CIB Egyptian Open 2024 – Semi Finals: Preview, The Stats & How To Watch Live

The CIB Egyptian Open 2024 semi-finals have arrived, with four blockbuster matches coming your way from Club O West in Cairo.

Play begins at 19:00 (GMT+3) from the Diamond-level PSA Squash Tour event, with every second of action available to watch live on SQUASHTV. This evening’s matches will also see a return to the showpiece all-glass court at Club O West.

Below, we’ve taken a look into each of the four semi-final matches, how the players have reached this stage of the event, and how they all match up in the head-to-head stats.

You can also find more information on the CIB Egyptian Open 2024 by following the PSA on X, Facebook, Threads, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, or TikTok. 

Order of Play (all times are local)

Nour El Sherbini v Hania El Hammamy

The first semi-final of the evening is set up to be a brilliant battle, with World No.1 Nour El Sherbini and World No.3 Hania El Hammamy squaring off for a spot in the title decider.

El Hammamy is yet to drop a game from her three matches against Farida Mohamed, Jasmine Hutton, and Georgina Kennedy so far this week, highlighting that she could be back to her very best form which eluded her in the latter stages of events last season. The Egyptian will be looking to reach the 28th final of her PSA Tour career, but will have to reverse her recent head-to-head record against El Sherbini to do so, having lost each of their last five meetings with ‘The Warrior Princess’.

El Sherbini, meanwhile, has had to dig deep to reach the semi-finals in Cairo, having battled back from 2-0 down against rising star Amina Orfi in the third round. After losing the first two games 11-4, 11-6, the top seed managed to drag her way back into the match, producing her best squash when it mattered to progress to the quarter-finals. In her subsequent last-eight encounter with No.6 seed Tinne Gilis, the Egyptian was much improved, taking the match in three games and just under half an hour of play.

After the imperious run which Nouran Gohar enjoyed at the end of last season, both El Sherbini and El Hammamy will be looking to put down a marker with a statement win this evening.

Ali Farag v Diego Elias

What a match we have in store in the first men’s semi-final, with both World No.1 Ali Farag and World No.4 Diego Elias having looked in imperious form this week in Cairo.

There was no better description of Elias’ recent form than the words of his third-round opponent Gregoire Marche, who described Elias as “unplayable”, comparing the Peruvian’s level that day to legends of the game such as Amr Shabana and Gregory Gaultier. After defeating the Frenchman in straight games, Elias saw off Tarek Momen in an injury-curtailed quarter-final clash which lasted just 21 minutes. What is more, Elias will be returning to the very same court that he was crowned World Champion on earlier this year, and in the process brought him just his fourth win against Farag from 26 attempts.

Although Elias has started the season strongly, he will still face an uphill battle to get the better of Farag in front of his home fans. The top seed enjoyed a record-breaking 2023/24 season on the PSA Squash Tour and has kicked off where he left off with a string of confident victories in Cairo. Away from a slow start against a firing Nicolas Mueller in the third round, Farag has barely put a foot wrong, claiming straight game victories over Curtis Malik and Mazen Hesham either side of this third-round clash.

Expect lengthy rallies, high quality and some superb shot-making from this one, which has the potential to go all the way down to the wire.

Nada Abbas v Nouran Gohar

World No.17 Nada Abbas has certainly been the story of the 2024 Egyptian Open, with the 24-year-old powering her way to a first-ever major semi-final on the PSA Tour.

Abbas has produced some of the best squash of her life on her way to the last four, defeating Sarah-Jane Perry in four games, fighting back from two games down to conquer Sivasangari Subramaniam, and last night seeing off compatriot Sana Ibrahim. This run is likely to see the Egyptian catapult herself back up the rankings and make moves towards her career-high rank of World No.12.

However, in Nouran Gohar, Abbas faces possibly the trickiest opponent across either men’s or women’s draws right now. ‘The Terminator’ has simply been unplayable over the last six months, winning 28 consecutive matches and taking home five straight titles at the back end of last season. If there were any concerns that the summer break might have stalled this momentum, there need not have been, with Gohar yet to drop a game from her three victories over Barb Sameh, Amanda Sobhy, and Rowan Elaraby.

Abbas will need to up her level once again if she is to stand a chance of continuing her dream run and causing a huge upset in Cairo.

Mostafa Asal v Marwan ElShorbagy

After a somewhat disappointing 23/24 season, World No.10 Marwan ElShorbagy has reminded the squash world that he is still a major contender in Platinum and Diamond events, having navigated his way through a very tough draw that included victories over three top 15 ranked players. ElShorbagy, 31, defeated World No.6 Karim Abdel Gawad in the second-round, World No.11 Victor Crouin in Round 3, and World No.2 Paul Coll in last night’s quarter-final. And adding into the mix the unusual run that his semi-final opponent Mostafa Asal has endured this week, he will fully believe he can knock out yet another seed and progress to the final.

Through no fault of his own, Asal has not had much game time since his impressive second-round victory over Joel Makin, with Youssef Soliman retiring with an injury after just two minutes of their third-round clash, and Mohamed ElShorbagy also suffering a hamstring injury in the second game of their quarter-final.

Although this will mean Asal is fresh and in peak physical coondition ahead of this semi-final, it might present an opportunity for ElShorbagy to catch him cold, especially when considering Asal has played just three competitive points on the all-glass show-court at Club O West.

This match looks an intriguing finale to what should be an all-action evening of squash in Cairo.