Day Five at Hong Kong Football Club and it was Women’s Semi-Finals tonight, plus Men’s and Women’s playoff matches through the day. Egypt and USA won through to a second successive Women’s Final, while Hong Kong’s men and women’s teams both won through to 5th/6th place finals.
Draws & Results Photo Galleries
[2] USA 2-0 [5] MALAYSIA
Amanda Sobhy 3-2 Rachel Arnold 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8 (45m)
Olivia Weaver 3-2 Sivasangari Subramaniam 7-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-2 (47m)
Marina Stefanoni v Aira Azman match w/d
USA deny Malaysia with five game thrillers
Team USA reached their second successive World Teams final with a nailbiting 2-0 win over surprise semi-finalists Malaysia. First up Amanda Sobhy came through a nailbiting five games against Rachel Arnold, then when a decider looked imminent Olivia Wevaer staged a comeback from two down to beat Siva Subramaniam and claim the final spot.
“I’m just so proud of myself,” said Sobhy. “I just didn’t want to lose and leave the team 1-0 down. Playing for a team just makes you dig so much deeper than you think. I’m happy to get the win for my teammates.”
Weaver added : “I’m just so proud to get the win for my team. I don’t normally have this kind of support when playing on the PSA Tour, so I’m really grateful to have had Team USA out here cheering so loudly for me.”
[1] EGYPT 3-0 [3] BELGIUM
Hania El Hammamy 3-1 Tinne Gilis 11-6, 10-12, 12-10, 13-11 (60m)
Nour El Sherbini 3-0 Nele Coll 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (23m)
Rowan Elaraby 2-0 Marie Van Riet 11-3, 11-5 (12m)
Egypt through to fourth straight final
Defending Champions Egypt reached their fourth final in a row as they beat semi-final debutantes Belgium. Hania El Hammamy continued her run of victories against Tinne Gilis to put Egypt ahead, but this was a close affair with three of the games needing extra points. Nour El Sherbini wasted no time in sealing the win over Nele Coll before Rowan Elaraby got some court time in the dead rubber.
“I was just thinking about Egypt, my team and my coaches. I needed to win it for them,” El Hammamy said. Sherbini added : “It’s amazing being here in Hong Kong, I love it here and have been coming here for many years. It’s the first time I’ve come to Hong Kong Football Club and I love it. It’s amazing and the facilities are amazing!”
Friday’s Matches
In other matches, Hong Kong’s Men and Women both earned themselves places in the 5th/6th finals, which will both be on the indoor Glass Court on Saturday.
Semi-Finals Preview :
Top seeds and defending champions Egypt take on third-seeded European Champions Belgium in the first match. For Belgium it’s a first-ever semi-final appearance while Egypt are looking to join Australia and England in having won four titles in a row.
In the second match second seeds USA are aiming to reach back-to-back finals as they take on Malaysia, who upset fourth seeds England yesterday and are also looking to reach the final for a second time.
