Day FOUR : Quarter-Finals at Ally Pally
Quarter-Finals at Ally Pally
It’s Quarter-Final Friday at the London Classic, with eight best-of-three matches at Alexandra Palace.
You can Watch Live on SquashTV, follow on Live Scoring and Socials, and we’ll have reports and reaction right here.
The Afternoon session saw wins for Satomi Watanabe, Joel Makin and Diego Elias with Nele Gilis advancing after the withdrawal of women’s top seed Olivia Weaver.
In the evening session defending champions Siva Subramaniam and Paul Coll both won in straight games, setting up semi-finals against Amina Orfi and Eain Yow Ng.
Eain Yow downs fourth seed Marwan
[8] Eain Yow Ng (Mas) 2-0 [4] Marwan ElShorbagy (Eng) 11-9, 11-9 (36m)
Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng caused the day’s only upset according to the seedings after he defeated England No.1 Marwan ElShorbagy, claiming his first ever win over the World No.5 at the fifth attempt.
The World No.12 was behind in both games but tightened up on both occasions, hitting a consistent dying length to put ElShorbagy – who got involved in disputes with the referee at the business end of both games – under pressure.
It marks the first time Ng has reached the semi-finals at the London Classic and his opponent will be reigning champion Paul Coll.
“I’ve played him twice this year and I didn’t manage to get a game,” said Ng.
“I was looking at getting one game and then seeing how it goes. I put in so much work over the summer and I just had to execute it. I was down in both games, but I believed in myself and knew I could push through.
“Paul and myself had a close one in the last round but we both had good matches today. We have nothing to lose and I’m just grateful to be playing today.
“Paul will be a tough competitor, he had a tough end to last season but came back strong.”
Coll Continues Title Defence
[2] Paul Coll (NZL) 2-0 [6] Youssef Soliman (EGY) 11-2, 11-4 (26m)
Reigning men’s champion Paul Coll continued his title defence with a comfortable victory over Egypt’s Youssef Soliman.
Coll, who beat World No.1 Mostafa Asal to win last year’s London Classic, controlled proceedings at Alexandra Palace, winning 11-2, 11-4.
Soliman is now coached by four-time World Champion Ali Farag, who beat Coll in 22 of their 31 PSA Squash Tour matches, but Farag’s influence wasn’t enough to help the Egyptian knock Coll off his stride today.
Coll advances to face either World No.5 Marwan ElShorbagy or Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng. He joins wife Nele Gilis in the last four, with Gilis progressing after her opponent, top seed Olivia Weaver, withdrew through injury.
“I knew he was going to come out with new stuff, he’s being coached by Ali, who is a smart squash player,” said Coll.
“He’s a lucky boy [to be working with Farag]. I said last night I was playing well and I felt great mentally, I did everything I wanted to do today, so I’m very happy.
“It’s a dream start for us [Coll and Gilis] and we’re looking forward to it [the weekend]. There are a few familiar faces on the front row [such as four-time World Champion Dame Susan Devoy] and it’s great to see them.”
Defending Champion Sivasangari Advances
[5] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 2-0 Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 11-9, 11-5 (20m)
Defending champion Sivasangari Subramaniam continued her title charge after battling past England No.2 Jasmine Hutton to end home interest in the women’s draw.
Sivasangari has fond memories of the London Classic after beating three of the world’s top four en route to winning it in April last year and she will take on Amina Orfi in the semi-finals.
Sivasangari held the ball well and utilised a number of trickle boasts to unsettle her opponent, who she was playing for the first time on the PSA Squash Tour.
Hutton, who beat No.4 seed Tinne Gilis in the previous round, conceded a narrow opening game and struggled to find chinks in the Malaysian’s armour in the second game as composed squash from Sivasangari saw her complete an 11-9, 11-5 victory.
“Jasmine has improved a lot and she’s a very dangerous player,” said Sivasangari afterwards.
“I stuck to my game plan well and stayed as focused as I could until the end.
“Yesterday I was a bit unsettled, especially in the second. I was prepared today and understood how the court works a bit more.
“Amina is still young but she’s up there, she’s amongst the best players now. It’s going to be a tough battle.”
Orfi Storms Past Adderley
[2] Amina Orfi (EGY) 2-0 Georgia Adderley (SCO) 11-4, 11-5 (23m)
Egyptian No.2 seed Amina Orfi powered into the last four of the London Classic after a comfortable 2-0 triumph over Scotland’s Georgia Adderley.
Adderley upset women’s England No.1 Georgina Kennedy in the previous round but was up against it against the 18-year-old, whose hard-hitting style overpowered Adderley.
Orfi won 11-4, 11-5 in 23 minutes to set up a last four meeting with either England’s Jasmine Hutton or defending champion Sivasangari Subramaniam.
“In the last three meetings, they were all the same scoreline, but they were very different matches,” said Orfi afterwards.
“I knew she would try and take out another seeded player after a massive win. In the best of three format I knew she would be fired up from the beginning, but I’ve played her on this court before at the British Open, so had a good plan.”
Elias Battles Past Ibrahim
[1] Diego Elias (PER) 2-0 [7] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 13-11, 11-5 (34m)
Men’s top seed Diego Elias continued his attempts to win a maiden London Classic with a 13-11, 11-5 win over Egypt’s Youssef Ibrahim.
It was a fast-paced start from both players as they sought to put the ball in short, with Ibrahim frequently troubling the World No.2 with his incredible shot-making abilities.
Known as ‘The Gunslinger’, Ibrahim put in a performance worthy of that name in the opening game as he kept a point ahead of Elias for much of it. But he squandered two game balls as his accuracy faltered and Elias kept his composure to go ahead.
The second game was all Elias as the languid Peruvian dictated the tempo of the match, and his reward will be a last four meeting with Welshman Joel Makin. Makin got the better of Elias in a controversial semi-final encounter at the PSA Squash Tour Finals in June.
“It was really intense, it was 5-5 in the first game and I was so tired,” said Elias afterwards.
“Youssef has a swing where the ball can go anywhere and he attacks a lot. I was never relaxed on court, but I’m just happy I could win that first game because it was really important.
“I’ve been working with my dad my whole career, since I was 13 years old and playing the juniors. He’s been travelling with me for my whole professional career. Having him here with me every week is amazing.
“Joel is playing great, he’s a fighter and it’s going to be a big match tomorrow.”
Result
Makin Edges Past ElShorbagy in Thriller
[3] Joel Makin (Wal) 2-1 [5] Mohamed ElShorbagy (Eng) 11-7, 5-11, 11-8 (49m)
Welsh World No.4 Joel Makin overcame former World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy in a thriller at Alexandra Palace as he came back from 6-2 down to earn his place in the semi-finals.
In arguably the match of the tournament so far, spectators were treated to a high-quality clash with Makin elongating the rallies to try and sap the energy from the legs of his 34-year-old opponent.
That initially proved successful, but ElShorbagy fought back in the second game. The Englishman was cheered on by his home crowd and played some incredible winners to nullify Makin, particularly when the Welshman offered up a weak serve.
ElShorbagy had the bit between his teeth and powered into a 6-2 lead in the third game, putting one foot in the last four. However, Makin scrapped away and always forced ElShorbagy to play one more shot every rally. He took nine of the next 11 points to close out the win after 49 captivating minutes.
“Mohamed was being very disruptive,” said Makin afterwards.
“He was having patches where he wasn’t missing, he was hitting aggressively down the forehand and switching with height. He was gluing the ball to the wall.
“It was tough to play against. We all know what he’s done in the game, and you don’t have the protection of it being over five games when you can elongate. I had to get aggressive with my ’T’ position, hit through the ball, stop giving him balls in the air and just try and switch the play slightly.
“He’s got every trick in the book, and he’s full of disruptive tactics that he does mentally, he’s done it to people for years. I will have a bit of a joke because we played for years, and we’ve done that to each other for a long time. I was just saying how I enjoyed it, even though it was that close.
“There wasn’t an inch given there, but then it’s good to laugh about it afterwards when it’s been that close and I’ve managed to nick it. I don’t know if I’d have been smiling if I’d have lost it, though!”
Watanabe recovers to beat Murphy
[3] Satomi Watanabe (Jpn) 2-1 Tesni Murphy (Wal) 6-11, 11-8, 11-5 (38m)
Japan’s World No.6 Satomi Watanabe has reached the semi-finals of the London Classic for the first time after overcoming Wales’ Tesni Murphy in an entertaining clash, winning 6-11, 11-8, 11-5.
Watanabe had beaten Murphy in the pair’s only previous match on the PSA Squash Tour but was up against it as Murphy made a fast start, with her touch in the front of the court putting a number of points on the board.
Watanabe wasn’t able to put Murphy under pressure in the back corners, but that changed in the second game as she managed to push her opponent away from the front before capitalising with some attacking shots in short.
The 26-year-old put Murphy under significant pressure and forced her into some tricky movements, eventually pulling away in the third to set up a last four meeting with Belgium’s Nele Gilis. Gilis received a walkover into the semi-finals after top seed Olivia Weaver withdrew through injury.
“I’m not sure how I got the win today,” said Watanabe afterwards.
“Tesni was just so in control that I couldn’t really do much of my game. I just told myself to calm down a little bit. I couldn’t find my length at the beginning and she was holding the shot really well in the middle. I needed to hit deep in the court so I could get in front a little bit more and have some control.
“It’s definitely an open draw, but at the same time Nele or anyone in women’s draw these days is really tough anyway. I know it’s going to be a tough one tomorrow against Nele and I haven’t played her in a while.
“Hopefully this season I can get into the top five. I know it’s only one ranking away, but that one ranking is really hard to pass through and the top five are so solid.”
