Optasia Championships 2024 – Day Three Afternoon Session

Home favourite Mohamed ElShorbagy, after a quick-fire win over Scotland’s Rory Stewart, progresses to a quarter final clash with defending champion Karim Abdel Gawad who faced a testing RD2 match against England’s Curtis Malik. In the women’s matches, France’s Melissa Alves made quick work of India’s Ankanksha Salunkhe and Japan’s Satomi Watanabe defeated England’s Torrie Malik in straight games.

Quick win for Alves

The opening match of the day witnessed a quickfire win for France’s Melissa Alves, the 30-year-old having too many weapons for India’s Akanksha Salunkhe, making her first appearance in the last sixteen of a PSA Bronze event.

Dominant in the opening game, Alves found a few tins in the open stages of the second to give Salunkhe some hope, but quickly regained her form to quickly close out the second and third games for an 11-3, 11-5, 11-2 win in just 19 minutes.

“When you get a 3-0 in the first round, that’s what you hope for in the start of the tour,” said Alves after the match. “Make sure you get on and get out quickly so you can rest for the next match.

“When you play an opponent you’ve never played before it can be tricky. I was a bit nervous if I’m honest so I’m happy with the win.”

Gawad Defeats Resilient Malik

Defending champion Karim Abdel Gawad opened up his defence with a hard fought win over England’s Curtis Malik, the 9/16 seed putting the World No.5 through his paces for three games before succumbing in the fourth.

There were few significant rallies in the 9-minute opening game, but Malik was holding his own to 6-6, recovering from 6-9 to level the game before the final two points went to Gawad for the lead.

The pace and intensity rose in the second but Gawad wasn’t able to shake off his opponent and this time it was Malik who earned a game ball at 10-9, levelling the match at the second opportunity 12-10.

Still Gawad couldn’t break free, but managed to eke out an 8-6 lead which extended to 10-8 and retook the lead on a no let that left Malik shaking his head in disbelief.

The fourth is a game Curtis will want to forget – Gawad was in full flow now, working the rallies as he does, racing to an 8-0 lead. Malik broke his duck with a service return winner, but Gawad responded with one of his own for 9-1. Malik then found himself at the front of the court with Gawad relaxing on the back wall, but somehow managed to find the tin before Gawad finished off the game and match with an exquisite short crosscourt drop.

“It was our first time to play together in the PSA so it was hard for me to read him in the beginning.

“He moves very well on court. It took me some time to start reading him in the front corners and be more patient in the back corners with my basic game, attacking at the right time.

“I was playing too much in the front corners and he was reading it very well. I just wanted to play a proper, professional game.

“Last year it was very special for me. I just came back from injury, it was very emotional. This time’s different. I’ve been playing on Tour for the last year and I’ve been more consistent. I’m back to the top five in the rankings. I’m hoping for more and I have more goals to achieve.”

Watanabe With A Hard-Fought Win

No.4 seed Satomi Watanabe booked her place in the quarter-finals with victory in three close games against England’s Torrie Malik.

The first two games were well contested with never more than a couple of points between them, but it was the World No.24 who always seemed to have the edge; Malik hampered in her attempt to close the game out by untimely errors.

After Watanabe took the opening games 11-7, 11-8 she looked to be running away with things as she opened up a quick lead in the third, but although Malik levelled at 5-5, she couldn’t press on as the No.4 seed pulled clear again to set up a match against Alves tomorrow.

“I’ve played her twice in the PSA Tour,” said Watanabe after the match.” It was always a tough one mentally and also physically because she’s so tall and I have to go around her.

“I’m really pleased that I got through today in three. To play against Torrie, she has a really good weapon with her kills anywhere on the court.

“I was trying to be aware of it, but she got more than a couple of points with that.

“Every time playing a young up-and-coming player is a really nervous match so I focused on whatever I had to do on court and it worked well today.”

Home Favourite Through To Quarters

2017 champion Mohamed ElShorbagy wasted no time in reaching the quarter-finals as he got the better of a quick-fire exchange with Scotland’s Rory Stewart.

Stewart competed well in spells, but ElShorbagy was in a determined mood and responded with aggressive winners whenever the Scot threatened to get close on the scoreboard, no more so than in the third when a promising run of points by Stewart was cut short as the World no.7 closed out the match in 24 minutes.

ElShorbagy now faces Karim Abdel Gawad in a repeat of their epic 2019 final, looking for a second crown while Gawad has his eyes on a third.

“It’s the first time we’ve played,” said ElShorbagy after the match. “I took that match very seriously because I know how he can play. I’ve seen him play on the Commonwealth. He had a very good job against Patrick [Rooney], and he almost took James [Wilstrop] out as well so I saw the quality he can play with.

“I had to ask around, I asked Curtis [Malik], my England teammate about what he does and doesn’t do. It doesn’t how good you are. You can lose anyday if you don’t give respect to your opponent no matter what their ranking is.

“I prepared well, and I’m glad to win in three.”

“It’s a very different time in my career right now. I’m not a dominant World No.1 so it’s about trying to work out the mental side of going from the best player in the world to one of the best players in the world. It’s a very differrent mentality that you have to understand and I had to understand how to cope with it.

“He’s beaten me the last three times. I think that’s the first time he’s done that to me. Every time it was such a tough, high-quality match. We always match up well. I hope I can win tomorrow, let’s see.”

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Results: Optasia Championships 2024 Day Three (RD2) Afternoon Session
[7] Melissa Alves (FRA) bt Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-2 (19m)
[5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Curtis Malik (ENG) 3-1: 11-9, 10-12, 11-8, 11-1 (47m)
[4] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt Torrie Malik (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (27m)
[4] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Rory Stewart (SCO) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-8 (24m)