Presented by the Squash Association of Hong Kong, China and sole title sponsored by Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Hong Kong Open 2024 continued at Squash Centre in Admiralty on Tuesday with both the men’s and women’s top seeds winning through the second round.
Women’s top seed Nour El Sherbini of Egypt made no mistake with a straight game win over Satomi Watanabe of Japan, one of the leading players from the region with a current world ranking of 11th while her compatriot Ali Farag also beat Baptiste Masotti of France in three games in the men’s. However, Karim Gawad of Egypt, the men’s fifth seed, fell short against compatriot Youssef Ibrahim following a 3-1 (11-7, 5-11, 8-11, 8-11) defeat.
El Sherbini held an overwhelming record over her Japanese rival, winning all their four previous encounters, including the quarterfinal at last year’s Hong Kong Open. And the Egyptian continued her dominance this time, sending Watanabe home in 34 minutes after a 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 victory.
Despite the scoring, the world No.1 Egyptian said it was not easy against her Japanese rival. “We have met many times before and she is moving up quickly in the rankings … she has a lot of potential,” she said. “To be honest, I was almost out against her here in the quarterfinals last year. We didn’t play since that match and definitely I am happy with my performance today and happy to win.”
El Sherbini, who has had seven world titles under her belt, lifted her only Hong Kong Open title in 2017. She lost in the semifinals last year following a 3-0 defeat by American Amanda Sobhy but has since returned to top form with two Platinum and one Diamond titles so far this year. And obviously she is eager to make amends in Hong Kong this time.
“I hope this is the time,” she said. “It’s always nice to be back (in Hong Kong) and I think I’m feeling good and playing good this year with a better form than the last few years. So, it’s just one last push before the end of the year and I just keep my finger crossed (winning in Hong Kong).”
She will now meet compatriot Rowan Elaraby, the eighth seed, in the quarterfinals. The latter eliminated Lisa Aitken of Scotland in another second round tie with a 3-0 win (11-1, 11-6, 11-7). Also going through to the last eight are Olivia Weaver of the United States, the fourth seed and fifth seed Nele Coll of Belgium.
Weaver beat Sarah-Jane Perry of England in straight games 11-2, 11-7, 11-7 while Coll needed five games to see off Sivasangari Subramaniam of Malaysia, the joint 9th/16th seed, as she came back from two games down to win 6-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7. Coll also escaped with a five-game win in the first round when she came back to beat Aira Azman of Malaysia.
“I feel like I actually played some good squash in the first and second games. I just wasn’t consistent enough,” Coll said after her gruelling 71-minute victory. “I think yesterday’s match gave me the belief that I could still win. And I just counted on my physicality and focused on my game plan, executed it a little bit better. I’m very proud of myself and my mentality today and yesterday.”
In the men’s draw, top seed Ali Farag registered a 3-1 win (11-5, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9) over Frenchman Baptiste Masotti to reach the last eight. However, Dimitri Steinmann of Switzerland, who pulled off a surprising win over four-time Hong Kong Open champion Mohamed El Shorbagy of England in the first round, could not repeat his winning feat after he was beaten by Diego Elias of Peru, the fourth seed, in three games 11-5, 11-8, 11-5.
Sixth seed Mazen Hesham of Egypt also went through, defeating compatriot Mohamad Zakaria 3-1 (11-4, 10-12, 11-5, 11-6).
The tournament continues at the Hong Kong Squash Centre on Wednesday with the remaining second round matches. The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will move to Edinburgh Place in Central for the first time from 5 to 8 December.
