SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open: El Hammamy Beats Gohar in 99-Minute Epic

Nouran Gohar and Hania El Hammamy produced another classic in the semi-finals of the SmartCentres Kinetic Florida Open, with El Hammamy emerging victorious after 99 minutes of breathtaking action. 

Almost seven months on from their record-breaking encounter at the CIB World Tour Finals – the longest PSA Tour women’s match ever – the Egyptian pair put on another show, this time with a spot in the Florida Open final on the line. 

Despite having had four months out through injury prior to this tournament, it was Gohar who started the better, taking game one 11-8 with a deep backhand drive into the forehand corner. 

El Hammamy responded well by racing out to an 8-4 lead in game two, and levelled the match a few minutes later when a Gohar backhand went out, although not before a controversial few minutes in which the referee was heavily involved. 

Gohar was then given a conduct warning at the start of game three for a time violation, but she was undeterred in her play, moving to 5-0 up and then closing out game three 11-5 following a video review. 

Back came El Hammamy once more, though, with a new ball in play to start game four, and she ensured the match would go to a decider when after winning the game on a stroke. 

It looked as though that might’ve taken the wind out of Gohar’s sails, too, as El Hammamy was quickly 5-1 up in the fifth, and with victory in her sights. 

But this time it was Gohar who fought back, eventually forcing a tie break after some more brutal rallies. 

El Hammamy had already squandered one match ball at 10-9 up when the tie break began, and missed another two at 11-10 and 12-11, with the tension inside the arena now palpable. 

Gohar would then have a match ball of her own, saved by El Hammamy on a short backhand volley, but the drama would finally come to an end moments later. 

After bringing up another match ball on a stroke decision, El Hammamy clinched victory in sensational fashion, diving for a forehand and then hitting a backhand from her knee, before Gohar hit the tin to bring an end to the match. 

“It’s always physical against Nouran, it’s always long,” El Hammamy said after her win. 

“I just heard it was 99 minutes, so yeah, it’s always tough. I think today was more about squash, so I’m definitely glad with my performance, I’m glad that I managed to fight. 

“There were a lot of patches going in her favour and a lot of patches going in mine, so I just tried to take everything into my advantage and tried to focus as much as I could. 

Discussing what she was thinking during the fifth-game tie break, El Hammamy added: “I knew how I was losing my match points, I made a lot of errors.  

“I had two match balls that I think I lost with an error, so maybe on the third or fourth, I tried to play safe. Even if I wanted to go short, I tried to play safe, not hit a winner, and I think with that dive, I saved myself from one of those winners that Nouran likes to play. I dug deep in that last rally and I’m very pleased and very proud of myself.” 

El Hammamy also paid tribute to the help of Laura Massaro, who she’s been working with remotely. 

“We called twice this morning,” she said. “She tried to prepare me mentally as much as possible for this match.  

“This matchup is not always about squash, and for the last three meetings, it was more than squash, it was more about interactions with the ref, interactions between both of us, so she prepared me mentally for these scenarios, she prepared me well to know how to deal with them, so thanks to her, and thanks to my coach Omar AbdelAziz as well.  

“The three of us put together a great plan, tactically and mentally, so I’m pleased with that.” 

Result: [3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 3-2: 8-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 15-13 (99m)