Gibraltar Open QF: Another Upset for Ismail as Unseeded Teen Reaches Semis

Egyptian 18-year-old Hana Ismail recorded another upset last night in Gibraltar as the World No.134 overcame English No.6 seed and World No.109 Kiera Marshall in straight games.

Dubai-born Ismail, who stunned No.2 seed Torrie Malik in the opening round, put in another excellent performance at Europa Sports Centre to get the better of Marshall 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 in 28 minutes.

Ismail will take on No.4 seed Jacqueline Peychär in the semi final after the Austrian beat Scotland’s Katriona Allen 3-0.

The other semi final will be contested by top seed Marta Dominguez Fernandez of Spain and English No.5 seed Saran Nghiem, after Fernandez came from behind to beat French No.7 seed Lauren Baltayan 3-1 and Nghiem dispatched Singaporean No.3 seed Au Yong Wai Yhann 3-0.

The men’s semi finals will see unseeded Indian Velavan Senthilkumar play Welsh No.3 seed Emyr Evans and Czech No.6 seed Daniel Mekbib face Spanish No.2 seed Ivan Perez.

Senthilkumar came up against a dangerous opponent last night in Miles Jenkins, with the unseeded Englishman stunning top seed Martin Svec on the opening day of the tournament. Jenkins looked to have one foot in the door of the semi final when he took a 2-0 lead thanks to 13-11, 14-12 wins. Senthilkumar came firing back, however, with 11-7, 12-10 and 11-6 wins to setup a semi final with Evans, who beat Spain’s Edmon Lopez 11-6, 11-9, 11-1.

Mekbib, meanwhile, booked his spot in the final four with a 3-0 win against English No.4 seed James Peach, while Perez came through a testing encounter as he edged past Welsh No.8 seed Owain Taylor 3-2.

The semi-finals of the Gibraltar Open will take place on Friday June 30, with play getting under way at 18:00 (GMT+2). You can keep up to date with daily updates from the tournament on the PSA Challenger Tour’s Twitter and Facebook.

Result – Men’s Quarter-Finals: 2023 Gibraltar Open
Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) bt Miles Jenkins (ENG) 3-2: 11-13, 12-14, 11-7, 12-10, 11-6 (69m)
[3] Emyr Evans (WAL) bt Edmon Lopez (ESP) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-1 (32m)
[6] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt [4] James Peach (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-9 (40m)
[2] Ivan Perez (ESP) bt [8] Owain Taylor (WAL) 3-2: 11-6, 5-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-9 (74m)

Draw – Semi-Finals: To Be Played June 30th
Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) v [3] Emyr Evans (WAL)
[2] Ivan Perez (ESP) v [6] Daniel Mekbib (CZE)

Result – Women’s Quarter-Finals: 2023 Gibraltar Open
[1] Marta Dominguez Fernandez (ESP) bt [7] Lauren Baltayan (FRA) 3-1: 8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-3 (36m)
[5] Saran Nghiem (ENG) bt [3] Au Yeong Wai Yhann (SGP) 3-0: 11-6, 11-1, 13-11 (24m)
[4] Jacqueline Peychär (AUT) bt Katriona Allen (SCO) 3-0: 11-1, 11-9, 11-5 (25m)
Hana Ismail (EGY) bt [6] Kiera Marshall (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 (28m)

Draw – Semi-Finals: To Be Played June 30th
[1] Marta Dominguez Fernandez (ESP) v [5] Saran Nghiem (ENG)
Hana Ismail (EGY) v [4] Jacqueline Peychär (AUT)