Amanda Sobhy upset Nour El Sherbini, while Ali Farag destroyed the defending dream of Mostafa Asal

The Semi-finals of the "2023 TTI Milwaukee Hong Kong Squash Open" were moved to the new Glass Court located in the Cultural Plaza, Xiqu Centre of the West Kowloon Cultural District this evening. The Men’s top seed and World No.1, Ali Farag from Egypt suppressed his compatriot, No.3 seed and defending champion, Mostafa Asal by 3-0 and will compete with Paul Coll for his first title in Hong Kong. The Women’s first seed Nour El Sherbini was upset by the No.3 seed, Amanda Sobhy from USA in a surprising straight game. Amanda will face the second seed, Hania tomorrow. 

ElSherbini and Amanda had faced each other 17 times before, with the Egyptian winning 12 times. ElSherbini won 3-2 in their recent match up in April this year. However, it was slightly one-sided for tonight. Amanda took the opening game 11-8 to lead and continued her outstanding performance in the next two games by winning 11-4 and 11-3 respectively in 30 minutes. 

Amanda expressed her happiness: “I feel great! I think that’s some of the best squash I’ve played, especially movement-wise. She made some errors and that probably wasn’t her best squash, but I’m happy with how I played.” This is her second time reaching the final of the Hong Kong Squash Open since 2016. She praised the atmosphere of the Glass Court set up this year and looks forward to her performance tomorrow. 

And the No. 2 seed and defending champion, Egypt’s Hania El Hammamy took on the No. 4 seed Belgians’ Nele Gilis. Hania dominated the match and emerged victorious with a 3-0 win of 11-5, 11-5, 11-1, moving one step closer to defending her title. 

The first Men’s Semi-finals features an all-Egyptian match up, between No.1 seed Ali Farag and No. 3 seed Mostafa Asal. Ali, with a head-to-head record of 14 wins and 4 losses against Asal, secured another victory today. He comfortably took the first game 11-4. Asal put up a strong fight in the following games, however, Ali still sealed a confident victory (11-4, 11-9, 11-8) after 44 minutes. 

It will be the third time Ali reach the Hong Kong Squash Open’s final, he will battle for his first title with the No.5 seed, Paul Coll from New Zealand, who defeated the No.4 seed Mohamed ElShorbagy from England by 3-1 (11-4, 11-8, 7-11, 11-3) and firstly advancing to the final. 

The Men's and Women's finals will start at 6:00 pm tomorrow, at the Cultural Plaza, Xiqu Centre of the West Kowloon Cultural District. TVB Pearl Channel 84 will broadcast the Finals and Prize Ceremony.