British Open QFs: Gohar Ends Home Hopes With Composed Kennedy Victory

World No.2 Nouran Gohar sent out a statement of intent to the rest of the women’s draw after powering past England No.1 Georgina Kennedy in straight games at The Rep Theatre. 

Gohar defied a partisan home crowd in Birmingham with some punishing, but equally controlled squash, to seal a 11-8, 11-1, 11-4 victory in 28 minutes and end hopes of a home winner in the women’s draw.

The current World Champion held an immaculate head-to-head record coming into the encounter, having never dropped a single game to Kennedy from their six meetings, and continued this hot streak to set up a tantalising semi-final bout against long-term rival Hania El Hammamy. 

The opening game proved to be Kennedy’s one big chance to land a knockout blow on her opponent, with the Englishwoman coming from 6-2 down to move 8-7 up with some smart volleying down both wings. However, ‘The Terminator’ kept her cool in the pressure moments of the opener, reeling off four straight points to move a game up. 

From there, it was largely one-way traffic for Gohar, putting Kennedy under huge amounts of pressure at the back of the court before using her deception on the backhand side to cut the ball in short. Gohar raced through the second game in a flash before bringing up match ball in just under half an hour of play. At the first time of asking, the Egyptian sealed victory, continuing her quest for a fourth straight title on the PSA World Tour. 

After the match, Gohar said: “First of all, I love Gina as a player, as a person and as a personality, and I’m sure she is going achieve even more in the game. We have known each other since we were very young, and its amazing to be competing against someone like her. I knew that she also had great memories here, having won the Commonwealth Games here, which is a very big deal. I knew the crowd was going to be behind her. 

“It’s very enjoyable to always come back and play here. The British Open is obviously always at the top of my list to come and play here. I love being here and I feel very comfortable here. 

“I think winning the World Championships definitely takes the pressure off. I think I have been close on a couple of occasions, but this year, winning it, it was pure happiness and also relieve. I think now I can relax more on court.

On her upcoming semi-final against Hania El Hammamy, she added: “It’s another huge semi-final of another big event, so obviously I’m going to play a great player. We’re on a theatre so it’s going to be a show, hopefully a good one. I’m really looking forward to a good match, and hopefully the crowd will enjoy it.” 

Result: 
[3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [6] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-1, 11-4 (28m)