Dessouky and Evans Gatecrash Grasshopper Cup Semi-Finals

Egypt’s Fares Dessouky and Wales’ Tesni Evans both are into the last four the Grasshopper Cup after overcoming New Zealand’s World No.2 Paul Coll and Egypt’s World No.10 Salma Hany, respectively, in the quarter finals at Halle 622 in Zurich, Switzerland.

Dessouky produced a dominant performance in the first game to take an 11-7 victory against the New Zealander, and he then had his chance to wrap up the match in the second game after leading 8-3. However, Coll produced a stunning fight back to win it 11-9 to send the match into a decider.

The Kiwi picked up where he left off at the end of the second game as he took a 4-2 advantage in the decider, but Dessouky battled back as he was able to prevail 11-7, booking his spot in the semi-finals of the PSA World Tour Gold level competition.

“I’m very happy to beat Paul today,” Dessouky said afterwards.

“He did his best but I’m proud of myself to be able to come through this one as it was very tough, especially after the second game. I needed to show some toughness to come back and win.

“I don’t know what happened, but I was thinking about winning the match and I think this is the bad thing I did today. I’m happy I regrouped and I kept pushing, I didn’t give up so it’s a good step for me.”

Dessouky will now face off against World No.5 Mostafa Asal in an all-Egyptian contest. Asal made his way into the last four after getting the better of compatriot Tarek Momen in a feisty battle. The other semi-final will see U.S. Open champion Diego Elias take on Egypt’s Marwan ElShorbagy, after the pair won their respective quarter final match-ups.

After defeating No.3 seed Sarah-Jane Perry to win in the second round, Wales’ World No.15 Tesni Evans came up against Egypt’s World No.10 Salma Hany in the quarter finals in Zurich.

It was the Egyptian that started strongly, winning five of the opening six points, and she would go on to take the first game 11-5. The Welshwoman fought back, though, finding her groove to take the second game 11-7 to level the match.

The Welshwoman was growing in confidence as she made it back-to-back victories against opposition sitting inside the top ten of the World Rankings, seeing off Hany, who had saved two match balls, 11-9.

“That was nip and tuck at the end! Again that’s two in a row, something’s on my side this week. I don’t know what it is, but a bit of luck. I’m absolutely over the moon,” Evans said.

“They’re like buses, aren’t they (wins against top ten players): you don’t get any then two come along at once! For me it was really important to back up yesterday, whether it was win or lose, but show that I want to keep playing at this level and back it up.

“After the first game, I’m really happy with how I turned it round because it could have easily gone really quickly, but I’m proud of myself for backing up another good performance and great to get two wins over two top eight players. So why not keep going!” 

Evans will now face World No.3 Hania El Hammamy in the semi-finals, after the Egyptian overcame Georgina Kennedy in straight games. Egypt’s Nour El Sherbini and Rowan Elaraby will go head-to-head in the other women’s semi-final on Saturday afternoon in Zurich.

The semi-finals of the Grasshopper Cup will take place on Saturday, October 22, with all the action from Halle 622 being streamed live on SQUASHTV from 16:45 (GMT+2).

Men’s Quarter Final Results: Grasshopper Cup
[7] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 2-0: 11-6, 11-4 (21m)
[4] Diego Elias (PER) bt [6] Joel Makin (WAL) 2-0: 11-7, 11-9 (39m)
[3] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt [5] Tarek Momen (EGY) 2-0: 11-6, 11-3 (22m)
[8] Fares Dessouky (EGY) bt [2] Paul Coll (NZL) 2-1: 11-7, 9-11, 11-7 (45m)

Men’s Semi-Final Draw: To Be Played Saturday, October 22nd
[7] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v [4] Diego Elias (PER)
[3] Mostafa Asal (EGY) v [8] Fares Dessouky (EGY)

Women’s Quarter Final Results: Grasshopper Cup
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [8] Olivia Fiechter (USA) 2-0: 11-3, 11-8 (19m)
[4] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) bt [5] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 2-0: 14-12, 11-6 (30m)
Tesni Evans (WAL) bt [6] Salma Hany (EGY) 2-1: 5-11, 11-7, 11-9 (41m)
[2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [7] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) 2-0: 11-5, 11-5 (15m)

Women’s Semi-Final Draw: To Be Played Saturday, October 22nd
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [4] Rowan Elaraby (EGY)
Tesni Evans (WAL) v [2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY)