King Overcomes El Tayeb to Win Women’s Singapore Open

World No.5 Joelle King is the women’s 2022 MARIGOLD Singapore Squash Open champion after she got the better of Egypt’s Nour El Tayeb in straight games at the OCBC Arena.

King, seeded at No.2 for the PSA World Tour Gold event, put in one of her most impressive performances of recent times as she completely nullified El Tayeb’s attacking skills to record an 11-6, 12-10, 11-4 victory in 40 minutes.

The Kiwi – who came through a five-game thriller with the unseeded American Sabrina Sobhy in the semi-finals – was the first player to find her accuracy in today’s final. 

El Tayeb struggled in the early stages of the match, with her attempts at finding the back corners often seeing the ball spray out into the middle of the court, which gave King multiple opportunities to put the ball away.

The Egyptian player was much improved in the second game, however, and was able to go 10-8 up after varying the angles of her shots and using the hold to great effect as she pulled King away from the ’T’ and dragged her around the court.

It was at that moment that King produced four exemplary rallies, showing supreme composure and confidence as she patiently waited for an opportunity, before punishing El Tayeb with some sumptuous winners, particularly on the backhand volley drop.

That broke El Tayeb’s resistance, with King storming to victory in a one-sided third game to capture her 16th PSA title, whilst it’s also her biggest trophy since the 2018 Hong Kong Open.

“First of all we have to talk about Nour,” said King.

“She’s had a baby and she’s been terrorising all of the draws. She’s been unseeded and beating player after player. It was such a tough match, I know it was 3-0, but the intensity was high and there was so much skill and athleticism on display here.

“That’s what you get when you play Nour. Congratulations to her on a great tournament, and I’m very pleased to win today.

“I was game ball down [in the second game] and I thought that I just needed to fight. I tried to get a bit of rhythm for the next game and get in front and volley, and that seemed to work. That was the turning point, I think, and I came out strong in the third and just tried to protect the lead, so I’m very happy with this win today.

“It’s the first time we’ve brought world-class squash to Singapore for a long time, and I hope to see all the fans again here next year.”

Result

[2] Joelle King (NZL) bt [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 12-10, 11-4 (40m)