Gohar Holds Off El Sherbini Comeback To Win Second British Open Title 

World No.2 Nouran Gohar has won her second British Open title after holding off a late charge from defending champion Nour El Sherbini to win a thrilling five-game clash at The Birmingham Rep Theatre. 

Current World Champion Gohar continued her stunning recent form to secure her fourth consecutive title on the PSA World Tour, taking the longest British Open women’s final on record by an 11-6, 17-15, 3-11, 7-11, 11-4 scoreline in 91 minutes.     

‘The Terminator’, who was competing in her fifth consecutive final at the British Open, had ElSherbini on the back foot right from the offset, hitting with her trademark power and troubling the movement of ‘The Warrior Princess’ into the front two corners. Somewhat surprisingly, errors flowed from El Sherbini’s racket in the opening game, with the Egyptian missing her targets on numerous occasions when well-placed in the rally. 

The inevitable response came back from El Sherbini after falling a game behind, raising her game and taking a 5-1 lead in the second. However, once again, a couple of clipped drops into the tin from El Sherbini helped Gohar to draw parity and move one game ball up at 10-9.

El Sherbini saved the first game ball with a beautiful cross-court drop, before Gohar smashed a regulation backhand straight into the tin with the score 11-10 in her favour. Four more game balls would come and go for the No.4 seed in a nail-biting tie-break before Gohar finally managed to move two games up.

World No.1 El Sherbini looked to have her house back in order early in the third, moving and hitting with improved accuracy, but a tumble after tripping on Gohar’s leg led to a contributed injury break, with the physio called on to treat El Sherbini’s left knee. This distraction didn’t perturb ‘The Warrior Princess’ though, with the Egyptian returning to the court and firing in a number of quick-fire winners with the colder ball to reduce the deficit to 2-1. 

The momentum continued to swing in El Sherbini’s favour in the fourth, with the top seed managing to take control of the ’T’ and utilise the multitude of weapons at her disposal from the mid-section of the court.

El Sherbini forced a deciding game, but didn’t get off to the quick start that she would have wanted, with Gohar regathering her composure and tight lines down both wings. The current World Champion took and early lead and never let El Sherbini get level again. She moved to four match balls up after 90 minutes of action, and clinched the title when a no-let decision was awarded in her favour. 

“It felt like a never-ending story today although I was 2-0 up,” Gohar said after the match. “El Sherbini won her first World Championships title from 2-0 down, so if anyone can come back, it is her. She played better when she was down, and I tried to prepare for that, but it was very difficult to stop. 

“I’m just glad that I could keep my nerves in that fifth game and just play it as though it was 0-0 in the first game. I just wanted to end the match being proud of my efforts. 

“I feel like I can trust my physicality right now. I can go out there and play for 100 minutes, I’m injury-free, I can hit whatever shot whenever I want, so why not win every single match I can. 

“I think after the World Championships, it was a major relief and there was pressure off me. [This week] it was more about enjoying myself, proving to myself before anyone else that I am the best right now.”

Result:

[3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) 3-2:  11-6, 17-15, 3-11, 7-11, 11-4 (91m)