Manchester Open – Semi-finals: As It Happens

The Manchester Open semi-finals take place today at the National Squash Centre with four different countries represented, the action will be shown live on SQUASHTV, Eurosport Player and multiple broadcasters around the world.

Egypt’s Nour El Tayeb, New Zealand’s Joelle King, America’s Amanda Sobhy and Wales’ Tesni Evans are all in action today as they battle for a place in the final.

The day’s play begins at 16:30 local time (GMT) when United States’ No.1 Sobhy goes head-to-head with Kiwi King. Both players produced a dominant display last night to secure respective 3-0 wins over Egypt’s World No.7 Nouran Gohar and England’s former World No.3 Alison Waters.

They are followed on court by top seed El Tayeb and Wales’ World No.9 Tesni Evans following their respective wins over England’s Laura Massaro and Sarah-Jane Perry yesterday.

Join us here for reports and reaction, or watch the glass court action LIVE on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only), PSA World Tour Facebook page and multiple broadcasters around the world.

Not able to watch? Then follow our live scoring page.

Semi-Finals Schedule

King Books Final Place

New Zealand’s World No.5 Joelle King booked her place in the final of the inaugural Manchester Open after she defeated USA No.1 Amanda Sobhy in straight-games at the National Squash Centre.

The head-to-head record was heavily weighted in the Kiwi’s favour with six wins against Sobhy’s one and King ensured that winning streak continued as she put on a confident display to reach the PSA World Tour Silver final.

Both players enjoyed strong victories in the last round, with Sobhy continuing her strong run of form to down Egypt’s World No.7 Nouran Gohar, while King saw off England’s former World No.3 Alison Waters in straight-games.

An emphatic first game from both players saw them constantly trade blows with both pulling out some of their best squash for the occasion, however, it was King who was able to take the advantage as took the first game, 17-15.

From then on the momentum stayed with the World No.5 as she didn’t put a foot wrong and adapted to the conditions of the warm court well to advance against World No.8 Sobhy.

“It’s no secret that Amanda has been coming back strong this year,” said 30-year-old King.

“It’s credit to her that she’s in the semi-finals of a Silver tournament not so long after coming back from injury. I don’t like to keep going on about having the same injury, but I know what it’s like to be chasing those top girls and she has proven that she is worthy of her top eight ranking again. I’m just really pleased to be off in three.

“Overall this week, I’ve been feeling mentally quite good. Even in my other matches if I had lapses, I was able to close out in the business end and I guess that is one of my strengths when I’m playing well.

“I was down in the first and I was able to claw my way back and take a crucial first game and I’m pretty happy with my mental performance.

“I think at the start of this year, after winning Hong Kong I put a bit of pressure on myself to do well and it didn’t work out so well for me. I’ve tried to come into every tournament and treat it like it’s my last one and it seems to be working, so hopefully it will carry on.”

Result:
[2] Joelle King (NZL) bt [8] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-0: 17-15, 11-5, 11-8 (39m)

Evans Stages Monumental Comeback to Reach Final

Wales’ World No.9 Tesni Evans came from 2-0 down against top seed Nour El Tayeb in a gladiatorial battle to book her place in her biggest PSA final.

Egypt’s World No.3 El Tayeb took charge in the opening two games, but like she showed yesterday in a five-game battle with England’s No.1 Sarah-Jane Perry, Evans was not going to go down without a fight as she pushed El Tayeb all the way to eventually claim one of the biggest wins of her career.

Top seed El Tayeb started brightly with her dynamic movement to take the first two games and put one foot in the final, before Evans displayed her resilience to battle back in the third.

Brutal stuff between @tesnievans and @NourElTayeb #MCROpen #SquashTheGap pic.twitter.com/MESZU23P8y

— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) May 12, 2019

The Welshwoman then continued to push on as she utilised her momentum to once again stun El Tayeb and level the scores, much to the delight of the crowd packed inside the National Squash Centre.

What a finish from @tesnievans!

The Welshwoman has come from 2-0 down to take it to a fifth! #MCROpen #SquashTheGap pic.twitter.com/SEbF4Lfs1b

— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) May 12, 2019

The battle continued to get more tense between the two warriors as they continued to exchange blows with the match going all the way down to the wire before Evans, kept her cool and closed out by a 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 scoreline in a huge 72-minutes.

“I actually felt like even in the first two games that I was actually playing quite well,” said the 26-year-old Welshwoman.

“I just couldn’t string a few points together, I’m really happy with myself today because I never let that get to me and I just kept digging and digging, just to see how far it would get me and I can’t believe it in the end.

“I think the more matches I play, the better I get. I just don’t normally get the opportunity to play more than a couple of matches. My squash was probably the best I’ve played at the end of the match and I’m really proud of myself.

“It’s probably my biggest win because she is No.3 in the world, reached the final of the World Champs and so it’s probably one of my biggest wins.

“Joelle is probably my best friend on tour and she is playing her best squash. I’m really looking forward to the final tomorrow and I know it’s going to be a clean and fair match.”

Result:
[6] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt [1] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 3-2: 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 (72m)