El Hammamy Battles Back To Overcome Aboelkheir In Five At Paris Squash

World No.3 Hania El Hammamy survived a major scare as she twice fought back from behind down to defeat Egyptian teenage contender Fayrouz Aboelkheir and advance to the Paris Squash 2024 semi-finals.

In the thrilling encounter at the Cirque d'Hiver Bouglione, El Hammamy had to be at her battling best to claim a 9-11, 11-2, 11-13, 11-9, 11-8 victory and set-up a semi-final meeting with long-time rival Nouran Gohar.

The No.3 seed struggled to deal with Aboelkheir's wide variety of attacks throughout the match, especially when the court was opened up, but found joy herself by exposing Aboelkheir with straight and accurate drops into the front two corners.

After the two players had traded games to move to two-all, it was El Hammamy who managed to draw on her big-game experience at the right time, moving into an early 6-2 lead. From there, the 23-year-old played some immaculate and error-free squash, eventually sealing the victory after 68 minutes of all-out action.

The other winner from the women's draw was current World Champion Gohar, who fought off an electrifying start from America's Amanda Sobhy to progress in four games.

The pair met just over a fortnight ago at the season-opening CIB Egyptian Open, where Gohar stormed to victory in straight games, but this time Sobhy put up a much sterner test, displaying flashes of the squash that saw her reach the 2023 Hong Kong Open final before her untimely Achilles injury.

It was No.2 seed Gohar who proved too strong in the end though, with the Egyptian taking the match by a 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-1 scoreline.

Meanwhile, in the men's event, world No.2 Mostafa Asal and world No.3 Paul Coll both secured impressive wins to set up a blockbuster semi-final clash in the French capital.

Coll, the No.2 seed in Paris, was tested all the way through his 62-minute duel with former World Champion Momen, having to hold off a barrage of attacks from 'The Viper' on his way to an 11-8, 10-12, 11-2, 11-8 victory.

After the match, Coll said: "I was right up for that match tonight. Obviously, I missed out on the semi-finals at the Egyptian Open, it annoyed me a bit and motivated me to come out here today and play the brand of squash that I played last season.

"My expectations this season are to win. I had a great season last year and a great off-season, and I'm very happy with my intent tonight."

World No.2 Asal was the final player to advance to the semi-finals after seeing off dangerous compatriot Mazen Hesham in three games. 'The Raging Bull', who won the season-opening CIB Egyptian Open just over a fortnight ago, continued his unbeaten start to the season with a commanding 12-10, 11-6, 11-4 win.