Kennedy stages epic revival to advance to Swedish Open semi finals

England No.1 Georgina Kennedy staged an epic comeback to book her place in the semi finals of the Swedish Open squash championships, recovering from 2-0 down against Rowan Elaraby at the Gymnastik & Idrottshogskolan I Stockholm.

Elaraby, who produced a sublime fightback of her own from 2-0 down yesterday against Hollie Naughton, made a blistering start against Kennedy by taking the first two games 11-3, 11-9. 

The 26-year-old appeared to be feeling the effects of her five-game, 54-minute thriller in round two, as Kennedy took advantage of her opponent’s restricted movement to level the match, winning the third and fourth games both by an 11-4 scoreline. 

Kennedy completed the turnaround in just under an hour, closing out the decider 11-4 to book her place in tomorrow’s semi finals.

“I’m really proud of the way I fought there. The second game was really crucial, but I felt as though I was getting momentum,” she said. 

“I didn’t panic today because I’ve had a few times where she’s absolutely blitzed me before in the first game, so that experience helped me settle down today. I found it really difficult to find my targets in the back at the beginning. I feel from changing from the traditional courts to the glass courts is difficult – I struggled in Qatar as well. I didn’t want the same thing to happen.

“Rowan and I always have really good matches. She’s coming in off a horrific injury, so I really respect her and the way she fights every single time.”

Kennedy faces Amanda Sobhy for a place in the final tomorrow afternoon after the U.S. No.2 swept aside Hana Ramadan 3-0. 

Meanwhile, top seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir and Nele Gilis will square off in the second women’s semi-final after they defeated Nadien Elhammamy and Lucy Turmel, respectively. 

Aboelkheir, who had beaten Elhammamy just a few weeks ago at the QTerminals Qatar Classic, dominated throughout against her Egyptian compatriot, taking a comfortable 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 win. Gilis’ accuracy into the back corners were troublesome throughout for Turmel as the Belgian recorded a 11-7, 5-11, 11-5, 11-4 success. 

In the men’s event, No.1 seed Mohamad Zakaria came through a stern test from Declan James to move into the last four.

Zakaria, taking on James for the first time on Tour, looked to extend the rallies throughout their 55-minute tussle, with World No.23 James coming into today’s encounter off the back of a bruising 74-minute round two clash with Kareem El Torkey. 

James stood toe-to-toe with the Egyptian teenager, however Zakaria’s quality ultimately proved decisive as he secured a 11-5, 11-9, 11-6 victory.

“He’s [Declan James] so experienced; he showed it yesterday to come back against Kareem [El Torkey],” he said post-match.

“I knew he had to be moving – if he wasn’t, he’d be in front of me, and he’d be so good from that area. I tried to really focus on being in front and showing my shots. It was a bit of back and forth in areas when I couldn’t do that, but I’m just glad I managed to do it otherwise it could have been a lot tougher for me.

“I’m playing freely. It’s a great tournament. The way that we’re being looked after is making me want to play even better so thank you to everyone behind the scenes who are putting this event on and making it so great.”

Zakaria takes on former World No.3 Marwan ElShorbagy next after the Englishman delivered an impressive performance to beat Yahya Elnawasany 3-1.

The second men’s semi-final pits Joel Makin up against Leonel Cardenas following their wins over Gregoire Marche and Mohamed Abouelghar. 

Makin was relentless throughout his 11-6,11-3, 11-3 triumph over the Frenchman, while Cardenas eased his way into a 2-0 lead before Abouelghar failed to convert his game ball chance in the third, as the Mexican pounced by clinching his match ball opportunity in the tiebreak.

Results

Men’s Quarter Finals
[1] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) bt Declan James (JAM) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-6 (55m)
[3] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) bt  [6] Yahya Elnawasany (EGY)  3-1: 11-4, 11-7, 9-11, 11-3 (43m)
[5] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt {4] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 12-10 (40m)
[2] Joel Makin (WAL) bt [7] Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 (41m)

Women’s Quarter Finals
[1] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt Nadien Elhammamy (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 (29m)
[4] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt {6] Lucy Turmel (ENG) 3-1: 11-7, 5-11, 11-5, 11-4 (59m)
[3] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt Hana Ramadan (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-9 (29m)
[2] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt [5] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) 3-2: 3-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (58m)