Nour Gohar of Egypt walked away with her second Hong Kong Squash Open title and the World No.1 spot both from compatriot Nour El Sherbini after beating her rival in the final on Sunday.
Playing in a front of full house crowd in a glass court set up at Edinburgh Place in Central, the 2016 champion and second seed of the tournament came back from one game down to prevail 3-1 (6-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9) after a lengthy 55-minute battle.
In the men’s final, second seed Mostafa Asal of Egypt also upset compatriot Ali Farag, the top seed and World No. 1, by the same scoring when he won a 52-minute game 11-5, 4-11, 11-8, 11-5.
It was the second straight final win for Nouran over her long-time rival after beating El Sherbini in October’s US Open, also in a score 3-1.
The talented player lost her World No.1 spot in September last year due largely to injury and was delighted to win in Hong Kong after her 2016 victory and climb back to the top of rankings. Because of injury, she was forced to miss the 2023 Hong Kong Open and was lying in bed during the time, thinking if she could ever be able to come back and play at top level.
“It feels amazing,” said the 27-year-old reigning world champion. “Hong Kong Open was my first platinum event to win back in 2016 when I was only 18 years old. And since then, I haven’t reached a final here. So first of all, to be back in the final was really big for me, and winning it meant a lot, feels like a dream.
“As I said, winning the title here also means I can be back to the World No.1 and so it has a lot of weight. And I’m very proud of myself and my team that we went through all of this and managed to do it at the end.”
The champion said winning the Hong Kong Open to get back to World No. 1 would only be her short-term goal with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games in sight when squash makes its debut as an medal programme.
“Since squash will be in the 2028 Olympics, all eyes will be on this for sure,” she said. “It’s a long term goal and obviously I always try to work with my team, and it will be very competitive between me and El Sherbini, especially in terms of ranking, in terms of title. So it’s always challenging. This is good to keep me on my toes and to keep me sharp, but obviously the target will be the Olympics, so hopefully I can stay safe and healthy and be able to compete there.”
It was also the second Hong Kong Open title for men’s champion Asal after his victory in 2022 when he beat Diego Elias of Peru in a five-game thriller. And despite losing the second game to Farag in the final, he was never in danger of losing the title.
“It’s amazing,” the 23-year-old second seed said. “It’s a nice tournament, nice environment. I first won the tournament here in 2022 and it was one of my first few events that I won. So I’m really loving Hong Kong and would thank everyone who support this tournament.”
The Hong Kong Open now remains the only major title that is yet to be won by World No.1 Farag as he has now been a runner-up here for four times after the defeat.
Presenting the prizes to winners at the Milwaukee Hong Kong Open 2024 were Mr. Raistlin Lau, Under Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, The Honourable Duncan Chiu, Chairman of Squash Association of Hong Kong, China, Mr. Stephan Horst Pudwill, Vice Chairman of Techtronic Industries Company Limited and Mr. Wilfred Ng Sau-kei, GBS, MH, JP, Chairman of Major Sports Events Committee while other guest was H. E. Ambassador Baher Sheweikhi, Consul General of Egypt in Hong Kong and Macao SARs. Ends
