[2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 3-0 Nada Abbas (EGY) 11-3, 11-6, 11-2 (38m)
Fram’s thoughts
What a week for Nada. She finally gets some reward for all the hard work she’s put in for years. Supported by a bunch of her friends, Nada proved that she belongs up there. For a first appearance on the glass – she couldn’t play yesterday because of the floor trouble”, she took a game to get used to the conditions, and took on Nouran in the second with a crispy sharp squash.
She run out of steam in the end but Nouran was very weary of the Mini Champ opponent, and the very loud vocal support of the Terminator’s camp showed me they were pretty weary of her too…
PSA reports
World No.2 Nouran Gohar will contest another title against long-standing rival and World No.1 Nour El Sherbini after defeating tournament surprise package Nada Abbas in the semi-final of the 2024 CIB Egyptian Open.
World No.17 Abbas, who was playing in her first ever major semi-final after a dream run in her home city of Cairo, briefly matched the reigning world champion at the beginning of game one, but soon fell away as ‘the Terminator’s’ relentless power and accuracy delivered an 11-3 win for Gohar.
There was no let up from Gohar in game two, with the 26-year-old, who was occasionally troubled by Abbas’ attacking boasts, moving into a 2-0 lead with an 11-6 win.
In a totally one-sided third game, Gohar steamrolled her 24-year-old opponent 11-2 to get off court after just 38 minutes
Nouran : “It’s the tournament of her life. It’s a great achievement and shows how much of a good player she is and she improved big time obviously, reaching the semi-final amongst the three of us is huge. She should be proud and it shows the depths of the women’s game as well; I think we’ve been drawn to play each other in Paris, which shows it’s not only about the top three or the top five.
“It’s really good and it’s more challenging, which I like. I always like new challenges and working on problem-solving.”
On her final opponent Nour El Sherbini: “I think it’s about the 40th final we’ve played, and our first was back in 2016. It’s just a treat to be able to share this era with her, play these big finals with her, and have historical moments.
“To be honest, I don’t really count [the number of consecutive wins]. The only person who counts is my mental coach; some time we’re going to lose one match and it’s not the end of the world. I’m not thinking about it because it’s extra pressure I don’t need.”
