CIB Egyptian Open Day Three Evening Roundup: Top Seeds Come Back to Dodge Shock Defeats

We’re halfway through round three of the 2024 CIB Egyptian Open as play moved to the spectacular show court at Club O West.

On an exciting first night on the outdoor court, World No.1s Nour El Sherbini and Ali Farag fought back to book their spot in the last eight, while Hania El Hammamy and Diego Elias cruised through in straight games.

In a nervy encounter, Nour El Sherbini recovered from an alarming 0-2 deficit to see off a spirited challenge from unseeded teen Amina Orfi.

Junior World Champion Orfi came charging out in the opening game, playing with power and intensity as she struck the ball early.

El Sherbini repeatedly attempted to pin Orfi to the back, but could not find her accuracy with any real consistency in the opening games, with Orfi racing into a 2-0 lead after dominant 11-6, 11-4 wins.

‘The Warrior Princess’ improved dramatically in game three, growing into the game and finding her targets to pull a game back by a convincing 11-2 margin.

The 28-year-old then levelled the scoreline with an 11-6 win in game four to take the match into a fifth, a prospect that had seemed unlikely after her struggles in the openers.

El Sherbini made the better start to game five, only for Orfi to come firing back, and with the scores at 7-7 the match was anyone’s for the taking.

To the relief of El Sherbini’s watching team, it was the more experienced player who was able to hold her nerve, pulling away to earn three match balls, and, after a nail-biting finish, converting the third on a stroke decision to close out 11-9.

Afterwards, El Sherbini said: “It’s definitely tough playing Amina. She’s upcoming, well she’s not upcoming anymore! It’s hard to play her when you’re not playing your best. I’m definitely not happy with the way I played at the beginning of the first two games but I tried to find a way, that’s it. It doesn’t matter what was happening, it just mattered that I won at the end.”

Joining El Sherbini in the next round is compatriot Hania El Hammamy, who proved far too strong for England’s Jasmine Hutton.

El Hammamy looked confident throughout the 35-minute contest, constructing rallies well and testing Hutton’s movement at the front as she wrapped up an 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 victory.

After the match, El Hammamy said: “I think I’m excited for the season. I’ve worked hard in the off season. It’s been a bit tricky coming through this event but I’m very excited and very confident on court.

“I’ve ended the last couple of seasons as World No.3. Obviously, I’m very hungry to break the top two and finish the season as World No.2 or even World No.1. But no pressure, if anything I’ve learned from the previous season it’s that I should try to relax and play with freedom and enjoy my squash. I think, so far, I managed to do that in the last two matches and hopefully I can keep doing that for the rest of the event.” 

In the men’s event, Farag survived a scare on home court against Nicolas Mueller as the Egyptian battled back from a game down to reach the quarters.

Mueller, who famously downed Farag in the 2022 Grasshopper Cup in Switzerland, has had a number of close matches with the Egyptian in recent seasons, including a tight 3-2 defeat to Farag at the 2020 Egyptian Open.

This was another such encounter, with Mueller looking particularly dangerous on his forehand and coming out of the blocks quickly, taking the first game against Farag 11-6.

The top seed looked more like his old self in the second, looking to volley early as he took time away from Mueller, levelling the score with an 11-6 win of his own.

Farag then pressed his advantage, putting work into Mueller’s legs as he took game three 11-7 and then game four 11-6to complete the comeback.

“It’s always the story between me and Nicky, he always starts better than I do. He finds his corners earlier on and for me, it’s tricky playing outdoors on a glass court for the first time in a long time. I was being stubborn and going for silly boasts and he punished me for it,” Farag said.

“It’s an honest court, it hits the ball really truly. And playing outdoors is never easy, although I’m saying that as an Egyptian so I’m sure it’s even harder for Nicky! I thought he fought really hard. This is what you train for.”

In the second men’s match, Diego Elias cruised past Gregoire Marche in just 30 minutes, enjoying a welcome return to the same court on which he won a maiden world championship this summer.

“I’m just happy with the way I played. I’m getting used to the conditions. It’s very hot in there and I was getting a bit out of breath. But I just need to get used to it and I’m feeling very good.

“I have very good memories of this court where I had the biggest win of my career. I’m just trying to enjoy it. This season I’m trying to play as well as I can, enjoy my squash and hopefully get to World No.1 again,” Elias said.

“I’ve no idea why, but I’m enjoying running on that floor! I’m just enjoying it and am trying to have fun.

“No one likes to see a match end like that but there are new rules now and we just have to follow them. I didn’t have very good results against Tarek the last few times we played, so I just want to recover and be 100 percent ready.”

Results: 2024 CIB Egyptian Open Women’s Round Three (Evening Session One)

[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt Amina Orfi (EGY) 3-2: 6-11, 4-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-9 (65m)
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 (35m)

Results: 2024 CIB Egyptian Open Men’s Round Three (Evening Session One)
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-1: 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (48m)
[4] Diego Elias (PER) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-1 (30m)

Round three of the CIB Egyptian Open concludes tomorrow (Monday 02 September) from 12:30 (GMT+3).

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