Karim Abdel Gawad (Photo PSA)
World No.18 Baptiste Masotti delivered an quality performance to topple No.4 seed Karim Gawad on the opening day of the Milwaukee Hong Kong Squash Open 2025, defeating the former World No.1 in a thrilling five-game encounter at the Platinum-level event.
In a match which was packed with drama, no moment more so than late in the third game when Gawad sustained a significant nose injury when running into the back of his opponent, it was Masotti who eventually claimed his first-ever win over Gawad by an 11-8, 9-11, 13-11, 7-11, 13-11 scoreline.
After returning to court following a 15-minute injury break and seeing the third game slip through his grasp, Gawad responded impressively to firstly send the game to a decider, and later save four match balls to take the fifth game into a deserved tie-break.
Masotti saw a fifth match ball come and go before finally clinching victory when he clipped a powerful forehand beyond the defences of Gawad.
After the 88-minute win, Masotti said: “I wish Karim [Gawad] a good recovery for his nose. It happened at the end of the third game. It was accidental – he went on my back, it was a loose shot, and I tried to give him access.
“I can feel it wasn’t great and I’m so sorry. Karim is someone I respect so much. I’m so proud of keeping my nerve today, especially in the fifth when I was 10-6 up, and I played some awful shots. I was tense because beating these kind of guys is huge and I respect him a lot.”
Elsewhere, World No.44 Sabrina Sobhy claimed her first-ever victory over older sister Amanda on the PSA Squash Tour after fighting back from 2-1 down to defeat the World No.11.
Sabrina, who lost out to Amanda at the U.S. Open in October, turned the tables from that day with a quality performance of her own, moving through to the second round of the Platinum-level event by a 9-11, 14-12, 8-11, 12-10, 11-6 scoreline.
After missing out on the majority of the 2024/25 season with a serious wrist injury, this performance marked another step in Sobhy’s impressive comeback season, with the 28-year-old recently lifting the Copper-level St. James Expression title and showing signs today of the squash which saw her previously reach as high as World No.13 in the PSA Rankings.
Despite falling 2-1 down and 5-1 down in the fourth, Sabrina kept her composure to firstly clinch a tight fourth-game tie-break and subsequently move through to the win after 54 minutes on court at the Hong Kong Squash Centre.
“I’m still in a bit of disbelief,” Sabrina said after the match.
“It was a very emotional match for me – I’m incredibly happy as I’ve never beaten her [Amanda Sobhy] before in a legitimate tournament in 10 plus years. Regardless of beating Amanda, it’s more about how I played in that match. I feel like I was down and out in the fourth, but I pulled it together and I didn’t want to go home. I was really happy with that.
“I was glad we played earlier in the season [at the U.S. Open] just to get it out of the way – I felt like there was much less noise here in Hong Kong. Everyone on the East coast is asleep and there’s not as much hype and we had the draw well in advance so we knew what was expected so I had a bit more time to prepare.”
Elsewhere, four-time Hong Kong Open champion Mohamed ElShorbagy marked his 15th consecutive year in the top ten of the PSA Men’s Rankings with an impressive four-game victory over Egypt’s Fares Dessouky.
ElShorbagy, who currently only sits behind squash legend Jansher Khan in the number of Hong Kong Open titles won, set-up a tantalising second-round tie with up-and-coming English talent Jonah Bryant after defeating World No.13 Dessouky by an 11-7, 17-19, 16-14, 11-5 scoreline.
After the match, ElShorbagy said: “I have always felt that Hong Kong is the toughest Platinum event of the year. You have to be really mentally strong to win this event. Everyone is dealing with jet lag and everyone comes here tired as well, as it’s the last event of the year.
“It’s always been very interesting to see who can deal with all of this and still get the results. I love challenges, and I realised that this was probably always the toughest Platinum event to play. Whenever it is a challenge, I am going to go after it. I have always had good results here and I’m looking forward to trying to get more wins here this week.”
Other winners on day one of action included Hong Kong Wildcard Chan Sin Yuk, who defeated England’s Grace Gear in straight games, and World No.4 Joel Makin, who survived a major first-round scare as he battled past fellow British player Declan James in a marathon five-game, 94-minute encounter.
After securing a place in the second round against No.5 seed Tinne Gilis, World No.38 Sin Yuk said: “I feel great. I had a last-minute change of draw and Grace [Gear] came probably yesterday morning and I knew it was an opportunity for both of us. I’m glad I took advantage of it and got through it.
“I forget about all that [playing in front of her home crowd] so there’s less pressure on me, but it’s great to have the home crowd supporting me. Every time I win a point, there’s someone cheering me, and that’s definitely motivating for me, and it helped.”
There were also wins for all other major seeds in both the men’s and women’s draws on day one of the Platinum event, with eight-time World Champion Nour ElSherbini bouncing back from a game behind to defeat England’s Jasmine Hutton and No.2 seed Amina Orfi looking in powerful form during her three-game win over Scotland’s Georgia Adderley. World No.1 Mostafa Asal and World No.2 Paul Coll, meanwhile, got the better of India’s Abhay Singh and Germany’s Raphael Kandra in straight games, respectively.
Results
Men’s Round One: [1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt. Abhay Singh (IND) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-7 (36m); Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt Iker Pajares (ESP) 3-1: 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10 (56m); [7] Victor Crouin (FRA) bt Greg Lobban (SCO) 3-1: 11-0, 11-4, 6-11, 11-4 (40m); Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) bt Bernat Jaume (ESP) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 (36m); Jonah Bryant (ENG) bt Henry Leung (HKG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 (37m); [6] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bt Fares Dessouky (EGY) 3-1: 11-7, 17-19, 16-14, 11-5 (54m); Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) 3-2: 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6 (75m); [3] Joel Makin (WAL) bt Declan James (ENG) 3-2: 11-5, 8-11, 11-8, 12-14, 11-5 (94m); Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bt [4] Karim Gawad (EGY) 3-2: 11-8, 9-11, 13-11, 7-11, 13-11 (88m); Miguel Rodriguez (COL) bt Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) 3-2: 6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 10-12, 11-1 (78m); [8] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) bt Timothy Brownell (USA) 3-0: 13-11, 12-10, 11-7 (35m); Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt Alex Lau (HKG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 (53m); [5] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) bt Juan Vargas (COL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (29m); Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt Curtis Malik (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 13-11, 11-9 (39m); Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) bt Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 3-1: 8-11, 11-1, 13-11, 11-8 (53m); [2] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Raphael Kandra (GER) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-2 (28m)
Women’s Round One: [1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Hollie Naughton (CAN) 3-0: 0-0 ret. (0m); Tesni Murphy (WAL) bt Malak Khafagy (EGY) 3-2: 11-7, 5-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6 (55m); Melissa Alves (FRA) bt Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-3 (23m); [7] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt. Lucy Turmel (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 (23m); Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt [8] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-2: 9-11, 14-12, 8-11, 12-10, 11-6 (54m); Kenzy Ayman (EGY) bt Hana Moataz (EGY) 3-2: 12-10, 14-16, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7 (47m); Hana Ramadan (EGY) bt Aira Azman (MAS) 3-1: 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 (33m); [3] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-1: 6-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-2 (37m); [4] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt Mariam Metwally (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 14-12 (31m); Nele Gilis (BEL) bt Ka Yi Lee (HKG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-3, 11-5 (30m); [WC] Sin Yuk Chan (HKG) bt Grace Gear (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-3 (24m); [5] Tinne Gilis (BEL) bt Rachel Arnold (MAS) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-3 (23m); [6] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt Marina Stefanoni (USA) 3-1: 11-7, 12-14, 11-7, 11-2 (41m); Sana Ibrahim (EGY) bt Tomato Ho (HKG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 (31m); Aifa Azman (MAS) bt Zeina Mickawy (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 12-10, 11-6 (25m); [2] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt Georgia Adderley (SCO) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-1 (34m)
