4:59 am
16 Feb 2025

Elaraby & Gawad Survive Dramatic Cleveland Quarters

18 Jan 2025

Karim Gawad and Rowan Elaraby both battled back from the brink of defeat to reach the Squash in Land semi-finals on another tension-filled day of quarter-final action in the PSA Squash Tour Silver event in Cleveland.

Elaraby was opening the day's play against Tesni Murphy of Wales and was the highest-remaining seed in the women's draw, following No.1 seed Georgina Kennedy's defeat to Satomi Watanabe 24 hours earlier.

The Egyptian knew she would be tested by the Welsh No.1, though, and that proved to be the case throughout the opening game, which went into a tiebreak to end a game that featured plenty of discussion with the referee, with both players receiving a conduct warning.

It was Elaraby who eventually came out on top after 18 minutes of play, taking her fifth game ball after seeing Murphy save the first four.

The two players displayed contrasting styles throughout game one and that continued into the second but with a reverse result, as Murphy overcame a slow start to race from 4-1 down to an 11-7 success.

She then picked up where she left off at the start of game three, lifting the ball and using clever angles to stretch Elaraby across the court, with the Egyptian struggling to find her length and being given few opportunities to display her power.

Elaraby did fight her way back into the game and even had a game ball at 11-10, but after seeing it come and go and then having to head off court to swap a broken racket, she went down 14-12 when a backhand drop found the tin.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Elaraby requested a new ball to start game four and it resulted in a stunning turnaround, with the world No.7 rediscovering her sharpness on her way to an 11-1 win to force a decider.

Tensions were understandably high as game five got underway, with both players voicing further frustrations at their opponent's movement and the referee's decision, and it looked as though Murphy was heading for victory when she moved 9-5 in front.

But the young Egyptian had other ideas, winning the next four points before saving a match ball at 10-9 down, going on to take the tiebreak 12-10 with a backhand kill down the line.

"Obviously I'm really pleased to get through this match," Elaraby said.

"It was a really really tough match. Tesni is always a tricky opponent and I knew I had to give it my all to come out on the winning side. I don't think I played good squash or executed my plan really well today, but I'm really glad I fought until the end and managed to get through.

"Tesni has very soft hands and her short game is really good as well. When the ball is soft and the court is a bit slow she can control the rally more often.

"When I changed the ball I think I managed to get the momentum back and was able to hit the ball, so obviously it made a difference."

That result was followed by an equally enthralling contest between Gawad and the unseeded George Parker, which saw the Egyptian overturn a 2/0, 9-6 deficit to progress.

The Englishman had put in an impressive performance to beat Mohamed Abouelghar in round two, booking himself a quarter-final berth in a Silver-level event for the first time in his career.

Parker had never beaten Gawad before, but did take the experienced Egyptian to five at the British Open in 2022, and made a perfect start here, taking game one 11-6 to draw cheers from the underdog-supporting crowd.

The unseeded Englishman used his speed to good effect throughout game one, with Gawad having little in the way of answers to his aggressive approach, and while the second was closer, it was once again the 28-year-old who came out on top, putting himself one game from a stunning upset.

England national team coach Stuart Crawford was in the corner for Parker and it looked as though he would be congratulating his charge on a 3/0 win as Parker moved into a 9-6 lead in the third.

But Gawad made his experience count when it mattered most, showing no signs of panic as he slowly reeled in the deficit, going on to take the game 11-9 when Parker found the tin on a backhand drop.

Parker continued to use his speed across the court well, particularly when defending Gawad's attacking drops to the front, but he would once again fall short in game four, with 'The Baby Faced Assassin' showing plenty of emotion after sending the match to a decider.

And with momentum on his side and Parker continuing to push himself to his physical limits, Gawad took control of game five - helped by a conduct stroke against Parker for too much discussion with the referee - closing it out 11-5 to reach the final four.

"I didn't want to lose this way, in three," Gawad said, discussing the turnaround from 2/0 down.

"George was playing amazing squash. It's one of the best tournaments I've ever seen him play so very well done to all his team and George for playing such amazing squash.

"But at the same time, I haven't had my best season so far this season so I wanted to play at least without any pressure, play my squash, move like normal.

"It was hard, for sure, after being 2/0 down, to play without pressure, but I just managed to squeeze the ball to the back. The third game made a huge difference for sure, it gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the match."

There was still time for another five-game duel later in the day, too, as Marwan Elshorbagy came out on top of a 61-minute battle with his good friend Abdulla Al-Tamimi in the final match of the day.

The day's other contest saw Amanda Sobhy put in a dominant performance to beat Nada Abbas 3/0 inside half an hour.