US Star Sobhy Comes Back to End El Tayeb’s U.S. Open Title Defence by Sean Reuthe
photos PSA
October 8, 2018
- United States No.2 Amanda Sobhy completed an astonishing comeback
from two games down to eliminate defending FS Investments U.S. Open
champion Nour El Tayeb in round three of the PSA World Tour Platinum
tournament held at Philadelphia’s Drexel University.
Sobhy, a former World No.6, had spent 10 months on the sidelines due to
an achilles injury before making her comeback at January’s J.P. Morgan
Tournament of Champions, and she showed signs that she is approaching
the level she was at before that injury with a stunning display after a
slow start.
World No.3 El Tayeb’s historic win alongside husband Ali Farag at last
year’s U.S. Open saw them become the first married couple in sporting
history to lift the same major title on the same day, and she looked
full of confidence as she hit an array of winners to take a two-game
lead.
However Sobhy, cheered on by the American crowd, responded brilliantly
and forced El Tayeb onto the back foot as she hit perfect lines into
the back corners, while she was just as clinical at the front of the
court to complete a 9-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-6 triumph which will
see her take on France’s Camille Serme for a place in the semi-finals.
“It’s a special win for me,” said New York-born Sobhy
“I was thinking about this match since the summer. I know how good she
is and she won it last year, but I wanted to prove to myself that I
could do it. I narrowly lost to her in five at the British [Open] and I
knew that I’m right there with the top three still, but I just need to
break through and I’m so pleased with how I fought back today, and
having my whole support team here is huge for me and a big confidence
booster.
“It’s amazing to be back here. I missed it last year, I was down here
but it was a really rough time for me with my progress just being
stalled and I was really hopeless at that time. Coming back here, it’s
the biggest and most prestigious tournament in the US and I did my
rehab in Philly, so it is a second home for me."
Serme avenged her defeat to Annie Au at the Oracle NetSuite Open two
weeks ago with a 3-0 win over the World No.11 this time around, while
World No.1 Nour El Sherbini continued her strong start to the
tournament with a victory over World No.9 Alison Waters by the same
scoreline.
“I had to work hard,” said 22-year-old El Sherbini.
“Alison has been playing really well since last season. Last time we
played I beat her 3-2 and it wasn’t an easy match. I knew today was
going to be tough and it wasn’t an easy 3-0."
El Sherbini will clash with compatriot Yathreb Adel in the next round
after the World No.30 followed up a second round upset over World No.7
Nouran Gohar with another surprise win over World No.15 Salma Hany in
five games.
In the men’s tournament, World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy took a step
closer to the final after he defeated Indian No.1 Saurav Ghosal in an
entertaining 51-minute battle.
ElShorbagy, who fell to Farag in last year’s final, dropped just five
points in the opening game but was tested by a resurgent Ghosal in the
next two games and required a tie-break victory in the second, before
he edged the third to complete the win by an 11-5, 16-14, 11-9
scoreline.
“With Saurav it’s always a tough match,” said ElShorbagy.
“Our matches are always very tight and very difficult. He always knows
how to move me around the court, so I knew from the first point that I
had to be sharp and on my toes and I’m really happy with how I won that
crucial second game. In the third game he made a comeback and I’m just
glad that I closed it out in the end."
The in-form Mohamed Abouelghar stands between ElShorbagy and a place in
an eighth successive PSA Tour semi-final after a sublime performance
from the World No.9 saw him down fellow Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad in
straight games.
Abouelghar has started the season brilliantly, winning his biggest PSA
Tour title last month at the J.P. Morgan China Open, and he dismantled
2016 World Champion Gawad, claiming an 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 margin to earn
his place in the last eight.
“I had a disappointing second-half last season,” said Abouelghar.
“I knew a change had to be made and luckily it has worked out sooner
than expected. I would say that was my finest performance today and I
had to be at my best to beat someone like Karim."
Elsewhere, World No.4 Tarek Momen and World No.8 Paul Coll claimed wins
against England’s Declan James and Egypt’s Omar Mosaad, respectively,
and they will go head-to-head in the quarter-finals.
Third round action continues tomorrow at 12:00 local time (GMT-4) on
Tuesday October 9 and all matches will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV
(Rest of World), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and DAZN (Japan).
Draw - Men’s Third Round (Bottom Half): To Be Played October 9
[4] Simon Rösner (GER) v George Parker (ENG)
Cesar Salazar (MEX) v [5] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
[6] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Zahed Salem (EGY)
Joel Makin (WAL) v [2] Ali Farag (EGY)
Draw - Men’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half): To Be Played October 10
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
[8] Paul Coll (NZL) v [3] Tarek Momen (EGY)
Draw - Women’s Third Round (Bottom Half): To Be Played October 9
[4] Joelle King (NZL) v [12] Tesni Evans (WAL)
[16] Joshna Chinappa (IND) v [8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
[7] Laura Massaro (ENG) v [9] Nicol David (MAS)
[14] Olivia Blatchford (USA) v [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Draw - Women’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half): To Be Played October 10
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v Yathreb Adel (EGY)
[5] Camille Serme (FRA) v Amanda Sobhy (USA)
