Optasia Championships 2024: Quarter-Finals – Evening Session

In an exciting end to the quarter-final stage of the 2024 Optasia Championships, World No.5 Karim Abdel Gawad defeated England No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy in a dramatic 3-2 thriller, and Japan’s Satomi Watanabe survived a match ball scare to beat France’s Melissa Alves in five games.

Watanabe Survives Match Ball To Reach Semi-Final

France’s Melissa Alves came close to the first seedings upset of quarter-finals day when she squandered a match ball in the fourth game as No.4 seed Satomi Watanabe mounted a staggering comeback.

No.7 seed Alves took the final three points of the first game as they traded points up to 8-8, then took a quick lead in the second, moving from 6-3 to 8-4 and doubling her lead 11-5, both games lasting 9 minutes.

Watanabe’s comeback started in game three as she opened up leads of 8-3 and then 10-4. One by one those game balls disappeared, some to Japanese errors, some to French winners. Five of them were wasted, but a relieved Watanabe finally found a winner to take the game 11-9 and pull one back.

Watanabe led early in the fourth game, but Alves levelled at 6-6 and 8-8 before Watanabe earned two game balls. A slip let Alves in for a match ball at 11-10. To her own dismay Alves volleyed the ball straight back at her self, and it was Watanabe who took the game 14-12 after 17 minutes to set up a decider.

Watanabe maintained a lead through the fifth game with Alves looking passive compared to her previous play, and after 66 minutes, an ecstatic Watanabe completed the comeback 11-7.

“I’m just speechless,” said Watanabe after the match. “I still can’t believe I came back from match ball down. I’m really happy.

“Melissa has been playing some really good squash. She won her first match in 19 minutes. I knew it was going to be tough so it was really nerve-racking for me”

Defending champion Gawad Downs Home Favourite ElShorbagy

The long awaited Optasia Championships seeding upset finally arrived between two former winners of the event.

Defending Champion Karim Abdel Gawad and No.4 seed Mohamed ElShorbagy were meeting for the 25th time on the PSA Tour, with ElShorbagy leading the head-to-head 17-8 but Gawad having won the last three.

Tonight was another five-setter as the match swung one way and the next. The Egyptian started strongly to take the lead 11-5, ElShorbagy struck back 11-5, then Gawad reasserted to retake the lead 11-5.

The fourth was the crucial game. It saw 20 minutes of fast, attacking squash with both players having their chances. Points were traded to 9-9, and after that it seemed that most of the points would be decided by errors or decisions at the end of well-contested rallies. Gawad thought he had match ball but a VR decision reversed it. It would take ElShorbagy four game balls to set up the decider 14-12 with each of the final seven points ending on a error or a stroke.

Undeterred, Gawad was on the front foot from the start of the fifth, and although ElShorbagy levelled at 6-6, the momentum was with the reigning champion as he reeled off five points to progress to the semi-finals.

“It was a tough battle as usual. Nothing new there,” said Gawad after the match. “Mohamed now is playing amazing squash. His tactics, his reading the ball, his way he volleys the ball, the way he attacks. Just amazing.

“I really wanted to win. I tried to push as much as I could. I tried to dominate the T a bit more. I managed to this in the important games like the third and fifth. I wanted to finish in the fourth but he was just a bit more aggressive than me.”

Hutton Defeats Perry in all-England affair

British National Champion Jasmine Hutton provided the second seeding upset in a row as she overcame No.2 seed Sarah-Jane Perry in a dramatic five games to reach a first-ever PSA World Tour semi-final and record a first PSA victory over Perry in three attempts.

Although the match went the full distance, only on rare occasions were the players performing at their best at the same time – they traded the first two games, Hutton pulled clear from 7-7 to take the third game, then Perry levelled convincingly only for Hutton to win the decider equally comprehensively.

“She’s beaten me so many times now,” said Hutton after the match. “Every time it’s gotten closer and closer. I knew it was going to be a real battle today but I had the belief that I could definitely win today,

“I won the first, lost the second, won the third, but every time I lost that game I just though that she was trying to up the pace at me. I’m quite a frantic, high-energy person so I knew she was going to hit it at me quickly. As soon as that happened I started to get frustrated with myself. I needed to manoeuvre around the court more and play it into good places and I did that in parts but not enough.”

Farag Fends Off ElShorbagy

Top seed and World No.1 Ali Farag completed quarter-finals day with an impressive three-game win over No.7 seed Marwan ElShorbagy to complete the semi-final lineups.

The head-to-head between the pair stood at 7-7, but ElShorbagy had got the better of their earlier exchanges, and this win not only put Farag in the lead, it made it five wins in a row.

Farag dazzled the packed and noisy crowd with his remarkable retrieving and shotmaking skills as he despatched the last remaining English hope in the men’s draw. After Farag had won the opening game, Marwan had his chances at 9-all in the second, but oncer Farag had snatched that opportunity away he romped through the third to complete the win.

“Marwan caught me offguard with his pace,” said Farag after the match. “He never plays at such a high pace from the beginning. For the first game and a half he was really taking it to me. It took me a game and half to adjust, but thankfully I won that game.

“I thought the backend of the second went well so I kept on with my strategy in the third and it paid off.”

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Results: Optasia Championships 2024 Day Three (Quarter-Finals) Evening Session
[4] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt [7] Melissa Alves (FRA) 3-2: 8-11, 5-11, 11-9, 14-12, 11-7 (66m)
[5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [4] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-2: 6-11, 11-5, 11-4, 12-14, 11-6 (66m)
[6] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bt [2] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-2: 11-6, 4-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-3 (54m)
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [7] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 (40m)