Black Ball Open Finals: Stats, Preview & How To Watch Live

After an incredible semi-finals day, the finalists of the Black Ball Squash Open were decided yesterday with three Egyptians and one Englishman making up the four competitors. On the women’s side, World No.1 Nouran Gohar and World No.3 Hania El Hammamy will go head to head for the sixth time within the last 12 months for the title. Whilst, on the men’s side, ‘The Beast’ Mohamed ElShorbagy will be looking to capture his fifth title this season against ‘The Viper’ Tarek Momen.

You can catch all the action live from the Black Ball Sporting Club on SQUASHTV and on selected broadcasters around the world. You can also keep up with the live scores from the event here.

Black Ball Squash Open Finals: Order Of Play
(All times are local – GMT +2)

Nouran Gohar v Hania El Hammamy

Finals night kicks off with a bang as a modern rivalry returns for the first time since the Hong Kong Open semi final as Nouran Gohar and Hania El Hammamy go to battle once more. There is no love lost between the two with feisty affairs taking place in recent encounters. El Hammamy still trails Gohar in the head-to-head standings but the younger Egyptian has won the last three times that the pair have met in a final.

World No.1 Gohar has come through to the final relatively unscathed, only dropping two games en route, one to Sarah-Jane Perry in the quarter final and one to Joelle King in the semi-final. El Hammamy, however, dropped a game to Belgium’s Tinne Gilis in the last eight and then came though a challenging five-game clash with USA’s Amanda Sobhy last night to give herself a shot at a third title this season.

Fireworks are expected again between these two.

Tarek Momen v Mohamed ElShorbagy

13 years since meeting on the PSA World Tour for the first time, Tarek Momen and Mohamed ElShorbagy will lock horns once again tonight for the Black Ball Squash Open title. Momen hasn’t been able to score a win over ElShorbagy since the 2019 Canary Wharf Classic, with ElShorbagy racking up nine wins over ‘The Viper’ between then and now.

Both players will be determined to lift the trophy, but for contrasting reasons. Momen will be looking to break his trophy draught with his last event win coming back in February 2020 at the Canada Cup. Whereas ElShorbagy will be looking to add a fifth title to his haul for just this season and subsequently move within one title of reaching a career total of 50.

Both players have had to come through tough tests to reach the Gold event final. After overcoming the wildcard Omar Azzam in round two, Momen has come through two brutal five set matches with Fares Dessouky and Joel Makin to book his place in the final. The calibre of opponent that ElShorbagy has faced has been top-drawer as he moved past two former World Champions Karim Abdel Gawad and Ali Farag before edging past the man of the moment Diego Elias in a five-game thriller to close out yesterday’s semi-finals.

An intriguing battle is sure to come in tonight’s men’s final.