The 2024 GillenMarkets British Open Champions were crowned today in Birmingham as the top two players in the Women’s and Men’s game went head to head at The Rep.
[1] Nouran Gohar (Egy) 3-2 [2] Nour El Sherbini (Egy) 9-11, 12-10, 7-11, 13-11, 11-4 (79m)
[2] Diego Elias (Per) 3-1 [1] Mostafa Asal (Egy) 11-4, 11-9, 3-11, 11-4 (54m)
Gohar fights back against Sherbini to defend women’s title
[1] Nouran Gohar (Egy) 3-2 [2] Nour El Sherbini (Egy) 9-11, 12-10, 7-11, 13-11, 11-4 (79m)
World No.1 Nouran Gohar defended her GillenMarkets British Open title after twice fighting back to win an epic five-game victory against reigning World Champion Nour El Sherbini at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
The Egyptian pair have been a dominant force in squash for the last decade, spending almost 93 months at World No.1 between them since 2016. Over the years, the Egyptian duo have contested some epic matches, with today their 40th meeting on the PSA Squash Tour – and their third British Open final meeting in a row.
Despite El Sherbini’s superior 25-14 head-to-head record, Gohar went into the match having won their last two encounters, in October’s U.S. Open and December’s Hong Kong Open.
In a tight opening game, El Sherbini, as she has all week, made a rapid start. The 29-year-old took a commanding 7-3 lead as she looked relaxed on court in short sharp rallies. Gohar closed the gap, but could not chalk off the lead, with El Sherbini clinching game ball at the first opportunity at 10-9 to take a crucial lead.
Gohar hit back in game two, catching El Sherbini wrong-footed with some excellent boasts to as she won six consecutive points to earn three game balls at 10-7. El Sherbini hung on though, saving the first two and then the crucial third following a video referee decision to take the game into a tie-break.
Gohar didn’t let the momentum shift derail her, though, earning a fourth game ball with a brave winner from mid-court and then blasting past the 29-year-old with her trademark power to draw level.
El Sherbini made another quick start to game three before being pegged back at 6-6. ‘The Warrior Princess’ opted to keep up the attack, though, playing some brilliant winners as she regained the lead taking the game 11-7.
Gohar battled hard in the fourth, but struggled to deal with El Sherbini’s attacks as the World No.2 played winner after winner. At 8-7 up and just three points from the title, disaster struck for El Sherbini. The Egyptian, diving for the ball after being caught out of position, landed heavily on her right shoulder, signalling straight away that she needed physio treatment.
El Sherbini returned to court, but hit gingerly, with Gohar going game ball up at 10-9 as she looked to force a fifth game.
‘The Warrior Princess’ hung tough, though, dragging herself into another tie-break. After seeing one game ball lost on a controversial ‘out’ decision, Gohar regathered to come through her second tie-break, taking the match into a deciding fifth game 13-11 after 19-minutes.
Gohar looked tense early on in the decider, with some brilliant deception from El Sherbini wrong-footing the 27-year-old several times early on.
‘The Terminator’ settled, though, firing in with pace. The change of pace decimated El Sherbini’s defence and confidence and, in a stunning turnaround, Gohar fought back from 1-4 down to take the title 11-4.
“I’m very competitive in practice matches and I hate losing against guys in practice matches! So, at 4-1 down, I said to myself ‘if this was a practice match, would I do?’
“I needed to think about it that way and the crowd pushed me so much, cheering for every good point and I wanted to give them more good shots and it definitely helped.
“I definitely enjoyed myself out there today and it was very tough.
“Nour is incredible and I was thinking about it yesterday, sharing this rivalry with her. Not a lot of people know this but the first major we played against each other was 2016 when we were 18 and 20.
“That’s just crazy to think about and sharing this rivalry is a big honour for me, she brings the best out of me and I miss these big matches. I wanted to get everything out today.”
Diego downs Asal to win first British Open title
[2] Diego Elias (Per) 3-1 [1] Mostafa Asal (Egy) 11-4, 11-9, 3-11, 11-4 (54m)
Peru’s Diego Elias won his first GillenMarkets British Open title after taking down World No.1 and defending champion Mostafa Asal in a high-quality match at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
The pair, in a class of their own atop the PSA World Rankings following the shock retirement of former World No.1 Ali Farag on the eve of the tournament, went into the match having played 15 times on the Tour, with Asal enjoying a 9-5 record but Elias winning the last three matches. Many of those were bad-tempered clashes, and a real rivalry has bubbled between them at the top of the rankings.
Elias had started the event relatively slowly, putting in a laboured performance against Gregoire Marche in the second round as he came from behind to defeat the Frenchman. Since then, though, the Peruvian built momentum, with his comprehensive 3-0 win over World No.3 Paul Coll in the semi-final underlining his improved form.
Asal, meanwhile, has looked consistent, with his mental fortitude helping him come from behind in a physical semi-final with British No.1 Joel Makin in the semi-finals.
Elias started today’s match incredibly, his hitting first rate as he cruised into the lead taking a one-sided opening game 11-4. After taking advice from his coach, English former World No.1 James Willstrop, Asal competed better in the second, moving better and hitting his lines to test Elias’ famous defence.
At 9-9, the game was there for the taking for both men. To the roar of Elias’ fans, the Peruvian went on the hunt, hitting an inch-perfect cross-court nick followed by a fantastic effort to the back to move two games ahead.
The Egyptian came charging out in the third, taking the first five points as the 24-year-old kept Elias guessing, eventually taking the game 11-4 to halve the deficit.
At the beginning of the fourth Asal slipped after a lunge and fell heavily, requiring physio treatment to his knee. After taking a three-minute break Asal’s movement looked laboured at times, but he was still able to exert pressure on Elias from the front of the court, forcing the Peruvian into desperate lunges towards the back. Elias, however, was able to deal with the pressure and began racking up scoreboard pressure as he took a 6-1 lead.
Asal battled hard, but could not consistently find a way past Elias, and the World No.2 secured his first major title of the season since October’s Qatar Classic as he took the game 11-4.
“I don’t know what to say! This is crazy,” said an emotional Elias afterwards.
“The plans don’t always work but I’m happy I could win today. Here with my dad, just the two of us, winning a big tournament is amazing.
“Everything with South American squash started with Miguel [Rodriguez] – he won the British Open, he was the highest ranked South American and it showed us that we can do it. I’m just happy I could win today.
“Mostafa has played a lot of finals in a row and I knew mentally he was probably tired, and if I could win the first game and keep pushing I had a big chance. It feels good when people think I’m getting tired in the first game, if it shows I’m tired then it doesn’t mean I can push any more. I’m just happy I could prove everyone wrong.”
