Squash On Fire Open QF Evening Roundup: Wildcard Orfi Into First World Tour Semi-Final

15-year-old Amina Orfi continued her dream run at the Squash On Fire Open, knocking out No.5 seed Nada Abbas to book her place in the semi-finals of the competition.

Orfi, who is the wildcard for this event after winning the Wildcard Challenge last weekend, had already gotten the better of No.4 seed Sivasangari Subramaniam this week, before downing another of the top five seeds to reach the semi-finals of a PSA World Tour event for the first time.

It was a tight and cautious start to the match, but Abbas was able to run clear at the end, with a run of points being enough to see her take the first game 11-7. Abbas then led 5-3 in the second, but a quick run of points saw the 15-year-old lead at 8-5. That run continued, and the tournament’s wildcard levelled up the match at one game apiece.

After another close start in the third game, Orfi moved into a lead once again. She led 10-6, but lost all four game balls as Abbas fought her way into a tie-break. However, the 15-year-old regrouped, winning the next two points to take the game 12-10 to lead for the first time in the contest.

The 15-year-old, who has won her first three tournaments on the Challenger Tour, then ran out into a quick six-point lead in the fourth game, a lead she would not relinquish. She moves through to the semi-finals, her first appearance in the last four at a PSA World Tour event.

“I am really happy that I won. It is the first time playing her and in the beginning I was bit.. Not so confident, and my shots weren’t going that well. It is my first day on the glass court as well so it was a bit different,” the 15-year-old explained.

“I had a good run of points in the third game, so it was fine that I lost a few. I had to just play as if it was 0-0, and not to think about losing game balls. I learnt that lesson when I played with Sabrina [Sobhy at the CIB Egyptian Open], when I was 10-9, match ball up, and then I lost.”

Orfi will now take on American Sabrina Sobhy, who was in great form to dispatch Egypt’s Nadine Shahin in front of a home crowd, booking her spot in the semi-finals of the PSA World Tour Bronze level competition in Washington, D.C.

The first game was close throughout, until the very end, where Sobhy was able to pull ahead at the right time. The American then came out the blocks firing in the second game, winning the first five points in no time at all. Shahin fought back though, with her power hitting proving too much for Sobhy at times in the middle part of the game. However, the home favourite got the job done to double her lead.

The third game was much closer, but errors at costly times from the Egyptian allowed Sobhy to ease through to a victory in straight games. She will now take on Amina Orfi in the last four, as the only player to beat the young Egyptian in her fledgling career to date.

In the men’s draw, Mohamed ElSherbini came up against Omar Mosaad in what turned out to be a fiercely contested quarter final, with the younger of the two Egyptians knocking out the former World No.3 after almost 70 minutes of action.

A tight first game went the way of Mosaad, who used his power to keep ElSherbini behind him for the majority of the game. The younger Egyptian was able to turn the tables in the second game though, with his attacking squash levelling the match at one game apiece.

The contest started to get scrappy at the beginning of the third game, with plenty of refereeing decisions breaking up the flow of the match. ElSherbini was able to keep his composure through the midpoint of the match, with errors from the racket of the ‘Hammer of Thor’ proving costly. ElSherbini claimed it 11-6 to move ahead in the contest for the first time.

Mosaad then led 5-2 in the fourth game, before more errors from his racket allowed ElSherbini to draw level. It went all the way to a tie-break, after ElSherbini saved two game balls. The former World No.3 then saved match balls in the tie-break at both 11-10 and 14-13, but ElSherbini eventually came through it 16-14 to book his spot in the last four.

“Growing up, I always looked up to Omar. He is a great player and he has done a lot for our sport, the former World No.3! Today, he was playing well and I was finding a lot of trouble trying to move around him because he is very big,” ElSherbini said.

“When I started to play my deep game better, things started going my way! I panicked a little because I know he has that experience. When I had that first match ball, I tried to rush and the second, I also tried to rush, but with the third, I played as if it was love 0-0.”

ElSherbini will now take on the tournament’s No.2 seed, Saurav Ghosal, in the last four, after the Indian No.1 came through an incredible four-game contest with Karim El Hammamy that lasted 80 minutes.

The opening exchanges of the day’s last match were lengthy, with the first five points being played over the course of ten minutes. Ghosal was able to run away with it in the end, taking a run of points in the latter stages to claim it. He took the lead much earlier in the second game, going on to double his advantage, all whilst making the Egyptian work very hard.

The third game was a much longer battle, with neither player able to get away at any point. Both showed flashes of brilliance, with El Hammamy’s legs keeping him in the game, retrieving balls he had no right to at times. Ghosal led the third 10-8 with two match balls, but the Egyptian saved both, and then went on to win it 13-11 with the last point ending on a stroke decision.

A gut-busting rally at 3-3 in the fourth seemed to break the Egyptian’s resistance somewhat, and Ghosal was able to take four straight points to move into a commanding lead. However, El Hammamy was able to summon the strength to fight back and bring it level at 7-7. The Indian pulled out to 10-8 to hold another two match balls, and he eventually got over the line after 80 minutes of action to book his spot in the semis.

“Today was a hard match. A lot of good rallies, a lot of fun rallies for the crowd. Karim played extremely well, and he came back really well in the second and the third, and then obviously won that third game and he made it really hard for me,” Ghosal said.

“I am happy that I managed to do that and I am happy to get through. No match at this level is going to be easy, you can’t expect it to be easy. I knew that was not going to be the case, I played him two weeks back in Pittsburgh and it was a similar story to be honest.”

The Squash on Fire Open continues with the semi-finals beginning at 13:00 (GMT -5) on Saturday, February 25. All the action will be streamed live from Washington, D.C. on SQUASHTV.

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Men’s Results – QF Evening Session: Squash On Fire Open
Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) bt [4] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 3-1: 8-11, 11-5, 11-6, 16-14 (63m)
[2] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 11-5, 11-13, 11-9 (80m)

Women’s Results – QF Evening Session: Squash On Fire Open
[WC] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt [5] Nada Abbas (EGY) 3-1: 7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-7 (53m)
[2] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt [6] Nadine Shahin (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 (29m)