Amina Orfi (Photo PSA)
Top seed of the Canadian Women’s Open Amina Orfi produced a clinical display to down 2023 champion Amanda Sobhy in straight games to book her place in the final. She will play England No.1 Gina Kennedy, who halted rising star Anahat Singh’s dream run in the other semi-finals.
Orfi – who was runner-up at the US Open last Saturday – has been in excellent form since arriving in Toronto, winning both her previous rounds in straight games.
But it was Sobhy who came firing out of the blocks in the opening game, utilising the boast superbly to open up a 9-3 lead. Orfi’s length hitting improved, pinning the former World No.3 into the back corners as the young Egyptian registered eight successive points to go 1-0 up.
Orfi, who had lost all three previous meetings with Sobhy on the PSA Squash Tour prior to today’s encounter, carried through her momentum from the first game into the second while too many errors from Sobhy proved costly.
After an evenly-contested third as Sobhy bid to find a foothold back in the contest, Orfi pulled clear at the business end as she converted match ball at the second time of asking to advance to the final.
“I started playing against her when she was the World No.3 and she beat me three times in a row,” she said.
“We played in Qatar, the U.S Open and in Hong Kong so it was a lot but things are different now and I’ve got a lot more experience.
“It comes naturally to me [taking about her mental resilience], we play a lot of matches in Egypt, matches in league, in training and in juniors so we play a lot. I just got used to it and I’ve been playing now for two weeks consecutively so there’s no time to really think about it.
“It [the rise of junior levels] says that there’s up and coming players. I know Anahat [Singh] has had two really good wins. Anahat has been a rival of mine in the juniors and it’s great to see her competing at this level too and a representative from India on the tour too.”
In the other semi-finals, England No.1 Gina Kennedy defeated Singh with a tactical masterclass.
17-year-old Singh claimed two, big victories on the way to the semi finals after taking down World No.20 Melissa Alves and defending champion Tinne Gilis.
But the semi-finals proved to be a one step too far for the Indian youngster, as Kennedy’s backhand boast was troubling Singh on a number of occasions in the first as the Englishwoman won 11-5.
Kennedy was completely nullifying Singh by putting her under pressure on her backhand side and exposing her movement by taking the second 11-8 for a two-game advantage.
“She’s [Anahat Singh] had a great tournament this week and I said to my coach back home that she’s such a natural squash player, you can’t coach that deceptive swing that she has and how she moves the ball around. She was maybe a little tired from the week which is to be expected,” she said.
“But I felt in control of that match throughout it all but i’m not happy with how I ended it. I tried to end it too early and nearly got found out but I’m just glad I could get through.
“I was trying to rush her as much as possible, I didn’t want to give her time on the ball and time for her to use her deceptive swing so I just tried to hurry her and I felt like my short stuff was working well In the beginning but maybe I did a little too much at the end.
“I don’t think me and Amina have played for over a year or so now so I’m actually really excited to play her. She’s obviously in great form, it’s so impressive what she’s been doing recently. I think last season I wasn’t making my seeding as often so I haven’t played the top girls for a while so I’m really looking forward to that tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, at the Toronto Athletic Club Open top seed and defending champion Leonel Cardenas recovered from 1-0 down to overcome Moustafa ElSirty in the semi-finals at Brookfield Place.
He will play second seed Yahya Elnawasany in the finals, after the Egyptian overcame Sam Todd of Englad in his semi-finals.
Semi-final results
Canadian Open: [4] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt. Anahat Singh (IND) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 12-10 (30m);[1] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt. [3] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-2, 11-9 (39m)
Toronto Athletic Club Open: [1] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt. [4] Moustafa Elsirty (EGY) 3-1: 8-11, 14-12, 11-3, 11-6 (62m); [2] Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) bt. Sam Todd (ENG) 3-1: 11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8 (71m)
