US number one Amanda Sobhy and veteran Australian Rachael Grinham will contest the final of the HKFC WSA 25 in Hong Kong after surviving today’s semi-finals of the WSA Silver 25 squash event at the Hong Kong Football Club inHappy Valley in straight games.<\/p>\n
Grinham, the 37-year-old former world number one and world champion, brought to an end the giant-killing run of Salma Hany Ibrahim, the unseeded 17-year-old Egyptian who stunned England’s top seed Jenny Duncalf in the first round.<\/p>\n
Third seed Grinham beat the Cairo teenager (both pictured right) 11-8, 11-4, 12-10 in 31 minutes to progress to her third WSA World Tour final since April – and the 66th of her career!<\/p>\n
“It was a tough game,” said the Queenslander. “Salma has played really well this week, taking out two seeds. However, I felt I played well. I moved well and picked up shots which I knew I had to do to force the pace and keep the pressure on her.”<\/p>\n
Ibrahim, whose five-game victory over Duncalf marked the biggest scalp of her career, said: “I have had a great week here in Hong Kong and at the HKFC, and look forward to playing here again; the tournament has been great.<\/p>\n
“I had two really tough matches, beating Jenny and taking revenge on Donna after losing to her last week at the British. I surprised myself to be in the semis, in my first International 25.<\/p>\n
“Rachael is very tough to play; today I felt flat after the physical and mental challenges earlier this week. She put me under very tough conditions in the match.<\/p>\n
“I would like to thank Haisham Effat, M. Mossaid, my physical coach Hossam Shadad, and the other national coaches Omar Elborolossy and Ahmed Matgany – and also huge thanks to Anna and Ferry for their continued support, and Mazen for the support in this tournament. Also I thank my Mum: I owe her so much,” concluded the youngster.<\/p>\n
Second seed Sobhy reached the 13th Tour final of her career after beating Nicolette Fernandes, the No4 seed from Guyana, 11-4, 12-10, 11-6 in 27 minutes.<\/p>\n
“I am happy with how I played,” said the 20-year-old Harvard University student from New York. “Nicolette is a tough player and we have had some great battles in the past. She did really well in the British last week.
“I felt I contained her game by staying calm and sticking to my game plan, which I knew I had to do as she has so much energy and is so fit. I am looking forward to another fun match tomorrow.”<\/p>\n
Grinham and Sobhy will be meeting for the fourth time on the WSA Tour – with the US star having the edge 2\/1 in their head-to-head record after winning their most recent clash, in the semi-finals of the Granite Club Open in Canada in March.<\/p>\n
Grinham will be bidding for her 34th Tour title, while Sobhy will be aiming for her 11th – having only once lost in a WSA Tour final!<\/p>\n
RESULTS: Women’s HKFC WSA 25, Happy Valley, Hong Kong<\/strong> US number one Amanda Sobhy and veteran Australian Rachael Grinham will contest the final of the HKFC WSA 25 in Hong Kong after surviving today’s semi-finals of the WSA Silver 25 squash event at the Hong Kong Football Club inHappy Valley in straight games.<\/p>\n Grinham, the 37-year-old former world number one and world champion, brought to an end the giant-killing run of Salma Hany Ibrahim, the unseeded 17-year-old Egyptian who stunned England’s top seed Jenny Duncalf in the first round.<\/p>\n Third seed Grinham beat the Cairo teenager (both pictured right) 11-8, 11-4, 12-10 in 31 minutes to progress to her third WSA World Tour final since April – and the 66th of her career!<\/p>\n “It was a tough game,” said the Queenslander. “Salma has played really well this week, taking out two seeds. However, I felt I played well. I moved well and picked up shots which I knew I had to do to force the pace and keep the pressure on her.”<\/p>\n Ibrahim, whose five-game victory over Duncalf marked the biggest scalp of her career, said: “I have had a great week here in Hong Kong and at the HKFC, and look forward to playing here again; the tournament has been great.<\/p>\n “I had two really tough matches, beating Jenny and taking revenge on Donna after losing to her last week at the British. I surprised myself to be in the semis, in my first International 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-others"],"yoast_head":"\n
Semi-finals:
<\/strong>
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY) 11-8, 11-4, 12-10 (31m)
[2] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt [4] Nicolette Fernandes (GUY) 11-4, 12-10, 11-6 (27m)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"