Diego Elias beats Karim Gawad (Photo PSA)
On a dramatic semi-finals day at the Optasia Squash Championships, three Egyptians booked their places in the Gold event finals. Peru’s Diego Elias staged a stunning comeback to beat No.2 seed Karim Gawad from two games down while Hania El Hammamy and Nour ElSherbini advanced to the women’s final with more than the title to play for on finals day.
Play at the Wimbledon Club started with the World No.1 Hania El Hammamy taking on Japan’s Satomi Watanabe. The Japanese No.1 is one of only two players to beat El Hammamy all season, that win coming in November at the China Open. El Hammamy looked determined to make sure that history didn’t repeat itself and showed her class and quality throughout the 44-minute contest to win 12-10, 11-7, 11-4.
Watanabe’s best form came in the first game, a game that the World No.7 had two opportunities to claim after leading 10-8. El Hammamy, who has become notorious for her comebacks, recovered to win 12-10 and carried that momentum through to win the next two games comfortably, ensuring her place in back-to-back Optasia Championships finals.
She’ll now face long-time rival and eight-time World Champion Nour ElSherbini in the final after the No.2 seed ended home hopes by beating England’s Georgina Kennedy11-4, 10-12, 11-3, 11-9.
After ElSherbini stormed the first game 11-4, Kennedy found answers in the second, taking it 12-10 to delight the London crowd. This joy was short lived however, as the experience of ElSherbini shone through as she went on to take the next two games and earn her place in a third consecutive final on the PSA Squash Tour.
The women’s final isn’t just a battle for the title but the winner will also be the World No.1 in Monday’s rankings. El Hammamy currently holds the coveted position but she’ll need to successfully defend her title if she is to keep it from being taken by ElSherbini.
The men’s final will see Elias and Egypt’s Mostafa Asal compete for an 18th time on the PSA Squash Tour after the pair came through tough semi-final matches.
Elias was the first to book his spot in the final and did so having been 2-0 down to beat 2016 World Champion Karim Gawad 9-11, 3-11, 12-10, 13-11, 11-5. Gawad’s skill and accuracy took him to a commanding lead with Elias still not looking completely match fit as he tried to conjure up his best squash. That squash came in the third game and after winning back to back tiebreaks in games three and four, ‘The Puma’ powered his way through the deciding game to win 11-5 and, for the first time since November 2024, recover from 2-0 down and win.
“I didn’t feel I was playing well from the start,” admitted Elias.
‘I was getting frustrated, but he was playing so well. My dad told me to keep fighting, and I was just thinking that I haven’t been in these matches for a while, so I wanted to run around and stay on court, and I was just happy with how I fought.
“A lot of times I would have given up, but I feel really proud that I could come back and win 3-2. Karim is a former world No.1 and a former World Champ; he’s one of the best, and I’m really pleased I could play against him again. He’s still playing at a great level, and I hope he can play for a few more years.
Dominant World No.1 Mostafa Asal defeated Wales’ Joel Makin 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 in his semi-final, another straight games win for the Egyptian, taking his tally to 22 matches in a row where he hasn’t conceded a single game. Asal’s strength and power were too much for a still returning Makin. It wasn’t until the third game that Makin started to trouble Asal, but the change of tactics came too late in the day for the Welshman as he suffered a 14th loss to the World Champion.
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
Women’s: [1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [3] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 3-0: 12-10, 11-7, 11-4 (44m); [2] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt [4] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) 3-1: 11-4, 10-12, 11-3, 11-9 (43m)
Men’s: [1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt [4] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 (72m); [3] Diego Elias (PER) bt [2] Karim Gawad (EGY) 3-2: 9-11, 3-11, 12-10, 13-11, 11-5 (76m)
