Amanda Shoby (Photo PSA)
Top seeds Georgina Kennedy and Amanda Sobhy confidently made their way to the Gaynor Cup final in Cincinnati, beating Salma Hany and Jasmine Hutton, respectively.
Top seed Kennedy was the first to earn her spot in the final, coming through a tight 3-0 match against Salma Hany. The Egyptian bested Kennedy in the Manchester Open final but Kennedy claimed her revenge tonight at the Cincinnati Country Club.
The Englishwoman took the lead in the contest, winning a closely contested opener 12-10 with Hany looking dangerous to strike back.
Kennedy felt the force of the Hany weaponry in game two but kept to her game plan and continued to try and rush Hany and force errors from the Egyptian. An up-and-down game once again went the way of the World No.9 as she doubled her lead to 2-0 with another 12-10 victory in the game.
The efforts of the first two games seemed to hinder Hany in the third as the wiltering frame of the World No.13 fell 11-5, sending Kennedy through to the final.
Kennedy’s opponent in the final will be USA No.2 and former World No.3 Amanda Sobhy. Sobhy denied an an-English final as she beat Jasmine Hutton also in three games. In a battle of two left handers, it was Sobhy who gained the early momentum and never looked back.
She looked to volley at most opportunities and knew that given half a chance, Hutton would attack. Sobhy took the opening two games both 11-6 to take a 2-0 lead and place one foot in the final. Depsite a better showing from Hutton in game three, it wasn’t enough to halt the progress of Sobhy, who moves through to her third final at this event.
Results: Semi-Finals
[1] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt [3] Salma Hany (EGY) 3-0: 12-10, 12-10, 11-5 (33m)
[2] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt [4] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 (32m)
