Black Ball Squash Open – Semi-Finals: The Stats & How To Watch Live

It’s semi-finals day at the 2024 Black Ball Squash Open, as the eight remaining players prepare to battle it out for a place in tomorrow’s final at Cairo’s Black Ball Sporting Club.

Play begins 17:30 (GMT+2) in Cairo and you can watch all the action live on SQUASHTV and on the channels of the PSA’s broadcast partners.

You can also keep track of the live scores by clicking here.

The action starts with two all-Egyptian clashes, as women’s top seed Nouran Gohar faces No.3 seed Nour El Tayeb, followed by men’s top seed Ali Farag against No.4 seed Mazen Hesham.

Then, Belgian No.4 seed Tinne Gilis plays US No.2 seed Olivia Weaver, before Egyptian compatriots No.3 seed Karim Abdel Gawad and No.2 seed Mostafa Asal bring play to a close.

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Nouran Gohar v Nour El Tayeb

In the day’s first match, former World No.1 Nouran Gohar faces Nour El Tayeb for the 20th time on the PSA World Tour.

Though ‘the Black Widow’ El Tayeb has won five of those encounters, the recent form book makes for uncomfortable reading for the World No.5, who has lost her last nine matches against ‘the Terminator’.

Both players have played some of their best squash this week, with neither woman dropping a game after wins over Fayrouz Aboelkheir and Nada Abbas for Gohar and victories over Zeina Mickawy and Salma Hany for El Tayeb.

Though both players are Cairo-based, expect strong home support for Gohar, with the World No.3 a local favourite, living a stone’s throw from the Black Ball Club.

Ali Farag v Mazen Hesham

The second match of the day is another Cairo derby, with World No.1 Ali Farag up against World No.6 Mazen Hesham.

Farag, who like Hesham exited in the quarter-final stage last year, boasts a formidable record over his compatriot, winning 16 of their 18 meetings on tour.

‘The Falcon’, though, will take heart from his strong form this season – which has seen him rise to a career-high world ranking of 6 – as well as an impressive 3-2 win over Farag at last year’s Optasia Championships.

Tinne Gilis v Olivia Weaver

The first match of the evening session could be a cracking contest, as No.2 seed Olivia Weaver faces No.4 seed Tinne Gilis.

Despite her higher seeding, Weaver is ranked one place below World No.8 Gilis, a testament to Gilis’ excellent form this season.

Gilis, however, will be wary of the threat Weaver poses, with the Belgian yet to record a victory over the American, with Weaver victorious in all four of their encounters so far, with the most recent meeting an 11-8, 11-1, 11-7 victory in the Bahl and Gaynor Cincinnati Gaynor Cup in February of this year.

Karim Abdel Gawad v Mostafa Asal

It’s Alexandria versus Cairo in the last match of the day, as former World No.1s Karim Abdel Gawad and Mostafa Asal go head to head for just the fourth time on tour.

The pair met at this stage of the 2021 event, with local favourite Mostafa Asal beating ‘the Assassin’ in straight Games before losing out to Ali Farag in the semi-final.

Gawad, a champion here in 2018, was made to wait two years for his revenge, with the World No.5 winning the next meeting – which took place in the final of this season’s Ace Malaysia Cup – by the same scoreline.

Both men have been tested severely this week. Gawad played out a 97-minute humdinger as he came back from two games down to beat Aly Abou Eleinen in round two before recording a straightforward 3-0 win against Mohamed El Sherbini in the quarters. Asal, meanwhile, fought back from 1-2 down to beat Gregoire Marche in round two before overcoming Fares Dessouky 3-1 in 62 minutes yesterday.