World No.7 Fayrouz Aboelkheir upset eight-time World Champion Nour ElSherbini last night after a fabulous performance at Centquatre-Paris to reach the last four of the PSA Squash Tour Finals for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 20-year-old began the season with her first win over ElSherbini at the Egyptian Open back in September, and she looks poised to finish the campaign on a similarly strong note following a 7-11, 11-4, 11-10, 11-2 triumph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aboelkheir was 10-7 down in a crucial third game before a flurry of attacking squash saw her storm back and win it on the sudden death tie-break. She then dominated the play in the third to reach the semi-finals of a major tournament for the third time, while she remains one of the few players to have a positive head-to-head record against the legendary ElSherbini, having won two of their three meetings on the PSA Squash Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo matter how many times I play her and beat her, it will always be special,\u201d said Aboelkheir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe court conditions are really hard, so to be able to win in this weather, I\u2019m happy to win today. I haven\u2019t been training that match because of all the tournaments, but I want to end the season at the highest point I can reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m at my highest ranking at the moment, I\u2019ve had a chance to improve on it, but I didn\u2019t take it. I\u2019m trying to make it right this time, I truly believe I belong here and I can\u2019t wait to reach a higher ranking and win more titles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World No.1 Hania El Hammamy will be Aboelkheir\u2019s semi-final opponent after she got the better of England\u2019s Georgina Kennedy, winning 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The match appeared destined to go to five games when Kennedy took an 8-2 lead in the fourth, but she squandered the advantage as El Hammamy powered back to win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m playing with fire at the moment,\u201d said El Hammamy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt the moment I keep coming from behind and I think I\u2019m best known for my comebacks. Gina and I are both very physical and we leave it all on court. She played really well and I had to raise my game in the fourth. We are similar in the way we play and it was such a lively ball, I made some errors because I was trying to take the ball in short and finish the rallies a bit quicker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World No.2 Paul Coll \u2013 a runner-up at this tournament in 2022 \u2013 came back from a game down to end Joel Makin\u2019s title defence in a gruelling encounter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pair are two of the fittest players on the PSA Squash Tour and engaged in some punishing rallies that explored all four corners of the court. Eventually it was Coll, the reigning British Open champion, who emerged the winner against a war-weary Makin by a 10-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-2 scoreline after 77 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI knew it was going to be tough and it was so hard to control the ball and leave it in the corners,\u201d said Coll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI made too many unforced errors and was lazy with my footwork. It\u2019s the end of the season, but I\u2019ve got plenty in the tank. I\u2019ve been sharpening up and getting the mind ready to be aggressive and not too relaxed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Men\u2019s World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria has joined women\u2019s World Champion Amina Orfi in the semi-finals after he dispatched 2019 champion Karim Gawad in straight games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the first time that two teenagers have reached the last four of the PSA Squash Tour Finals, and Zakaria nullified Gawad\u2019s attacking talents to win 11-8, 11-8, 11-7. The 18-year-old will play Coll next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the win, the 18-year-old wasn\u2019t happy with his performance, saying: \u201cThat was terrible. I don\u2019t want to call my parents, they might block me to be honest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m tired and it\u2019s been a long season. I didn\u2019t start well, I didn\u2019t play well and Karim didn\u2019t let me settle. I wasn\u2019t happy with the way I was hitting the ball and I can\u2019t play any worse than that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Men\u2019s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half): <\/strong>[6] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) bt [3] Karim Gawad (EGY)\u00a03-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 (49m); [2] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [7] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-1: 10-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-2 (77m)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women\u2019s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half): <\/strong>[6] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt [3] Nour ElSherbini (EGY)\u00a03-1: 7-11, 11-4, 11-10, 11-2 (38m); [2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [7] Georgina Kennedy (ENG)\u00a03-1: 11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8 (53m)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" World No.7 Fayrouz Aboelkheir upset eight-time World Champion Nour ElSherbini last night after a fabulous performance at Centquatre-Paris<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-13962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-squash"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t