Elaraby Ejects Gilis To Advance To Paris Squash Semis

Egypt's Rowan Elaraby ousted fourth seed Nele Gilis in the biggest upset on the first day of quarter-final action in the Paris Squash 2024, the PSA Squash Tour Platinum event in the French capital.

World No.4 Diego Elias also claimed an impressive day four win, defeating Karim Abdel Gawad to progress to the semi-finals.

Elaraby, the 24-year-old world No.8, started the first night of quarter-final action at Cirque d'Hiver Bouglione with a shock straight games victory over the No.4 seed.

The No.8 seed's victory, which she secured by an 11-9, 11-5, 12-10 scoreline, ensured that Elaraby advanced to the semi-finals of a Platinum event for the third time in her career.

Throughout the 41-minute encounter, Gilis struggled to read the wide variety of attacks Elaraby had at her disposal, with the Egyptian volleying whenever possible and taking up an aggressive position on the 'T'.

Despite seeing three match balls slip from her grasp in the third game, Elaraby managed to take the subsequent tie-break to seal victory.

After the match, Elaraby said: "It's never going to be easy to win [against Nele], even if you were to have ten match balls. She never gives cheap points and I had to stick to my game plan to get the win.

"I think my vision towards the game has changed recently with the help of my coaches. I'm more free when I'm on court, I play however I want to, and that is what has changed my game."

Elaraby will face defending champion Nour El Sherbini for a place in the final after the world No.1 held off a valiant comeback from No.5 seed Olivia Weaver to win in four games. The top seed, who raced into a two-game lead with some sublime squash, had to dig deep in the crucial moments to stop Weaver from forcing a deciding game, fighting back from 8-5 down in the fourth game to take the win.

Meanwhile, in the men's event, No.4 seed Elias displayed the level of squash that saw him win the PSA World Championships last season, defeating former world No.1 Gawad in an 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 11-2 scoreline.

In a match jam-packed with quality, it was Elias' disciplined and highly accurate squash which won the day, with the 'Peruvian Puma' holding off a barrage of winners from Gawad in the opening two games, before moving into the ascendancy as the match entered its latter stages.

After claiming his semi-final spot, Elias said: "It was a really tough match today against Karim. He played really well in the last round, so I knew it was going to be tough and it was. He made me run a lot, but I'm happy with what I did, I was moving well and I'm happy with that performance."

Elias' opponent in the semi-finals will be world No.1 Farag, after the Egyptian battled past long-time rival Mohamed ElShorbagy in four games. The top seed and defending champion was forced to produce some high-quality squash on his way to his fourth straight victory over 'The Beast', taking the win after 51 minutes of play.