England's Perry Stuns Nicol David At Foot Of Great Pyramid of Giza by Nathan Clarke
photo squashpics.com
September 21, 2106
- 26-year-old Sarah-Jane Perry, the World No.14 from Birmingham,
England, pulled off the biggest win of her career and one of the
biggest shocks of the season as she downed eight-time World Champion
Nicol David in the quarter-finals of the Al Ahram Squash Open newGiza -
the $100k tournament taking place at the foot of Egypt's Great Pyramid
of Giza.
In front of one of the most iconic structures in the world Perry
produced a performance of epic proportions, coming from 2-1 down to win
a gritty five-game battle and record her first ever victory over the
woman who topped the World Rankings unopposed from 2006-2015 - just 48
hours after ending a nine-match losing streak to French World No.6
Camille Serme in the first round.
"I don't know what to say," said Perry afterwards. "She's such a fierce
competitor. I was up in last game and I had to play some ridiculous
squash to beat her.
"Nicol never stops - I've had lots of game balls against her before and
lost them all, so I knew I had to keep focusing until the end because
it's never over against her.
"Then at the end I got a bit emotional because it was a big win for me.
It's the result of a lot of hard work paying off and also my first win
against her. I didn't feel my best today but I made myself put
everything into it.
"If you told me pre event I'd make the semis I wouldn't have known what to say - it's all a bit of a blur to be honest."
Perry will now face Raneem El Welily for a place in the title decider
after the Egyptian ended the charge of American Amanda Sobhy in a rapid
fire four-game encounter that saw the pair exchange points at a
blistering pace from the off.
"I'm happy to come out as the winner today," said Raneem.
"In the second game things weren't going my way and I went a little
flat - which is what happened in the last two tournaments - so I'm
happy I came through in the end.
"Last time I played Sarah-Jane it was very close but she's much more solid now. But so am I. So we will see."
In the Men's draw Omar Mosaad ended the run of tournament lucky loser
Zahed Mohamed in a hard fought straight-games win while Karim Abdel
Gawad produced a scintillating performance to defeat Tarek Momen 3-0.
Gawad reached the final of the Hong Kong Open last month, narrowly
losing to Ramy Ashour in the finale, and sent a strong message out to
title-rival Mohamed ElShorbagy as he dictated the play and commanded
the court to leave Momen with no answer to the 25-year-old's skill and
accuracy.
