Richmond Open QF: Abbas Downs No.2 Seed Hany

In the lone all-Egyptian clash on quarter finals day in Richmond, Nada Abbas got the better of No.2 seed Salma Hany to reach the semi-finals.

The pair had only played once before on the PSA Tour, with Hany having won their second round contest at the 2019 J.P. Morgan China Squash Open comfortably.

That was not the case this time round, though, as Abbas took the early lead by winning the opening game 11-8. Hany fought back to win the second on a tie-break 14-12, but Abbas came battling back once more. She went on to win both the third and fourth games to knock out the tournament’s No.2 seed.

The Egyptian will now face Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold in the semi-finals, after the No.5 seed downed England’s Katie Malliff in five games. Arnold led twice after winning both the first and third games on tie-breaks, the third going all the way to 16-14.

However, Malliff was able to fight back on both occasions, winning the second and fourth games by 11-7 scorelines. However, the Malaysian came out strongly in the deciding fifth game, and allowed the Englishwoman to score just a single point, as she booked her semi-final spot in Virginia.

The other semi-final will see Belgium’s Tinne Gilis and France’s Melissa Alves go head-to-head. The tournament’s top seed came through against Egypt’s Sana Ibrahim in a tight four games, while Alves defeated Egypt’s Hana Ramadan in three.

The semi-finals of the Richmond Open will take place on Friday, May 12. You can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook. 

Quarter Final Results: Richmond Open
[1] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt [8] Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9 (45m)
[3] Melissa Alves (FRA) bt [7] Hana Ramadan (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 12-10 (45m)
[5] Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt Katie Malliff (ENG) 3-2: 12-10, 7-11, 16-14, 7-11, 11-1 (62m)
[6] Nada Abbas (EGY) bt [2] Salma Hany (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 12-14, 11-9, 11-7 (56m)

Semi-Final Draw: To Be Played Friday, May 12
[1] Tinne Gilis (BEL) v [3] Melissa Alves (FRA)
[5] Rachel Arnold (MAS) v [6] Nada Abbas (EGY)