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NASH Cup 2024 – NASH Family Wealth Management: Malik Wins Thriller After Fouts & Nghiem Upset Seeds
Curtis Malik saved a match ball en route to a dramatic late-night win on day two of the NASH Cup 2024 – NASH Family Wealth Management, which also saw three of the top six women’s seeds crash out.
Men’s No.2 seed Malik could hardly have asked for a tougher draw to kickstart his quest for glory, with former World No.22 Moustafa Elsirty his second-round opponent, after the Egyptian had recorded a stunning win of his own on day one.
The pair had never faced off before on the PSA Tour, but most inside the London Squash & Fitness Club were expecting a close encounter.
The first two games were perhaps, therefore, a surprise, as Elsirty took the first 11-6 before Malik won the second 11-4, but the match truly came to life from there.
The Englishman saved a game ball at 11-10 in the third, going on to take it 14-12 after almost 20 minutes of play, and he was then 5-1 up in the fourth, with victory calling.
Elsirty, though, clawed his way back in as the tension grew, with a packed-out seating area living and breathing every point.
Malik saw a match ball come and go a 10-9, with his opponent reeling off three points on the bounce to force a decider, which would prove to be even more dramatic.
From 2-1 up Malik found himself 5-2 down, and didn’t hold the lead again until moving 9-8 up.
9-8 became 9-9, and another stroke – the fifth of the game – handed Elsirty a match ball, but a no-let decision would deny him victory, leaving the Egyptian in disbelief.
Malik, meanwhile, kept his cool, cheered on in the crowd at every turn by his sister Torrie, who had won 3-0 earlier in the day.
With the score standing at 10-10 and the entire audience on edge, Malik found a perfectly timed back-wall nick off his serve, leaving Elsirty no chance on the return.
A 17-shot rally followed on what was Malik’s second match ball, but this time he would not be denied, finding yet another nick, this time on a backhand cross-court, to clinch glory after 82-minutes of play.
That result wrapped up a second round which had proved particularly fruitful for two rising stars of the women’s game.
Saran Nghiem and Caroline Fouts – who will be teammates together on court at Harvard this year – were both taking on seeded opponents, but both came out on top to reach the last eight.
19-year-old Fouts was up against No.3 seed Salma Eltayeb, and dropped a tight first game 11-9, but turned things around from there.
The next three games would all finish 11-8 to the young American, who showed poise and precision right until the end, hitting a perfectly-weighted dropshot winner on match ball.
She was soon back in the crowd cheering on Nghiem in her match against fifth seed Nicole Bunyan, with recent Harvard graduate Marina Stefanoni also in Nghiem’s corner.
Stefanoni had come from behind to beat Catalina Pelaez 3-1 a few hours earlier, but she was powerless to help Nghiem in game one, in which she was comprehensively beaten, 11-2.
The 20-year-old managed to put that slow start behind her, though, edging a tight second game 11-9 before dominating the rest of the match, losing only four points each in games three and four.
Like Fouts, she finished in style, hitting an overhand volley winner down the backhand side to end Canadian interest in the women’s draw, setting up a quarter-final clash with top seed Georgia Adderley in the process.
Spain’s Marta Dominguez also knocked out a seeded player, beating sixth seed Emilia Soini 3-0.
The quarter-finals of the NASH Cup 2024 – NASH Family Wealth Management get underway at 4pm local time (9pm BST) on Thursday, September 19th, streaming live on the SQUASHTV Live Streaming YouTube channel.
Results: Men’s Round 2
[1] Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) bt Tom Walsh (ENG) 3-1: 11-9, 11-8, 10-12, 11-6 (52m)
[8] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) bt Jeremias Azaña (ARG) 3-1: 9-11, 11-9, 11-2, 11-8 (53m)
Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) bt [7] Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) 3-1: 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-4 (47m)
[3] David Baillargeon (CAN) bt Salah Eltorgman (CAN) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (30m)
[4] Leung Chi Hin Henry (HKG) bt Kareem El Torkey (EGY) 3-2: 6-11, 11-6, 12-14, 12-10, 11-7 (72m)
Joseph White (AUS) bt [5] Shahjahan Khan (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 12-10, 11-9 (42m)
[6] Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt Finnlay Withington (ENG) 3-1: 11-7, 11-5, 5-11, 11-9 (36m)
[2] Curtis Malik (ENG) bt Moustafa Elsirty (EGY) 3-2: 6-11, 11-4, 14-12, 10-12, 12-10 (82m)
Results: Women’s Round 2
[2] Katie Malliff (ENG) bt Alex Haydon (AUS) 3-0: 11-3, 11-2, 11-5 (22m)
[8] Marina Stefanoni (USA) bt Catalina Pelaez (COL) 3-1: 11-13, 11-3, 11-3, 11-7 (34m)
Marta Dominguez (ESP) bt [6] Emilia Soini (FIN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-8 (27m)
[4] Grace Gear (ENG) bt Asia Harris (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 12-10, 11-9 (25m)
Caroline Fouts (USA) bt [3] Salma Eltayeb (EGY) 3-1: 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8 (37m)
[7] Torrie Malik (ENG) bt Cheng Nga Ching (HKG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (23m)
Saran Nghiem (ENG) bt [5] Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 3-1: 2-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-4 (39m)
[1] Georgia Adderley (SCO) bt Nour Heikal (EGY) 3-1: 12-10, 6-11, 11-8, 11-5 (45m)
