CIB Egyptian Open Day Two: Afternoon Roundup

Egyptian World No.32 Sana Ibrahim provided the shock of the day at the 2024 CIB Egyptian Open as she stunned Belgian World No.4 Nele Gilis in a fantastic four-game fight at Club O West, Cairo.

The second-round match appeared to be going to seeding when No.4 seed Gilis took the opening game 11-8, only for Ibrahim to launch a brilliant counter attack, levelling with an 11-6 win.

From here, the 21-year-old threw Gilis off her rhythm with relentless pressure, explained afterwards by Ibrahim as part of a renewed focus on building up her own stamina.

This proved extremely effective, with Ibrahim taking game three 11-8 and, after saving Gilis’ game ball at 9-10, clinching the victory as she converted her third match ball for a 14-12 win in game four.

“I got so emotional after I won this match because Nele is really a tough player to play,” Ibrahim said.

She added: “I feel confident. Every time I played her and I lost I never deserved to win against her because she works really hard and I wasn’t working really hard before. But I made up my mind to be in my home in my country and I made up my mind that I’m going to win.”

Among the players joining Ibrahim in round three are her compatriot Fayrouz Aboelkheir and England’s Lucy Turmel.

Turmel was severely tested in a back and forth encounter with Egypt’s Nadine Shahin, eventually triumphing 5-13, 9-11, 9-11, 11-1, 11-4.

Aboelkheir, meanwhile, got the better of compatriot Mariam Metwally in a tense match, with the 18-year-old taking the contest 3-1: 15-13, 7-11, 11-2, 11-7 (41m)

Also through in the women’s event were Egyptian World No.1 and World No.3 Nour El Sherbini and Hania El Hammamy, Belgium’s Tinne Gilis, and English duo Georgina Kennedy and Jasmine Hutton, with Kennedy receiving a walkover after France’s Melissa Alves withdrew due to injury.

In the men’s draw, Switzerland’s Nicolas Mueller survived a big fightback from Abdulla Al-Tamimi, with Mueller going 2-0 up after a pair of 11-7 wins, only for Al-Tamimi to fire back 11-2, 11-3. The Swiss World No.24 regained his composure in the fifth game, though, to seal a spot in round three with a comfortable 11-5 win.

Mueller said: “I hit a massive wall in the second and he started to hit some good targets and got into my legs. I knew I needed to have a good start in the fifth and luckily I managed to do that and have a gap, which kept me going.”

No.7 seed Tarek Momen also survived a scare as the Egyptian came back from a came down to beat Mexico’s Leonel Cardenas 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 (57m).

“I need to be more clever because I can’t just keep pressing the gas the whole time,” Momen said afterwards.

Also through from the men’s draw are Egyptians Fares Dessouky, Aly Abou Eleinen, and Mazen Hesham, Peruvian world champion Diego Elias and France’s Gregoire Marche.

Results: 2024 CIB Egyptian Open Women’s Round Two (Afternoon Session)

Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt Mariam Metwally (EGY) 3-1: 15-13, 7-11, 11-2, 11-7 (41m)
Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt Nadine Shahin (EGY) 3-2: 15-13, 9-11, 9-11, 11-1, 11-4 (55m)
Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bt Zeina Mickawy (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 11-9, 11-5 (28m)
[5] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) w/o Melissa Alves (FRA)
[6] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Menna Hamed (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 11-8, 11-5 (28m)
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Farida Mohamed (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-3, 12-10 (31m)
Sana Ibrahim (EGY) bt [4] Nele Gilis (BEL) 3-1: 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 14-12 (63m)
[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt Sabrina Sobhy (USA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 14-12 (38m)

Results: 2024 CIB Egyptian Open Men’s Round Two (Afternoon Session)

Fares Dessouky (EGY) bt Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 (32m)
[7] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt Leonel Cardenas (MEX) 3-1: 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 (57m)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Abdulla Al-Tamimi (QAT) 3-2: 11-7, 11-7, 2-11, 3-11, 11-5 (51m)
Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) bt Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 3-0: 11-9, 11-1, retired (30m)
[4] Diego Elias (PER) bt Miguel Rodriguez (COL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 (34m)
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Curtis Malik (ENG) 3-0: 12-10, 11-7, 11-8 (40m)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) 3-1: 4-11, 11-7, 11-9, 4-0 ret. (56m)
[5] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 10-12, 11-7, 13-11 (68m)

The evening session of day two of the CIB Egyptian Open is live now on SQUASHTV. For more information on the CIB Egyptian Open 2024, follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.