) bt Sanne Veldkamp (NED) 3-0: 11-9, 12-10, 12-10 (39m)
[2] Laura Tovar (COL) bt [8] Erisa Sano Herring (JPN) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 (28m)

Semi-Final Draw: To Be Played Saturday, May 20
[5] Sohaila Ismail (EGY) v [3] Alina Bushma (UKR)
Lucia Bautista (COL) v [2] Laura Tovar (COL)