Makin Wins All-British Battle To Reach Maiden El Gouna Semi

The first four semi-finalists of the 2025 El Gouna International Open have been confirmed after all four higher-ranked players claimed comfortable victories in the quarter finals of the PSA Squash Tour Platinum event in the Red Sea resort in Egypt.

The top seeds were in fine form on day four as they restricted their opponents to an average of less than five points across all the matches to ease into the last four of the competition.

The final match of the evening's play was billed to be a classic as Welshman Joel Makin took on two-time El Gouna International winner Mohamed ElShorbagy in an all-British affair. Makin produced a masterclass performance in the opening two games to battle through the long, attritional rallies to force errors from the racket of the former World Champion and tidy up loose attacks.

After losing the opening games 11-3, 11-4, ElShorbagy responded. He raced out to a 7-3 lead, looking sure to extend the contest. Makin mounted his comeback and reverted back to his strong, structured squash to claw the points back. He impressively took the next seven points to earn three match balls. At the second time of asking the Welshman closed out the match to claim a spot in his first El Gouna International semi-final.

"I was very happy with my lines today. Mohamed is such a clever player. That's why he is who he is," said Makin.

"I knew he'd switch it in the third. I've never seen someone attack the back wall nick like that, that was quite bizarre. But he has a skill level where he can be disruptive so overall very happy in the end.

"He was tidying up really well on the backhand side and he wasn't giving me any chance to step forward. If I had space around the ball then I was attacking much better than I have been in the last few days. That's an attacking brand of squash but doing it at the right times.

"I play the sport to challenge at the top of the game. Ali [Farag] has established himself as a great of the game. All the World's he's won and all the time he's been at No.1. I have massive respect for him, but these are the matches I want to get stuck in to and hopefully I can get another win."

As referenced, Makin's semi-final opponent will be the four-time World Champion Ali Farag after he made light work of compatriot Youssef Soliman to set up a ninth meeting between the two as he bids to keep his title defence alive.

In the women's draw, a 31st clash between Nouran Gohar and Hania El Hammamy has been confirmed for semi-finals day after the pair recorded clinical wins over England's Georgina Kennedy and Salma Hany.

Gohar and Kennedy opened proceedings with the current world No.1 and World Champion showcasing just how sharp she is this week as she cruised to victory in just 28 minutes, surrendering just 12 points throughout the whole match.

El Hammamy had a slightly tougher time on court as she faced the in-form Salma Hany in what was a third consecutive El Gouna quarter final for the world No.13. Hany held a game ball at 11-10 in the opening game but opened the door for El Hammamy after missing a backhand drop, an error that the world No.3 gladly took advantage of. The No.3 seed never looked back from taking the opening game and won the following games 11-6, 11-4.

The bottom half quarter final action gets underway from 18:30 (GMT+2) on Wednesday 16th April, with only three matches taking place due to Youssef Ibrahim's withdrawal from the men's competition. The Egyptian picked up a shoulder injury in his round two clash with Karim Gawad. World No.1 Mostafa Asal now receives a bye to the last four.