Semi-Finals : Elias comes back to join three Egyptians in Finals
The 2024 VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open continued today with the semi-finals.
In the final match of the day Peru’s World Champion Diego Elias produced a stunning comeback to reach his third Singapore Open finals day in a row, where he joins Egyptian trio Ali Farag, Hania El Hammamy and Amina Orfi.
Check out how they all got there in the reports below the results …
Women’s Semis :
[1] Hania El Hammamy (Egy) 3-0 [3] Tinne Gilis (Bel) 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 (34m)
[5] Amina Orfi (Egy) 3-1 [4] Siva Subramaniam (Mas) 11-5, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8 (64m)
Men’s Semis :
[1] Ali Farag (Egy) 3-1 [5] Eain Yow Ng (Mas) 13-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6 (52m)
[3] Diego Elias (Per) 3-2 [2] Paul Coll (Nzl) 5-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 (72m)
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Elias comeback secures third final in a row
[3] Diego Elias (Per) 3-2 [2] Paul Coll (Nzl) 5-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 (72m)
World Champion Diego Elias staged a remarkable comeback from two games and 1-5 down in the third to beat Paul Coll and reach his third Singapore Open final in a row.
The Peruvian looked on the verge of a defeat in straight games but came alive in the third game to kickstart a victory which will see him take on World #1 Ali Farag in a repeat of last year’s final.
Elias and Coll were meeting for the 16th time on the PSA Squash Tour, with Coll leading their head-to-head record by a narrow 8-7 margin.
It was the Kiwi who dictated the tempo of the early exchanges as Elias looked disinterested and well below the level that saw him win the QTerminals Qatar Classic last month.
That all changed in the third game though. Elias slowed the pace right down and that seemed to knock Coll out of his rhythm, with that 2-0 lead first being halved and then being eradicated completely as he chipped away at the second2 seed.
Try as he might, Coll wasn’t able to get back in front and his frustration was evident towards the back end of the fifth game when he was given a conduct warning for striking the side wall in anger.
Elias kept his composure to see out the win and he will now compete in his 38th PSA final. Elias will also look to avenge his defeats to Farag in last month’s U.S. Open final and the 2023 Singapore Open title decider. A win for the 28-year-old will see him win his 20th PSA title.
“I was thinking about what my dad was going to say on the phone afterwards,” said Elias.
“He would say that I didn’t try and that I didn’t push myself. Even if I lost I wanted to come back and give it 100 per cent. Paul played amazing in the first two games, we haven’t played since the start of the year, and he played with a lot of pace.
“I wasn’t used to it and it took me a while to adapt. I had a game plan, but to be honest in the first two games I was a bit loose and he was volleying everything. He was hitting a lot of cross courts with a lot of pace and then taking me short. I couldn’t find myself but then after the second game I started playing tighter to the wall.
“We’ve played a few times this year. We have pretty good matches, I’m looking forward to this one, and it’s going to be very tough as usual.”
Orfi repeats Malaysian win over Siva
[5] Amina Orfi (Egy) 3-1 [4] Siva Subramaniam (Mas) 11-5, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8 (64m)
World Junior Champion Amina Orfi repeated her Malaysia Cup final win over Siva Subramaniam – this time in four games – to reach her biggest final to date.
Orfi had beaten Sivasangari in the final of the ACE Malaysia Squash Cup last week, with that match going all the way to five games. This time around Orfi required four games as she recorded an 11-5, 11-6, 10-12, 11-8 victory, moving into the biggest final of her career so far.
It’s the latest chapter in Orfi’s burgeoning career, with her win over Sivasangari being added to a triumph over second2 seed Nele Coll in the previous round and victory over Scotland’s Georgia Adderley in round two.
Orfi hit the ground running and found the back corners to perfection to nullify Sivasangari’s attacking potential. The Malaysian troubled her at the outset of the second game, but Orfi powered through to double her lead and swiftly took a 5-1 lead in the third.
Sivasangari showcased her tenacity and played some well-crafted rallies to fight back and halve the deficit. Orfi found her length again in the fourth as she pushed ahead from 8-8 to complete the win.
The World #10 will now appear in her ninth PSA final and will aim to lift the sixth PSA trophy of her career. Her opponent will be top seed and World No.3 Hania El Hammamy. Orfi will look to beat El Hammamy for the first time after two previous defeats.
“I knew it was going to be a tough match because Siva was here to take revenge,” said Orfi afterwards.
“We played literally five days ago, so I had to be ready. I knew we would both be tired as she played two events before this and I played the last one.
“My dad told me to close my eyes and focus on how I was going to play my game. I was leading in the third but she came back like she did yesterday in the quarters. He told me to trust my game and I think that paid off pretty well.
“I want to showcase my squash as one of the best in the world.”
Farag reaches second Singapore final
[1] Ali Farag (Egy) 3-1 [5] Eain Yow Ng (Mas) 13-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-6 (52m)
Top seed and defending champion Ali Farag overcame Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng in four games to reach a second successive Singapore final.
Ng came through a mammoth 107-minute battle against France’s Victor Crouin yesterday, contrasting with the 26-minute quarter-final match that Farag had with Hungary’s Balasz Farkas.
Despite a spirited display from the World #14, Farag fought through a wrist injury to complete a 52-minute victory to reach his 75th PSA final.
Farag’s game plan was evident right from the off as he looked to test the movement of his opponent with long, attritional rallies and the Egyptian was always trying to twist and turn Ng whenever he could.
Ng battled hard to force a tie-break in the opening game, at which point Farag went through the gears to close it out. The opening exchanges of the second game were closely-contested, until Farag once again found another level to push ahead, doubling his advantage.
Ng looked like he was struggling physically at the back end of the second but found a second wind at the outset of the third, initially taking a 7-5 lead. Farag then required treatment after complaining of a wrist injury, but his return to the court initially saw him take four unanswered points to put him on the verge of a place in the title decider.
The momentum then shifted in Ng’s favour though, and it was the fifth seed’s turn to take four points in a row as he clawed a game back.
Farag refocused in the fourth and made the most of a strong start to finish the match off in four games.
“I feel like I got sucked into his pace today,” said Farag afterwards.
“He plays at a metronomic pace and he is so good at it. He moves the ball around well and he is very light on his feet. I tried to match him, it would have been better to play a different game plan, but kudos to him.
“You try to play the shot that limits your opponent’s options so you can read the next one, but I don’t think that I did that very well today.
“He dominated the pace for most of the first three games. In the fourth he got a little tired from his match yesterday and from his tournament last week, where he had a great win. I felt like I wasn’t firing enough and I should have.
“It’s not because I didn’t want to, he contained me, so I give him a lot of credit and hopefully next time I come up with a better plan.”
Hania storms into the final
[1] Hania El Hammamy (Egy) 3-0 [3] Tinne Gilis (Bel) 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 (34m)
A tremendous performance from top seed Hania El Hammamy as the Egyptian made it 13 wins out of 13 against Belgium’s Tinne Gilis to reach her first Singapore final.
El Hammamy came into the match boasting a 12-0 record against Gilis and was in the zone as she outmatched the World #5, winning 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 after 34 minutes to reach her 28th PSA final.
Hania started off a bit scrappily with some unforced tins at the beginning of the match but soon found her groove and started finding her corners against an increasingly frustrated Gilis.
After dropping seven points in the opening game, El Hammamy then got that down to five points in the second, despite Gilis’s best efforts. The third seed threw in some attacking shots that would have been winners against most other players, but the explosive movement of El Hammamy saw the Egyptian equal to the task time and time again.
El Hammamy’s brilliance was exemplified by the shot she hit to go to match ball up – Gilis had come back to within two points at 9-7, but El Hammamy immediately quelled any chance of a fightback as she slammed the ball into the nick off her opponent’s serve.
El Hammamy will now look to win a 14th PSA title – and her first of 2024 in tomorrow’s final.
“I finally found my length on this court,” said El Hammamy.
“It’s been a tricky couple of days. I’ve been soloing, I’ve been hitting a lot on the glass court and trying to find my targets. I couldn’t be any happier with how I played today.
“We’ve played a lot already this season and in our careers so far. We played in the last event, so we both knew how to approach the match today. I didn’t change much in my game plan from the last event because I was happy with how I played, so it was all about the targets on the court.
“I don’t play that crosscourt nick very often, so it’s a bonus and it gives you confidence in your short game. I had to give her one back after a lucky shot she played in the first game.”
Preview
First up it’s women’s top seed Hania El Hammamy against last year’s finalist Tinne Gilis. Hammamy has won all 12 of their previous encounters, but with Gilis up to a career-best World #5 could now be the time to break that run ?
Next it’s men’s top seed and defending champion Ali Farag up against Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng. Fresh from winning the ACE Malaysia Cup last week, perhaps not fresh after a gruelling 107-minute semi-final win, Ng will be looking for his first win over the World #1 in five attempts.
A second Malaysia v Egypt clash follows as Siva Subramaniam and Amina Orfi replay last week’s final in Malaysia. World Junior Champion Orfi took that one in five, but this time last year Subramaniam dismantled the Egyptian in th HKFC Open final.
Last up is second and third seeds Paul Coll and Diego Elias. This will be their 16th PSA encounter with Kiwi Coll edging the H2H 8-7. Reigning World Champion Elias will be keen to level the scores as he aims to reach a third Singapore final in a row.
