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Squash - 23. November 2018.

HONG KONG OPEN - QUARTER-FINALS: AS IT HAPPENS

It's quarter-finals day at the 2018 Everbright Sun Hung Kai Hong Kong Squash Open

You can watch LIVE coverage on SQUASHTV and Eurosport Player or follow our live scoring page.

The action begins on the centre court with World No.1 Nour El Sherbini taking on England's World No.6 Sarah-Jane Perry for a place in the semi-finals.


They are followed on court by New Zealand's Joelle King and Egypt's World No.3 Nour El Tayeb.

Meanwhile, the first men's match will see Egypt's reigning World Champion Mohamed ElShorbagy take on New Zealand's Paul Coll in a repeat of their tough U.S. Open semi-final meeting.

We'll also have reports and reaction from all of today's matches right here.

Schedule – Glass Court
12:00 [1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
13:00 [5] Joelle King (NZL) v [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
14:00 [1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v [6] Paul Coll (NZL)
15:00 [7] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v [3] Tarek Momen (EGY)
17:00 [4] Camille Serme (FRA) v [7] Nouran Gohar (EGY)
18:00 Joey Chan (HKG) v [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY)
19:00 [4] Simon Rösner (GER) v [5] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
20:00 [8] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [2] Ali Farag (EGY)

Perry Takes Out Defending Champion El Sherbini

England’s World No.6 Sarah-Jane Perry launched a staggering comeback to deny Egypt’s Nour El Sherbini a second successive title at the Hong Kong Open – a win which also forces the 23-year-old to surrender her place at the top of the World Rankings to compatriot Raneem El Welily.

Going into this tournament, El Sherbini had to make sure she bettered El Welily’s result to remain at the top of the World Rankings, however, Perry had other ideas and produced some incredible squash in a thrilling quarter-final battle.

El Sherbini took the lead as both players struggled to settle into their natural rhythm on the new court after the action moved to the Hong Kong Park Sports Centre for the quarter-finals and beyond.

The Englishwoman battled back in the second, however, to set up a gripping third game which was taken by the Egyptian, on a tie-break, as she once again edged her nose in front.

At the start of the fourth, Perry tripped over El Sherbini’s foot and crashed into the side wall, injuring her shoulder and hitting her head on the glass. It looked like this had affected the Englishwoman as she struggled to hit the ball and maintain any rallies as El Sherbini comfortably went ahead.

As the match wore on, Perry amazingly managed to fight through the pain barrier to get back into the match and take an 8-7 lead before converting her game ball. The World No.6 then powered through the fifth to take a remarkable 7-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-8, 11-5 victory.

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” said the 28-year-old.

“It was one of those where I just tried to get into the zone and just play how I could and get on with my shots.

“At the start it took me a bit by surprise how dead the court was and I hit a few errors but I knew I was hitting the ball well so I just got my legs going a bit and I felt alright after yesterday surprisingly so I just kept plugging away.

“Nour is an amazing player, she’s the World No.1 going into the match and she’s earned that. I’ve beaten her before but not in a best of five and so to beat her, 3-2, I’m really pleased.”

Result:
[8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt [1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) 3-2: 7-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-8, 11-5 (58m)

King Downs El Tayeb in Three

New Zealand’s World No.7 Joelle King played some of her best squash to take out Egyptian World No.3 Nour El Tayeb in straight-games and reach her first semi-final in Hong Kong.

The last three times the two have met on the PSA Tour have resulted in El Tayeb wins, with one of those coming in the final of the Windy City Open last season where King lost out in a nail biting five-game encounter.

However, this time the Kiwi didn’t put a foot wrong as she executed her game plan well to nullify El Tayeb’s dangerous attacking threat and move into the next round where she will battle with England’s Perry for a place in the final.

“I don’t think I did anything wrong there,” said the 30-year-old.

“Nour and I were No.3 and No.4 in the world for a long time and we have had some epic battles, especially the final of the Windy City Open last season. Unfortunately, I have been on the receiving end of some losses against her, so it was nice to get the win and most of all come out and play some good squash.

“At the start of the season it was quite disappointing for me. I felt like I did a lot of good things over the summer, but they haven’t come to fruition, so to see that come through on court today is really pleasing.

“I think this tournament I have been quite relaxed. I have had some tricky matches, playing Hania [El Hammamy] yesterday was brutal and then obviously playing Nour today. I just came in with a really relaxed attitude. I have been at home in New Zealand and I think the lifestyle there has kind of rubbed off on me and I came into this tournament really fresh. I’m really enjoying playing and hopefully I can continue on that beautiful court.

“Tomorrow I’m going to come back stronger. SJ has been playing really well, she has had two tough matches and she has somehow found a way to come back and win. There’s no way you can take her lightly, so I have to do everything I can to recover and come back and play well again tomorrow.

“Mentally she is such a tough player. We have had some big battles over the years and I guess the biggest one to date was in the Commonwealth Games final, so we will both be coming out to try and make the final.”

Result:
[5] Joelle King (NZL) bt [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 (28m)

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