Nadien Elhammamy beats Aira Azman (Photo PSA)
Teenage duo Nadien Elhammamy and Jana Swaify starred on a dramatic second day at the Squash on Fire Open, a day which also saw Veer Chotrani stage another impressive fightback while Leonel Cardenas won a thriller.
Eighteen-year-old Elhammamy, the runner-up at last year’s World Junior Championships, triumphed 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9 in her second-round 40-minute showdown over Malaysian No.5 seed Aira Azman.
Displaying plenty of power and aggression from the off, Elhammamy moved swiftly into a two-game lead only to be pegged back in the third.
The Malaysian then stormed out to a 6-2 lead in game four, at which point a deciding game looked likely, but Elhammamy stuck to her game plan and continued to attack, showing some impressive athleticism along the way too.
6-2 soon became 6-6 which in turn became 9-9, and Elhammamy was celebrating victory just two rallies later, with Azman unable to clear a short forehand drop on match ball in the front-right corner.
Elhammamy let out a roar of emotion and could not help but smile as she headed off court, knowing that a first quarter-final appearance in a Bronze-level event awaited.
Her opponent in that quarter-final will be third seed Melissa Alves, who came through a nail-biting, five-game tussle with a 11-6, 6-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9 win over Lucy Beecroft on the glass court.
The French No.1 found herself 2-1 down and then – having won game four to force a decider – trailed 8-5 in the fifth, but dug deep to get herself over the line 11-9, helped by winning a breathtaking rally at 9-9, which lasted more than a minute and had both players scrambling to all corners.
The drama showed no signs of letting up in the match that followed, either, as Chotrani staged a second straight comeback to sink No.4 seed Baptise Masotti 11-6, 7-11, 8-11, 11-1, 11-9.
Chotrani had recovered from 2-1, 8-2 down to beat Balazs Farkas in round one, and once again needed all five games to beat France’s Masotti 24 hours later, clinging on in a tension-filled fifth game, in which he saw five match balls come and go from 10-4 up, before taking the sixth with a smart backhand drop at 10-9.
Chotrani will now face Declan James, who himself had to fight back from 2-0 down to win in five against Muhammad Asim Khan, closing out a 72-minute duel 5-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7.
Remarkably, that wasn’t event the end of the five-gamers in the afternoon session, as No.2 seed Leonel Cardenas came out on top of another epic against Velavan Senthilkumar.
For much of their 64-minute encounter it looked as though the Indian southpaw might cause a sizable upset, but Cardenas came up clutch in the closing stages, most notably on a sensational match ball, when he showed some remarkable retrieval skills to keep a 26-shot rally alive, before flicking a forehand winner down the line.
If anyone inside the Squash on Fire club thought the drama was finished for the day as the evening session got underway, they were in for a shock, as 18-year-old Swaify – playing in her first ever Bronze event – produced a clinical display to beat fourth seed Tesni Murphy 11-6, 11-5, 11-6.
The Alexandrian has only ever played a World-level event in on home soil in Egypt before, but showcased her talent in a clinical display to sink the Welsh No.1 here, winning 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 in just 28 minutes.
That was then followed by an entertaining battle between top seed Mohamed Elshorbagy and rising star Noor Zaman, which saw ‘The Beast’ emerge victorious after a hard-fought fourth-game tiebreak in 11-6, 6-11, 11-6, 15-13.
There was still time for two more five-game encounters, too – the fifth and sixth of the day!
The first of those two saw Mohamed Elsherbini edge Patrick Rooney 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-13, 11-5 over 61 minutes, while the second ended in victory for Fares Dessouky, as he outlasted Sam Todd 15-17, 11-9, 11-8, 10-12, 11-4 on the glass court.
Results:
Men’s Round Two: [6] Declan James (ENG) bt. Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) 3-2: 5-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7 (72m); Veer Chotrani (IND) bt. [4] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) 3-2: 11-6, 7-11, 8-11, 11-1, 11-9 (52m); Karim El Hammamy (EGY) bt. [5] Kareem El Torkey (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-1 (35m); [2] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt. Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) 3-2: 4-11, 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8 (64m); [1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bt. Noor Zaman (PAK) 3-1: 11-6, 6-11, 11-6, 15-13 (53m); [8] Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) bt. Patrick Rooney (ENG) 3-2: 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-13, 11-5 (61m); [7] Raphael Kandra (GER) bt. Nathan Lake (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 (35m); [3] Fares Dessouky (EGY) bt. Sam Todd (ENG)3-2: 15-17, 11-9, 11-8, 10-12, 11-4 (81m)
Women’s Round Two: Nadien Elhammamy (EGY) bt. [5] Aira Azman (MAS) 3-1: 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9 (40m); [3] Melissa Alves (FRA) bt. Lucy Beecroft (ENG) 3-2: 11-6, 6-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9 (65m); [1] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt. Menna Hamed (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 (27m); [6] Hana Moataz (EGY) bt. Alina Bushma (UKR) 3-1: 11-5, 16-14, 9-11, 11-7 (44m); Jana Swaify (EGY) bt. [4] Tesni Murphy (WAL) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (28m); Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt. [8] Zeina Mickawy (EGY) 3-1: 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8 (40m); [2] Sana Ibrahim (EGY) bt. Habiba Hani (EGY) 3-1: 11-4, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5 (39m); [7] Anahat Singh (IND) bt. Hayley Ward (RSA) 3-1: 11-5, 11-8, 12-14, 11-5 (32m); [3] Fares Dessouky (EGY) bt. Sam Todd (ENG) 3-2: 15-17, 11-9, 11-8, 10-12, 11-4 (81m)
