Teenager Aboelkheir stuns defending champ El Sherbini in front of the Pyramids
Defending champion Nour El Sherbini crashed out of the CIB Egyptian Open in the quarter-finals after a stunning defeat to 19-year-old World No.14 Fayrouz Aboelkheir in front of the pyramids.
Aboelkheir will take on 18-year-old World No.5 Amina Orfi in the semi-final after the Egyptian dispatched Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam 3-1, while in the men’s event Peruvian World No.2 Diego Elias dominated English rising star Jonah Bryant and France’s Victor Crouin reached a major semi-final for the first time since January 2024 with a 3-0 win over Egypt’s Fares Dessouky.
The CIB Egyptian Open, a Diamond-level event on the PSA Squash Tour, is taking place from 12th to19th September, with an incredible all-glass court hosting matches in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza, while early rounds took place on the traditional courts at Club O West.
Aboelkheir went into today’s match with her idol and fellow Alexandrian in excellent form after upsetting No.5 seed Satomi Watanabe in straight games in the round of 16.
El Sherbini, meanwhile, had appeared unconvincing in her five-game win against No.9 seed Amanda Sobhy.
Playing in front of an empty gallery due to security measures implemented for the meeting between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and King Felipe VI of Spain, Aboelkheir showed no signs of nerves, opening up angles against El Sherbini and deservedly taking game one 11-8.
El Sherbini had looked sluggish in game one but improved after the break, taking games two and three 11-8, 11-9 as she looked to have steadied things.
Aboelkheir wasn’t done, though.
In a stunning show of resilience, the teenager took game four 11-8 and then blew El Sherbini away 11-5 in game five to complete the comeback and progress to a major semi-final for the first time.
“I mean, I’m just very happy. I’m literally over the moon. I don’t think it has hit me as much as it should right now. Nour has been my idol my role model for years, so to be on court with her already was a huge thing for me.
“Winning that one is just so special to me. It’s going to be the closest one to my heart. I’m going to have to take it all out very quickly though as I have a match again tomorrow night.
“Being here, I had a lot of emotions going on over the last two days, but earlier today I had my mental coach with me and that really helped. I think the lack of a crowd today was also in my advantage and was on my side.”
Aboelkheir will take on a familiar rival from her junior days in Amina Orfi.
Orfi, widely considered the breakout talent of her generation, has enjoyed a spectacular start to the new season, making history by becoming the first ever player to win the junior world championship four times and winning the London Classic last week.
That run in London included a win over Sivasangari, and Orfi extended that record tonight with an entertaining 11-6, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9 win over the No.7 seed.
In the men’s draw, Peru’s Diego Elias and France’s Victor Crouin were in top form and will face each other feeling fairly fresh after straight-games wins.
2024 World Champion Elias, who is hoping to win the Egyptian Open for the first time, cruised past World No.28 Bryant 11-5, 11-8, 11-2 to maintain his immaculate record.
World No.11 Crouin, meanwhile, proved too strong for World No.15 Dessouky, recording an 11-3, 12-10, 11-7 win in the night’s final match.
[11] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (Egy) 3-2 [2] Nour El Sherbini (Egy) 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5 (64m)
[4] Amina Orfi (Egy) 3-1 [7] Siva Subramaniam (Mas) 11-6, 11-8, 4-11, 11-9 (62m)
[2] Diego Elias (Per) 3-0 Jonah Bryant (Eng) 11-5, 11-8, 11-2 (38m)
[11] Victor Crouin (Fra) 3-0 [15] Fares Dessouky (Egy) 11-3, 12-10, 11-7 (43m)
The semi-finals of the CIB Egyptian Open take place tomorrow, 18 September. Play on the show court at the Great Pyramid of Giza begins at 19:00 (GMT+3).
