Semi-Final Roundup: More shocks as finalists confirmed

Malaysian World No.16 Sivasangari Subramaniam continued her thrilling run at the GillenMarkets London Squash Classic after coming from behind to upset Belgian World No.4 Nele Gilis and reach the final at the Alexandra Palace.

The No.7 seed, who yesterday stunned the squash world with a win over World No.1 Nour El Sherbini, lost the first game to the No.4 seed but responded brilliantly, with her ultra-attacking gameplan giving her two match balls when leading 10-8 with the score in games at 2-1.

In an exciting fightback, Gilis saved both before going on to win the game 12-10 to force a fifth game.

This time, the Malaysian made no mistake, with the 25-year-old, who returned to the Tour last year after recovering from a life-threatening car crash in 2022, clinching a pulsating final game 11-9 to bring the 94-minute epic to a close.

Subramaniam will take on Hania El Hammamyin the final after the World No.2beat long-term rival Nouran Gohar in a fiery all-Egyptian clash.

Afterwards, Subramaniam said: “It’s been tough in the year-and-a-half since the accident, but I’ve had my family’s and coaches’ support, and my sponsors too, they kept believing in me, which made me believe in myself. There were times I doubted myself but I tried to push hard and take it a day at a time and the hard work is paying off.”

El Hammamy said: “The crowd is definitely hyping me up, they’re amazing. I’ve been watching them since Nele and Siva’s match and they were amazing. I was hoping to have that quality cheering during my match and they didn’t disappoint.”

The men’s final will be contested by top seeds Paul Coll of New Zealand and Mostafa Asal of Egypt.

Despite admitting to not playing at his best, former World No.1 Coll was able to recover from twice falling behind to World No.11 Joel Makin, with the World No.2 fighting back to record a 5-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 win.

“I was about to punch myself, but I had to calm myself down and knew what we had to do and I’m proud of that,” Coll said afterwards.

Former World No.1 Asal, meanwhile, ended home hopes with a 3-0 win over English wildcard and the tournament’s surprise package Declan James.

“Paul is an in form player and let’s hope for a great final tomorrow between me and him and we bring our great battles back!” Asal said of his opponent tomorrow.

The finals take place at London’s Alexandra Palace tomorrow (01 April) from 15:00 (GMT+1), with all the action to be shown live on SQUASHTV and on partner channels.

Results – Women’s Semi-Finals: GillenMarkets London Squash Classic 

[7] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt [4] Nele Gilis (BEL) 3-2: 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9 (94m)

[2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 3-1: 11-4, 12-10, 7-11, 11-6 (62m)

Results – Men’s Semi-Finals: GillenMarkets London Squash Classic 

[1] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [4] Joel Makin (WAL) 3-2: 5-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7 (86m)

[2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt [WC] Declan James (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 12-10 (55m)

Draw – Women’s Final: To be played 01 April
[7] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v [2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY)

Draw – Men’s Final: To be played 01 April
[1] Paul Coll (NZL) v [2] Mostafa Asal (EGY)