HK OPEN REACHES FINALE AFTER SURPRISES GALORE
Former tournament champs crash out as Peru’s Elias sets up men’s decider with Asal and Egyptians El Hammamy and El Sherbini eye women’s crown
Two defending champions of the Hong Kong Squash Open were yesterday dispatched in dramatic fashion to set up a tantalising end to the week-long tournament.
Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy and Peruvian Diego Elias sealed their place in today’s finale after taking care of women’s world No 1 Nouran Gohar and defending men’s champion Mohamed ElShorbagy in the semi-finals respectively.
The women’s world No 3 El Hammamy continued to find form over compatriot Gohar, storming from behind to win 3-2 to reach her first-ever final at the Hong Kong tournament.
Gohar, who has reached the finals in all competitions this year, trailed early in the third, but the 25-year-old had six unanswered points to restore composure and lead two games to one heading into the fourth. But just when the capacity crowd at the Hong Kong Squash Centre was expecting an equally epic deciding game, El Hammamy had other ideas.
The 22-year-old reeled off five straight points to take a solid lead and sent Gohar packing with a convincing 11-9, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-2 victory.
“It was a physically and mentally tough match,” El Hammamy said.
“I was confident with myself in the deciding game, tying the match in the fourth and it gave me a huge push ... just happy with the way I played.”
The 84-minute match saw El Hammamy triumph for the fifth time in her last seven matches against Gohar – this after she lost the first seven between the two.
Joining El Hammamy as a first-time finalist in Hong Kong will be Elias, who twice came back from a game down to knock out England’s ElShorbagy.
In a rematch of the Singapore Open final, ElShorbagy drew first blood to take the opening game. World No 5 Elias put up a fight in the second to rattle off eight consecutive points to level the score.
ElShorbagy, who triumphed in Hong Kong four times on five previous occasions, resumed his lead in the third game. The 31-year-old held a commanding 4-0 lead early in the fourth game, but before he knew it Elias had turned it all around to take the game with a stunning 11-1 run.
Elias snatched four crucial points to seize control in the deciding game. The 26-year-old sealed a place in the final with a 7-11, 11-3, 6-11, 11-5, 11-7 win.
“I had a game plan, but it took me a while to start using it,” Elias said. “He started very fast, similar to how he played in Singapore. I think by the end I did what I wanted to do and I’m really happy with the win.
Elias will play Egypt’s Mostafa Asal in the final. The world No 4 stunned tournament top seed Paul Coll 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 5-11, 11-4 in an epic 72-minute battle.
In the women’s final, El Hammamy will play fellow compatriot Nour El Sherbini in an all-Egyptian encounter after the world No 2 snapped New Zealander Joelle King’s winning streak with a 8-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7 win in less than 50 minutes.
King, the reigning champion of the event, after lifting the title in 2018 when it was last held, stood toe-to-toe with El Sherbini throughout, and got to within a point at 8-7 as she aimed to try to force a decider.
An error from the New Zealand No 1 gave El Sherbini a crucial two-point cushion and the Egyptian notched three points without reply to tee up a meeting with El Hammamy. The last time King lost a match was in the US Open semi-finals in October.