Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 3-0 Nour Heikal (EGY) 11-9, 11-1, 11-6 (28m)
Fram reports
Before we start making any comments about the match, let’s have a look to what Nour, 20, has been through to arrive to the match.
She went through qualifying, meaning she played 3 matches and 14 games. That’s for starters. 152m. Then she played two rounds, beating players much better ranked than she is, taking out Lucy Beecroft in 4 and Malak Khafagy, one of Egypt’s coming players, in 70m and 5 intense games.
Get my drift?
I’m not saying it was a walk in the park for Sana, as she “only” took out world number Nele Gilis in 4 if you please, and less than an hour.
They have the same style of game: they hit hard, very hard, and take no prisoners. But today, Sana was full of beans, Nour, not that much. She kept trying, though, never giving up. She was a bit unlucky in the second, having to change her racquet twice in three points, which didn’t help settle the nerves.
But a very good first game for Nour, down 4/0, she came back and was close the whole game, saving one game ball, only bowing 11/9. An understandable energy drop in the second, 10/0, 11/1 but a nice third again, very close up to 6/6, but Sana hitting the ball Terminator style, 6 points in a row.
Interesting to note that each game lasted 8m, despite the score disparity…
PSA report:
Unseeded Egyptian Sana Ibrahim continued her dream run at the 2024 CIB Egyptian Open as she took down compatriot Nour Heikal to reach the quarter-finals of a major event for the first time as the third round of the Diamond-level event drew to a close.
21-year-old World No.32 Ibrahim, who stunned World No.4 Nele Gilis in the second round, was dominant in her match against World No.71 Heikal, who was playing her sixth match of the tournament after going through three qualifying matches to reach the main draw.
In the opening game, both players played almost exclusively at the front of the court, resulting in a rapid-fire shootout that was decided as much by who made fewer errors as who put in dangerous shots.
After edging the first game 11-9, Ibrahim began targeting the back, instantly exposing her opponent’s lack of experience, with Ibrahim delivering a crushing 11-1 scoreline to double her lead, before ending the contest with an 11-6 victory in game three.
Not often you see a winner on the pirouette! 👏
Sana Ibrahim making it look easy 🔥#EgyptianOpen pic.twitter.com/PpC74WGbzk
— SQUASHTV (@SquashTV) September 2, 2024
Sana
“I’m so happy and proud of myself.
“At the last tournament of the season, I was injured and it was bad for me, I lost in the first round. So, this summer I had lots of support, my physios and coaches here and my family here and in the US, who I know are watching now.
“Nour has had an incredible tournament, coming through the qualifiers. Well done to her, she’s played incredibly and I’ve not played her since juniors. We always played in the juniors and it was always tough. She would attack all the time and I had to focus every point, because she’s so tricky.
I tried to focus and playing good squash and feeling good on the court.”
On playing Nada Abbas in the next round: “I had so many messages on social media about how high my ranking could go. I tried not to focus on this, because I would get so nervous. Nada’s incredible, we were training together last week and we’re at the same club. Her comeback was incredible. I don’t have anything to lose, I’ve done well so far this tournament and will rest and chill.”
