ElSherbini & El Hammamy Survive Tough Texas Tests

Nour ElSherbini and Hania El Hammamy both survived scares to reach the Cotidie Texas Open 2025 quarter-finals, as round two of the PSA Squash Tour Gold event drew to a close at the Houston Squash Club.

The Egyptian duo had seen world No.1 Nouran Gohar book her spot in the last eight 24 hours earlier, and were kicking off their quests for glory against Sana Ibrahim and Lucy Turmel, respectively.

Ibrahim has enjoyed a successful season thus far, recording wins over Georgina Kennedy and Nele Gilis-Coll, and made an impressive start here, matching the world No.2 for much of the opening game.

ElSherbini did come out on top but Ibrahim had certainly tested her opponent with an aggressive style of play, and she took that to another level in game two, looking to win each rally with almost every shot, a tactic that paid off as she stormed to an 11-4 win.

She returned to court full of confidence and with a spring in her step, and once again went toe-to-toe with the seven-time world champion, showcasing her delicate hands with a beautiful forehand drop from deep in the court at 4-3 down.

But at 6-6, Sherbini took her own game to another level, reeling off five points on the bounce to get her nose back in front and then going on to close out the match in four, continuing her run of consecutive quarter-final appearances, which stretches back to 2015.

"There are no easy matches now," the world No.2 said after her win.

"First rounds can be tougher than the later rounds and I was 100% sure that Sana is an amazing player. She's been very skilful since she was young and she has amazing hands. She's moving better and she's improved a lot this season.

"It's the second time we've played this season and she definitely played better today, but I'm always happy to get the win in the end.

"It's the first round for me so it's a bit tough, but I'm just happy with my performance and happy that I won in the end."

Later in the day, world No.3 El Hammamy also needed four games to get past Turmel, who pushed the Egyptian hard throughout, taking a game off her for the first time on the PSA Tour.

But like ElSherbini, El Hammamy ran away with things in games three and four after being outplayed in game two, continuing her quest for a second straight title to start 2025.

The men's draw, meanwhile, was hampered by injury and illness, as Aly Abou Eleinen beat Youssef Soliman after the No.5 seed suffered an injury early on in their encounter, while Marwan ElShorbagy was awarded a walkover due to Nicolas Mueller's withdrawal through illness.