HOUSTON, Texas — World No.1 Nouran Gohar of Egypt has claimed the inaugural South Western Women’s Squash Open title in Houston after a straight games victory over compatriot Nour el-Tayeb.
The No.1 seed took a tight opening game before moving from strength to strength to win the PSA World Tour Gold event.
Both players made it through to the final after coming through tough semi-final encounters with Rowan El-Araby and Amanda Sobhy respectively. The finallists both had to go all the way to five games to defeat their spirited opponents.
The pair had met 14 times previously on the PSA World Tour, with Gohar holding a positive 9-5 advantage in the head-to-head record.
The World No.1 came out firing in the opening game, hitting the ball at a blistering pace to restrict El-Tayeb’s trademark attacking flair.
Gohar earned herself two game balls at 10-8 and despite a spirited comeback from El-Tayeb, took the lead 12-10.
World No.8, El-Tayeb admitted that she still feels like she is making her way back after returning to the tour just 10 months ago.
She looked to be feeling the effects of the semi-final against Amanda Sobhy as the physicality of the older Egyptian faded in the second game.
El-Tayeb started to make unnecessary errors which only spurred her opponent on further.
After securing the second game 11-5 to place one hand on the trophy, Gohar was relentless in her pursuit of the title.
Her hitting power increased as well as her accuracy, making life extremely difficult for El-Tayeb in all areas of the court.
Gohar set herself up with four match balls at 10-6 and converted at the second time of asking to seal the game 11-7 and win her first title of the season and eighth title in 12 months.
Gohar had this to say after claiming the first title of her season:
“Nour has been an inspiration; I don’t think anyone could do what she did. She’s a very tough opponent, I’m very happy that she’s back on tour. It’s always enjoyable against Nour,
“I always feel like I’m the underdog so it takes the nerves away but it has been a great week of squash and I’ve felt at home this week here in Houston. I’m so grateful for the support so thank you so much.
“I’m just enjoying it right now, everything in life moves too quickly so I’m just trying to enjoy the good moments,” she said according to psaworldtour.com.
“Thank you to Jahanzeb [tournament promoter] for putting the tournament on, not everyone can sort a Gold event in such a short space of time. I want to thank all my team, my coach, friends and family and all my fitness coaches.”
Action from the PSA World Tour quickly moves on to the Bronze-level Open de France de Squash 2022, which begins on September 12th, which is followed by the Platinum-level CIB Egyptian Open at the Pyramids of Giza, which begins on September 19th.
El-Tayeb progressed through to the semi-finals after England’s Georgina Kennedy was forced to withdraw in the second game of their encounter with a hamstring injury. El-Tayeb looked sharp and focused from the outset of the semi and started to fire the ball into the front corners with ease to trouble her American opponent.
Spurred on by the home crowd, Sobhy responded by matching El-Tayeb’s pace and started to implement her own short game to test the movement of the No.7 seed. Sobhy took the second game 11-9 to level the match.
The quality between the two players continued throughout the entire match and as the points became more crucial, the quality only increased. El-Tayeb clinched a nail-biting third game 12-10 to place one foot in the final.
Despite Sobhy levelling at 2-2, it was clear that the efforts from the fourth game had taken their toll on the No.2 seed and El-Tayeb was able to find the space on the court better in the final game to take it 11-6 and secure her place in successive finals after 63 minutes.
“I’m very grateful to be in successive finals, I guess I worked hard over the last period to come back and compete at this level against one of the best in the world in Amanda,” said El-Tayeb after her semi-final match..
“Most of the time I still feel like I’m on the comeback, I feel like the other players treat me like a mother so it gives me an edge and confidence. I’ve gone through a hard period, being pregnant and having a baby, feel I have lies to lose now but it’s just great to be back at this level.
“I still feel like I’m coming up the rankings again, I’m very happy with how it’s been going since I came back in December and it feels great to be back in another final.”
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