It’s semi-finals day of the GillenMarkets British Open in Birmingham, as the top four seeds in both Women’s and Men’s draw look to progress to the ‘Wimbledon of Squash’ finals.
It’s the women’s matches first with defending champion Nouran Gohar opening proceedings against BO first-time Amina Orfi. Then it’s four-time BO and 8-time World Champion Nour El Sherbini against USA’s Olivia Weaver in her first BO semi-final.
Them men’s semis feature the current top four in the world as defending and world champion Mostafa Asal meets local favourite Joel Makin and Diego Elias and Paul Coll renew their rivalry.
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MATCH REPORTS :
Gohar Crushes Orfi to reach 7th BO Final | Sherbini wins to set up Gohar Showdown
Asal survives Makin bout to reach final |
Gohar crushes Orfi to reach 7th BO final
[1] Nouran Gohar (Egy) 3-0 [4] Amina Orfi (Egy) 11-6, 11-8, 11-2 (37m)
Nouran Gohar is through to her seventh British Open final after the Egyptian World No.1 recorded a fifth straight win over 17-year-old compatriot and World No.5 Amina Orfi in the semi-finals.
Gohar, who played her first British Open aged 16 in 2014, is aiming for a third British Open title after winning the 2019 and 2024 championships.
The World No.1 made a strong start to the match as she took the first game 11-6, targeting Orfi’s deep court positioning and catching her opponent out with some brilliant backhanded boasts.
Gohar pushed on in game two, with Orfi struggling to find scoring opportunities as ‘the Terminator’ marched on.
The young Egyptian managed to narrow the gap as she began playing higher risk attacking shots, but could not get in front as Gohar’s power and variation helped the 27-year-old to a 2-0 lead with an 11-8 win.
Game three was more of the same, with Gohar looking unstoppable as she dismantled the World No.5 11-2 to reach the final.
That win moves the 27-year-old to fifth in the list of all-time women’s British Open final appearances, behind legendary figures Heather McKay, Janet Morgan, Nancy Cave and Susan Devoy.
“Amina doesn’t need any introduction or description – she’s one of the best youngest players to have played the game and she’s in the top five.
“Any player in the top five you would be scared of or focused on before the match, but it makes it extra dangerous when they’re young as they have no fear and don’t really care.
“I actually really enjoy the challenge, I like to challenge myself and challenges like this where you’re not super comfortable. Then when you do challenge yourself you do see you’re good at it, but I really enjoyed myself on court and the challenge today.
“You’re always developing as a player for sure and when you’re young it’s not easy. I was playing at a fast pace when I was younger and I will always have that – that’s my talent. You always try to improve as a player and what was missing was the other part of the game.
“When playing against Amina or anyone I always try to mix it up and I feel like if I get the balance right it can be hard for anyone. It’s about getting the balance right – sometimes I can be soft or too aggressive.”
ElSherbini downs Weaver to set up Gohar showdown
[2] Nour ElSherbini (Egy) 3-1 [3] Olivia Weaver (Usa) 11-9, 11-8, 5-11, 11-3 (42m)
Nour El Sherbini will take on Egyptian rival Nouran Gohar for the 40th time in their careers after the World No.2 defeated USA’s Olivia Weaver in an entertaining battle.
Going into the match, El Sherbini enjoyed a brutal record over the American World No.4, winning all 13 of the matches the pair had contested on Tour and the two finals they’d played at the World Squash Team Championships.
Weaver, though, has been in strong form recently, coming agonisingly close to defeating El Sherbini in this year’s PSA World Championships and reaching the semi-finals of the British Open for the first time after an impressive run.
In the opening game, the El Sherbini started as she has done so often this week: rapidly. The Egyptian was able to get her body in front of Weaver throughout the early stages, completely controlling the rallies as she went 6-1 up. The American eventually adjusted, and narrowed El Sherbini’s lead to a single point, before the World No.2 regained the ascendency to take game one 11-9.
Game two was another tight contest, with El Sherbini coming through 11-8 to take a 2-0 advantage.
Weaver’s response was excellent, though. The American kept El Sherbini on the back foot for most of game three, robbing the Egyptian of opportunities to take control and attacking aggressively into the front at every opportunity as she stormed back 11-5.
This time, it was El Sherbini’s turn to respond.nThe Egyptian began game four as she had game one, coming out furiously and dominating the centre of the court again.
The 29-year-old was unplayable for most of the game, crushing any signs of resistance by taking the first eight points before eventually ending things 11-3 to set up another showdown with her oldest rival on tour.
“Olivia and I have been playing a lot this season. I think we’ve played in almost every semi-final and she almost got me in the Worlds and that was one of the proudest matches that I won.
“I was sure she was going to come here today and want to get the win. I didn’t think too much about that match in the Worlds and I said that this is a new match. I tried to stick to my game plan and I think I was really relaxed. I was happy with the way I played.
“Every phase in your life you have to find new motivation – when you get older your passions change a lot and it can be very hard to motivate yourself. You try to push yourself to win every match and the younger generation are very fearless and hungry. Being the oldest, you have to be as hungry as they are.
“Nouran has been playing amazing this season and has reached almost every final.
“Last year we had a huge battle on this court, so I’m definitely looking forward to this one. This is the last [regular] event of the season, one last push and I’m sure it’s going to be a good one. We didn’t play for a while so hopefully it’s going to be a good match.”
Asal survives Makin bout to reach final
[1] Mostafa Asal (Egy) 3-1 [4] Joel Makin (Wal) 4-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-7 (78m)
Defending champion Mostafa Asal launched an epic fight back as the World No.1 and newly-crowned World Champion hit back to take down British No.1 Joel Makin in an 80-minute grapple.
Three months ago, the pair engaged in an epic five-game battle in the Optasia Championships, with Asal eventually coming back from two games down to defeat Makin – who has called Birmingham home for the last 12 years – in an arm wrestle of a match.
Ahead of the game, Makin had promised to make this another physical encounter and the Welshman was as good as his word from the opening rally, contesting every inch of space as he took the opening game 11-4 against a rattled Asal.
The Welshman was warned by match referee Jason Foster for excessive physicality in game two and Asal’s lethal racket skills were brought to the fore, with the Egyptian looking far more comfortable than in game one as he came back from 1-3 down to lead 6-3.
Makin dug in and worked Asal’s legs, but could not consistently hurt his opponent, with Asal earning three game balls at 10-7.
To the roar of the capacity home crowd, Makin saved all three game balls and then earned one of his own at 11-10.
Asal, however, defended well, saving the game ball and then converting his fourth at 12-11 to level the scores as the huge 22-minute game drew to a close.
Game three was a stop-start affair, with Asal leading throughout but Makin able to keep within touching distance.
To the disappointment of most of the 900-strong home crowd, the Welshman was never able to put together a run of points and overtake Asal, with the Egyptian defending well as he absorbed Makin’s pressure to take the lead for the first time with an 11-8 win.
In a bad tempered fourth game, Makin threw absolutely everything at Asal in an intense battle in which neither man gave an inch.
At 6-6, a heavy collision between the pair led to another conduct warning for Makin, with the Welshman appearing to tackle Asal to the ground after the Egyptian pushed up into his space.
Asal appeared to deal with the situation better, mockingly pretending to accept a hand up from Makin after being left prone while Makin fumed at match referee Jason Foster.
With his head apparently clearer, Asal dug in and inched away, bringing up for match balls at 10-6.
Makin saved one, but could not complete a spectacular comeback, with Asal earning the win 11-7 to clinch victory, with cheers and boos ringing round ‘The Rep’ as he celebrated.
“Joel is amazing with the way he plays. To become World No.4 and to challenge us is unbelievable. It was tough today, credit to Jason Foster who controlled it very well. I’m not saying that to get him on my side, he was controlling it today!
“I’m happy with the way I’m playing – lots of mental things to come through. People don’t know how hard it is to be a pro squash player playing every single match in a row. All credit goes to James Willstrop – we’re fighting behind the scenes and he’s pushing me.
“He starts to attack and I’m the one doing the work and I dived more than Joel today! I’m trying to learn from him, he’s learning from other players and his game has definitely gone up. He can beat anyone and I’m happy to be through.”
