Defending champion Hania El Hammamy of Egypt moved a step closer to her third Hong Kong Open title in a row after a tough quarterfinal win over Tinne Gillis of Belgium as the Milwaukee Hong Kong Open 2024 continued at the glass court in Edinburgh Place on Friday.
Despite beating the same rival five times this year, all in straight games, El Hammamy, the third seed, needed more than an hour to secure a 3-1 win (11-6, 14-16, 11-4, 11-7) in front of a strong crowd at the outdoor venue.
The 24-year-old Egyptian, who has yet to win a title this year after her 2023 Hong Kong victory, got off to a flying start with a comfortable win in the opening game, but it was a different scenario in the second as Gillis put her opponent under pressure from the beginning.
El Hammamy had to dig deep to save three game points to extend the tie to deuce but was still not good enough to save the game as she lost the lengthy tie 16-14. But that result seemed to be a wake-up call for the defending champion before El Hammamy took the next two games to seal victory.
“It’s definitely hard to be playing against someone that you have been playing against for so many times recently,” El Hammamy said. “Because she had nothing to lose, she was trying to figure out something different with you.
Sometimes it gets harder when someone is trying to change the plan during the match. So it’s definitely tough.
“I think if I can make it a bit hard and a bit long in the second, it may probably take out a lot of energy from her, and that would make a difference. If she just won the game easily, 11-6 or 11-7, maybe she would have been a bit more fired up on the third and a bit more encouraged to play. So, I think making it hard in the second and starting the third solid and aggressive, that made a difference.”
El Hammamy will now meet compatriot and second seed Nouran Gohar in the semifinals on Saturday. The reigning world champion needed also four games to beat Sana Ibrahim, also from Egypt, 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 5-2 in another quarterfinals. Ibrahim retired for a face injury in the fourth game.
“I don’t think there is any pressure on me because I haven't beat her for so long like five or six months,” El Hammamy said. “There’s nothing to lose and nothing to be afraid of. I just try to explore on court and try to change a bit of things from the last couple of matches and see how it goes.”
In the men’s quarterfinals, eighth seed Joel Makin stunned defending champion Paul Coll of New Zealand with a 3-1 win. The Welshman, who also beat Coll in straight games when they last met in the Qatar Classic in September, prevailed 11-6, 11-6, 8-11, 11-4 after 74 minutes.
“I had similar wins against him a couple of months ago, so I knew I was capable of doing it,” Makin said. “Paul has been doing very well, but probably it was not the patch of form he’d want to be in. But also, I thought I played the better squash for the majority and so I am happy with it.”
Makin also praised the outdoor venue after playing the first two rounds at the Squash Centre. “It's nice to move to a different one here ... I’m enjoying. It’s exciting. Big, big venue, big crowds and it's enjoyable. Let’s see if I can get a couple more wins now,” he said.
He will now face another tough hurdle in the semifinals, taking on second seed Mostafa Asal of Egypt who made no mistake with a 3-0 win (11-8, 11-6, 11-2) over compatriot Tarek Momen in another quarterfinals.
