El Gouna Day Five: El Hammamy Sets Up Repeat Of 2022 Final

Defending El Gouna International champion Hania El Hammamy will take on World No.2 Nouran Gohar in the semi-finals, in a repeat of last year’s final.

The Egyptian took on Welsh No.1 Tesni Evans in the second women’s quarter final of the night, and she was in control throughout the contest, on court for just 33 minutes as she advanced to the last four.

Evans started strongly, trying to back up after beating Nour El Tayeb in the third round. El Hammamy had just enough for the first, winning it 11-8. She was then able to continue that form into both the second and third games, dropping just nine points across the two to book her place in the semis.

She will now take on compatriot Nouran Gohar in a repeat of last year’s final, when she came back from two games down to overcome the then-World No.1 in a 90-minute epic battle.

“Always great to be able to be ready for the semi-finals in a very short period of time during the tournament. Sometimes, I play a lot of matches, 3-2s, I go to five and play longer than my opponents, so this time, I am happy I am matching them in the duration on the matches,” El Hammamy explained.

“It is amazing playing in Egypt. It is great for having the juniors to come and root for us Egyptians. It definitely gives us a huge motivation and a huge boost on court.

“I don’t think we prepare any differently, we definitely equally for every tournament. Here it is different because after having a long rally, you have to be focussed on recovering your body at every time. It is tough with the conditions, so I think being fit physically definitely helps you in these conditions.”

Result:
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Tesni Evans (WAL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 (33m)