England’s Alicia Mead Reaches Maiden World Tour Quarter Final with Win Over No.7 Seed Hana Ramadan at Squash in the Land

World No.54 Alicia Mead upset Egypt’s Hana Ramadan in an exciting four-game clash to reach the first World Tour quarter final of her career.

The first game was particularly competitive with a close-fought tie break. The pair were inseperable as both players won their share of quick, aggressive rallies, but it was Mead that edged the first game 14-12 to take the lead in the match.

The match swayed in the Englishwoman’s favour as she looked in control of the second game, earning an early 7-3 lead and maintaining the advantage to an 11-7 win.

Mead looked sluggish in the third game compared to her earlier squash as Ramadan pushed to a 7-2 lead. The Egyptian halved the deficit, claiming her first game 11-5, but the 28-year-old seemed to be preserving her energy by the end in preparation for the next game.

Mead retook control of the match from the first rally of the fourth game. The Englishwoman took a quick 4-0 lead, encapsulated by a deceptive backhand straight drive that sent the Egyptian the wrong way.

The game continued in a similar vein, with Mead looking unstoppable as she pushed forward on the court and refused to let Ramadan back into the match to win 11-5, winning the match 3-1 to book a spot in her first World Tour quarter final.

“I’m really excited. I didn’t expect this to be honest. I just thought I put in a really good performance,” said Mead after the match.

“It was a little edgy yesterday and I really wanted to get through so I loosened my arm and just went for it. I didn’t have anything to lose.

“I played really clincally, executed the game plan exactly how I wanted to and stayed really calm throughout the match.

“I was just trying to find my game a little bit [in the first game]. I’ve not played her for a very long time. I knew the pace would be quite high and just tried to steady the ship a little bit.

“I knew that if I kept putting some hard work in I might leak a few errors which I did at the back end of that game.”

Mead faces No.4 seed Sivasangari Subramaniam in tomorrow’s quarter finals.

“I played her in Malaysia a few months ago. She’s a very very classy player. I’d love to play her style, I admire her a lot and I’d like to give it another go and get closer than I did last time.”

On Court One at the Cleveland Racquet Club, home favourite Olivia Weaver secured her place in the last eight with a resounding lead over England’s Grace Gear. 

The US No.2 always looked in command of the match, amounting a 10-0 lead in the first game until Gear got herself on the scoreboard. After winning the first game 10-2, Weaver earned herself another emphatic win in the second 11-3.

Despite a better performance from the 25-year-old in the third game, Weaver’s momentum was too much to overcome as the American went from 6-6 to win 11-7 and earn her place in the quarter finals after just 23 minutes of play.

Egypt’s Nour El Tayeb also progressed in three, with the Egyptian taking only 16 minutes to claim victory over Latvia’s Ineta Hopton.

In the men’s draw, World No.58 Bernat Jaume progressed to the next round with a upset win over former World No.3 Omar Mosaad. The Spaniard took the first game, but the ‘Hammer of Thor’ looked to be pulling away as he won the second and third games. Jaume kept pushing from behind and won the last two games to claim victory over the Egyptian in a 67-minute battle.

Play begins at the Outcalt Theatre at 17:00 (GMT-5) as the first quarter finalists compete for their places in the semi finals.

Results – Cleveland Racquet Club Court 1
[4] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt Kenzy Ayman (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 (20m)
[1] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt Ainaa Amani (MAS) 3-0: 11-2, 11-2, 11-2 (20m)
[2] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt Ineta Hopton (LAT) 3-0: 11-4, 11-3, 11-3 (16m)
[3] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt Grace Gear (ENG) 3-0: 11-2, 11-3, 11-7 (23m)

Results – Cleveland Racquet Club Court 2
Alicia Mead (ENG) bt [7] Hana Ramadan (EGY) 3-1: 14-12, 11-7, 5-11, 11-5 (39m)
[8] Lucy Beecroft (ENG) bt Nadine Shahin (EGY) 3-1: 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 (34m)
[6] Emily Whitlock (WAL) bt Haya Ali (EGY) 3-1: 13-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-7 (44m)
[5] Farida Mohamed (EGY) bt Menna Hamed (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 13-11, 11-6 (31m)

Results – Cleveland Skating Club
Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) bt [8] Faraz Khan (USA) 3-1: 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (43m)
[4] Nathan Lake (ENG) bt Aly Hussein (EGY) 3-1: 12-14, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 (65m)
[2] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) bt Perry Malik (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-6 (26m)
Bernat Jaume (ESP) bt [5] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 3-2: 11-5, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7 (67m)

Results – Urban Squash
[7] Shahjahan Khan (USA) bt [WC] Matias Knudsen (COL) 3-2: 9-11, 11-13, 12-10, 11-8, 11-6 (55m)
[3] Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Yassin Elshafei (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 15-13, 11-8 (39m)
[1] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-2 (39m)
[6] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt Finnlay Withington (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 (29m)

Draw – Squash in the Land 2024 Women’s Quarter Final
17:45 Alicia Mead (ENG) v [4] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)
19:30 [1] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) v [8] Lucy Beecroft (ENG)

Draw – Squash in the Land 2024 Men’s Quarter Final
17:00 [1] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v [6] Leonel Cardenas (MEX)
18:45 [7] Shahjahan Khan (USA) v [3] Greg Lobban (SCO)