Amanda Sobhy turned the tables to win, claiming her spot into the Semi-finals, which will be held at the Cultural Plaza of Xiqu Centre

Eight Quarter-finals matches of the "2023 TTI Milwaukee Hong Kong Squash Open” completed at the Hong Kong Squash Centre. The Women’s third seed, Amanda Sobhy from USA, engaged in an intense battle against the No.6 seed, Tinne Gilis from Belgium, Amanda made a comeback by saving two match points in the deciding game, then narrowly winning 3-2 to advance the Semis of the Hong Kong Open. She will face the top seed, Nour El Sherbini from Egypt at the Glass Court of the Cultural Plaza, Xiqu Centre tomorrow.

Amanda was leading twice over Tinne today, however, it went into the fifth game. In the deciding game, Amanda was initially led by 7-2, but Tinne fought back and tied the score to 8-8. Amanda eventually won four consecutive points to end the battle with 3-2 (11-9, 6-11, 11-3, 8-11, 12-10) after 52 minutes. Despite the tough victory, Amanda smiled and said, " “We haven’t played in a while, we’re good friends off the court and I knew it was going to be a battle. Maybe it wasn’t as consistent on my end but I’m proud of myself for finding a way through at 10-8 down in the fifth even though I was 7-2 up and it shouldn’t have let it get so close!”

Amanda will meet the top seed, World No.1 Nour ElSherbini in the Semi-finals. The Egyptian narrowly defeated the home player Chan Sin Yuk by 3-2 in Round 3 and she took on another Asian player, 9/16 seed Japanese Satomi Watanabe today. After winning the first two games 11-6 and 11-5, ElSherbini dropped one game as Watanabe fought back with 11-7. However, the top seed ended the match by winning 11-9 in the fourth game. She praised her opponent, “I didn’t want today’s match to be the same as it was in my last round, but Satomi is a very tough and aggressive opponent, and she has all the abilities to be in the top ten now.”

The other two Semi-finals’ spots were claimed by the Women’s No.2 seed, Hania El Hammamy from Egypt and No.4 seed, Nele Gilis from Belgium. The defending champion, Hania knocked out her compatriot, No.8 seed Rowan Elaraby by 3-1 (11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 11-3), while Nele won the 17/32 seed, Malaysian Sivasangari Subramaniam by another 3-1 (11-8, 11-6, 10-12, 11-9).

There are two all-Egyptian matches for the Men's event today. The top seed and No.1, Ali Farag eliminated the No.6 seed, Mazen Hesham in straight games (11-3, 12-10, 11-7), while the defending champion and No.3 seed Mostafa Asal was through to the Semis after his opponent, the No.8 seed Tarek Momen feeling ill part-way through their second game.

In addition, the No.5 seed, Paul Coll from New Zealand eliminated the last runner-up and second seed, Diego Elias from Peru in straight games (11-8, 11-7, 11-4), while the four-time champion and No.4 seed, English Mohamed ElShorbagy winning his young brother, No.7 seed Marwan ElShorbagy in 77-minute fifth games (11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-8).

The Men's and Women's draws Semi-finals will be staged at tomorrow evening, firstly taking part at the Cultural Plaza, Xiqu Centre of West Kowloon Cultural District. This marks the return of hosting the Semi-finals and Finals on outdoor Glass Court since 2013. Donated by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the brand-new ABS Glass Court’s floor features LED lighting to mark the service box and short line, and it can absorb sweat resulting in fewer stoppages due to court cleaning. Besides, the Glass floor provides shock absorption and elasticity at the highest level which helps to protect the players’ joints.

TVB Pearl Channel 84 will broadcast the Semi-finals and Finals live from 6:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday.