Ng Eain Yow (f) beats Aly Abou Eleinen (Photo PSA)
Malaysia’s World No.18 Ng Eain Ng caused the first major upset of this year’s London Squash Classic after coming from behind to beat No.4 seed Aly Abou Eleinen at Alexandra Palace last night.
Eainb Yow suffered a disappointing quarter-final exit at the Budapest Open last week but has bounced back well in London, earning a hard-fought 7-11, 11-4, 11-9 victory over Eleinen in the longest match of day two. He will play Egypt’s Youssef Soliman for a place in the last four.
“I think I bounced back really well, Aly was firing it in so quickly and it took me some time to get used to it,” Eain Yow said afterwards.
“I thought I played really well in the second game and towards the tail end of the third. There is obviously still stuff I’m trying to work on and get better with, but I’m getting there.
“He [Soliman] is such a tough player and we’ve trained a lot so we know each other’s games really well. I think it will come down to who is the better player on the day.”
Defending men’s champion Paul Coll is also through to the last eight after he defeated Englishman Sam Todd 11-2, 11-4 and he will take on former World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy in a mouthwatering quarter-final contest.
USA’s World No.10 Amanda Sobhy came back from two match balls down against Egypt’s Salma Hany in a thriller to book her spot in the quarter-finals.
Hany had never beaten Sobhy in 13 previous attempts on the PSA Squash Tour, but came within a whisker of finally ending that unwanted run. The World No.13 overturned a 9-2 deficit in the opening game, before Sobhy recovered in the second to send the match to a decider under the best-of-three games scoring format.
It was a nail-biting third game which saw Sobhy hold her nerve and rattle off four sublime forehand volley drop winners in a row to vanquish her opponent. Next up for Sobhy is a mouthwatering encounter with World No.1 Hania El Hammamy.
“I had to establish my length into the back corners and try to be a bit more aggressive,” said Sobhy afterwards.
“When I was 9-2 up I became afraid to lose and I have to be mindful of that moving forward. I have to take my punches [against El Hammamy], I can’t be passive at all. She’s World No.1 for a reason, it’s ridiculous. I know we’re going to have a good battle and I want to see how I fare against the best in the world.”
Also through to the last eight is England No.1 Georgina Kennedy, who also had to overturn a one-game deficit, beating Egypt’s Sana Ibrahim 6-11, 11-8, 11-2. Kennedy will play Japan’s Satomi Watanabe in the next round after she defeated Farida Mohamed.
Results
Men’s Second Round
[1] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Sam Todd (ENG) 2-0: 11-2, 11-4 (32m)
[8] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 2-0: 12-10, 11-9 (29m)
[5] Youssef Soliman (EGY) bt Noor Zaman (PAK) 2-0: 11-6, 11-5 (30m)
Ng Eain Yow (MAS) v [4] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) 7-11, 11-4, 11-9
Women’s Second Round
[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Aira Azman (MAS) 2-0: 11-6, 11-6 (20m)
[7] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt Salma Hany (EGY) 2-1: 11-13, 12-10, 12-10 (40m)
[5] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 2-1: 6-11, 11-8, 11-2 (38m)
[4] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt Farida Mohamed (EGY) 2-1: 6-11, 11-8, 11-2 (26m)
