Day Two : Ng Upsets Eleinen to Reach Quarters
Malaysia’s World No.18 Eain Yow Ng caused the first major upset of this year’s London Squash Classic after coming from behind to beat No.4 seed Aly Abou Eleinen at Alexandra Palace tonight.
Yow Ng suffered a disappointing quarter-final exit at the Budapest Open last week but has bounced back well in London, earning a hard-fought 7-11, 11-4, 11-9 victory over Eleinen in the longest match of day two. Yow Ng will play Egypt’s Youssef Soliman for a place in the last four.
“I think I bounced back really well, Aly was firing it in so quickly and it took me some time to get used to it,” Yow Ng said afterwards.
“I thought I played really well in the second game and towards the tail end of the third. There is obviously still stuff I’m trying to work on and get better with, but I’m getting there.
“Youssef is such a tough player and we’ve trained a lot so we know each other’s games really well. I think it will come down to who is the better player on the day.”
Defending men’s champion Paul Coll is also through to the last eight after he defeated Englishman Sam Todd 11-2, 11-4 and he will take on former World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy in a mouthwatering quarter-final contest.
USA’s World No.10 Amanda Sobhy saved two match balls against Egypt’s Salma Hany in a thriller to book her spot in the quarter-finals.
Hany had never beaten Sobhy in 13 previous attempts on the PSA Squash Tour, but came within a whisker of finally ending that unwanted run. The World No.13 overturned a 9-2 deficit in the opening game, before Sobhy recovered in the second to send the match to a decider under the best-of-three games scoring format.
It was a nail-biting third game which saw Sobhy hold her nerve and rattle off four sublime forehand volley drop winners in a row to vanquish her opponent. Next up for Sobhy is a mouthwatering encounter with World No.1 Hania El Hammamy.
“I had to establish my length into the back corners and try to be a bit more aggressive,” said Sobhy afterwards.
“When I was 9-2 up I became afraid to lose and I have to be mindful of that moving forward. I have to take my punches [against El Hammamy], I can’t be passive at all. She’s World No.1 for a reason, it’s ridiculous. I know we’re going to have a good battle and I want to see how I fare against the best in the world.”
Also through to the last eight is England No.1 Georgina Kennedy, who also had to overturn a one-game deficit, beating Egypt’s Sana Ibrahim 6-11, 11-8, 11-2. Kennedy will play Japan’s Satomi Watanabe in the quarters after she defeated Farida Mohamed.
Men’s Second Round (Top Half)
[1] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Sam Todd (ENG) 2-0: 11-2, 11-4 (32m)
[8] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 2-0: 12-10, 11-9 (29m)
[5] Youssef Soliman (EGY) bt Noor Zaman (PAK) 2-0: 11-6, 11-5 (30m)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt [4] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) 2-1: 7-11, 11-4, 11-9 (56m)
Men’s Second Round (Bottom Half):
[3] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) v Declan James (ENG)
Kareem El Torkey (EGY) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
[7] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) v Miguel Rodriguez (COL)
Y2] Victor Crouin (FRA) v Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI)
Women’s Second Round (Top Half):
[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Aira Azman (MAS) 2-0: 11-6, 11-6 (20m)
[7] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt Salma Hany (EGY) 2-1: 11-13, 12-10, 12-10 (40m)
[5] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 2-1: 6-11, 11-8, 11-2 (38m)
[4] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt Farida Mohamed (EGY) 2-1: 6-11, 11-8, 11-2 (26m)
Women’s Second Round (Bottom Half):
[3] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v Nardine Garas (EGY)
[8] Nele Gilis (BEL) v Anahat Singh (IND) v
[6] Tinne Gilis (BEL) v Sin Yuk Chan (HKG)
[2] Amina Orfi (EGY) v Jasmine Hutton (ENG)
Round two of the London Squash Classic concludes on Thu 3rd Sep,with the action getting under way from 13:00 (GMT+1) at Alexandra Palace. All matches will be streamed live on SQUASHTV.
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