Top seeds Nour El Sherbini and Ali Farag qualified for the semi-finals of the Xbox PSA World Tour Finals after wins over Olivia Weaver and Mostafa Asal in Bellevue, Washington.
Two-time champion El Sherbini was pushed to three games by Weaver, but eventually came through after 38 minutes. El Sherbini sits top of Women’s Group A and is guaranteed her spot in the semi-finals. Weaver is second on five points, one point ahead of Nele Gilis, who beat younger sister Tinne 2-0. Weaver and Nele will play off on Friday for the chance to join El Sherbini in the semis.
Defending champion Nouran Gohar defeated last season’s runner-up Hania El Hammamy to guarantee top spot in Women’s Group B. England’s Gina Kennedy is second in the group after beating Nour El Tayeb. The winner of Kennedy and El Hammamy will join Gohar in the semis.
Farag is guaranteed top spot in Men’s Group A after he made it two wins from two with an 11-10, 11-6 win against Asal to avenge his British Open defeat two weeks ago. Farag now has the maximum eight points on offer. Asal will now take on Karim Abdel Gawad to decide the second semi-finalist from Group A after Gawad came from a game down to beat two-time champion Mohamed ElShorbagy.
Paul Coll was the other man to qualify for the semi-finals today, with his 2-0 win over World Champion Diego Elias sending the Peruvian crashing out. Coll tops Men’s Group B with eight points from Mazen Hesham, who got the better of fellow Egyptian Tarek Momen in the day’s other Group B match. Momen stays second but will require a win over Coll or will need Elias to beat Hesham tomorrow if he is to reach the last four.
WA [6] Nele Gilis (Bel) 2-0 [8] Tinne Gilis (Bel) 11-9, 11-4 (33m)
WA [1] Nour ElSherbini (Egy) 2-1 [4] Olivia Weaver (Usa) 11-4, 10-11, 11-7 (38m)
WB [5] Gina Kennedy (Eng) 2-0 [7] Nour El Tayeb (Egy) 11-8, 11-4 (19m)
WB [2] Nouran Gohar (Egy) 2-0 [3] Hania El Hammamy (Egy) 11-9, 11-5 (28m)
MA [1] Ali Farag (Egy) 2-0 [3] Mostafa Asal (Egy) 11-10, 11-6 (33m)
MA [5] Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy) 2-1 [8] Mohamed Elshorbagy (Eng) 9-11, 11-6, 11-8 (45m)
MB [6] Mazen Hesham (Egy) 2-1 [7] Tarek Momen (Egy) 10-11, 11-6, 11-9 (48m)
MB [2] Paul Coll (Nzl) 2-0 [4] Diego Elias (Per) 11-8, 11-9 (39m)
Reports and Reaction from Day Two
Preview :
In Women’s Pool B Gina Kennedy and Nour El Tayeb kick things off at 14.00, both needing a win after losing their opening matches. Nouran Gohar and Hania El Hammamy renew their rivalry in the third match, facing each other for the 25th time, and the winner will likely book their semi-final spot with a round to play.
Men’s Pool B kicks off with Mazen Hesham v Tarek Momen, with Momen looking to build on yesterday’s win over Diego Elias, who will look to notch up a first win as he faces Paul Coll in the last match of the afternoon session.
The evening session kicks off with an all-Belgian Women’s Pool A clash between Nele and Tinne Gilis, both looking for a first win. Later on Nour El Sherbini and Olivia Weaver will both be looking for a second win to take a big step towards the semis.
Men’s Pool A action will see day one winners Ali Farag and Mostafa Asal will square again after their British Open final. Two former champions will close out the day’s play with Mohamed Elshorbagy taking on Karim Abdel Gawad, both having lost on day one.
