Paris Squash 2023 – Day Two: Evening Round-up

World No.3 Hania El Hammamy battled back from two games down to defeat World No.10 Tinne Gilis 3-2 for a place in the third round.

Gilis, who climbed into the top ten in the PSA World Rankings for the first time recently, was clinical in the opening game with her range of shots opening up a 9-2 advantage before clinching it 11-5.

The confidence was flowing from the Belgian, whose backhand volley was proving to be problematic for El Hammamy throughout. Despite a second game which was neck and neck, an error from the Egyptian at game ball doubled Gilis’ lead.

An unforced error from Gilis herself at game ball for El Hammamy in the third opened the door for the World No.3 to get back into the contest as she halved the deficit.

El Hammamy, who has never lost to Gilis on the PSA World Tour, requested the new ball at the end of the third as she stepped up again to secure the fourth and force a decider.

The 22-year-old dominated the middle of the court in the fifth, as she went on to close out the match and progress to the next round.

Afterwards, El Hammamy said: “It was a very tough match today against Tinne [Gilis]. She played absolutely brilliant and threw everything at me, but I’m so proud of the way I came back into the game after being 2-0 down. I tried to dig in and I wasn’t finding my lines and I wasn’t firing my shots. I was working towards that after being 2-0.

“It’s the first match of the season and Tinne was firing everything at me. Being the underdog she’s very hungry to show her improvements she’s made in her pre-season training. I just had to adjust and find my mental zone.

“I played against her ten days ago in the US and she played much better than when we met ten days ago. I wasn’t sharp and I wasn’t playing my right game plan and I wasn’t finding my lines.”

Seven-time World Champion Nour El Sherbini opened her campaign with a victory over her fellow Egyptian Rowan Elaraby in a testing battle.

World No.10 Elaraby came flying out of the blocks in the opening exchanges of the first game, firing into an early lead before El Sherbini clawed it back to eight-all.

Despite trailing for much of the game, El Sherbini drew first blood by taking the first 11-9, and the World No.2 stepped up in the second, taking her opportunities as she looked much sharper.

The win was sealed following an 11-7 win in the third, with Elaraby providing another stern test for El Sherbini.

“I’m very happy with my match today and how I played. It’s the first match of the season, very tricky first round match against a top ten player and last time it went to five so I’m definitely happy with the win today,” El Sherbini said.

“It’s the first match of the season and you’ve been away from tournaments and the mood of a match, the venue and the people around.

“It’s tough mentally and it was a tough first round and I wanted to be ready from the first point. She [Elaraby] was well prepared in the first game, but I managed to regroup and get my game plan back.”

From one World Champion to another, Ali Farag also progressed to the third round with a straight sets victory over a fellow countryman – defeating Egypt’s Youssef Soliman.

Mohamed ElShorbagy delivered a comprehensive display to round off the action on the glass court, downing Baptiste Masotti 3-0.

Elsewhere, Rachel Arnold and Joel Makin dispatched Jasmine Hutton and George Parker, respectively, while Marwan ElShorbagy needed five games to see off Gregoire Marche.

“Baptiste is a very good friend of mine, one of my closest friends and we were just in Sweden together.

“This is the first time he’s played at home, so he gave it everything. It’s not easy to play at home, sometimes the pressure can be a bit too much. It’s a new experience for all the French players and they’ll come back next year and be even better.

“France has had a lot of great champs that I’ve grew up watching and they continue to inspire on court and off court. It started with Thierry Lincou and then [Gregory] Gaultier, these two are legends of the game. All the current French players are following those two legends and all the current women are following the legend Camille Serme too.

“I want to pay respect to those three, they are the reason everything is happening here in France, so I want to thank them. Gaultier and I played many battles, luckily I didn’t have to play against him in France. Thanks so much [to Gaultier] to inspiring me as a rival and as a coach.”

At Stade Francais, all victors won in straight games as Gina Kennedy, Greg Lobban, Sabrina Sobhy and Nick Wall all secured their spots in the third round at the expense of Olivia Clyne, Nicolas Mueller, Fayrouz Aboelkheir and Omar Mosaad, respectively.

England pair Gina Kennedy and Nick Wall advanced in straight games, while Greg Lobban and Sabrina Sobhy also achieved the same feat to prevail.

Results: Paris Squash 2023 – Round Two

Sportive du Jeu de Paume

Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 13-11, 11-7 (31m)
[5] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-2: 10-12, 11-9, 11-6, 10-12, 11-7 (80m)
Aifa Azman (MAS bt Tomato Ho (HKG) 3-0 (Walkover)
Joel Makin (WAL) bt George Parker (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-9 (37m)

Squash Montmartre

[7] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt Nadine Shahin (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 11-1, 11-8 (19m)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 3-2: 11-3, 7-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5 (72m)
[6] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt Amina Orfi (EGY) 3-1: 11-3, 7-11, 13-11, 11-7 (65m)
[4] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 3-1: 14-12, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7 (82m)

Stade Francais

[8] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt Olivia Clyne (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 (29m)
Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-0: 11-7, 11-0, 11-5 (33m)
Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 13-11, 11-6 (35m)
Nick Wall (ENG) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 18-16 (50m)

Parvis du Palais de Tokyo

[2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt Rowan Elaraby (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 (36m)
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Youssef Soliman (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (41m)
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Tinne Gilis (BEL) 3-2: 5-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 (69m)
[3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bt Baptiste Masotti (FRA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 (32m)