Abbas Ousts No.5 Seed Orfi To Reach World Quarters

World No.14 Nada Abbas produced a magnificent comeback from two games down as she sent world No.5 Amina Orfi out of this year's PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family at Lakeshore Sport & Fitness in Chicago.

Title contender Orfi had beaten fellow Egyptian Abbas in both of their previous encounters on the PSA Squash Tour, but an incredible fightback from Abbas saw her complete an 3-11, 11-13, 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 victory to reach the last eight of the PSA World Championships for the first time since 2022.

Abbas will now go up against compatriot Hania El Hammamy after the world No.3 stormed past Belgium's Nele Gilis-Coll in straight games.

"I'm over the moon," said Abbas afterwards. "She's a great player and I've seen her grow up at the same club as me. She's very dedicated, she's a hard worker and she's already reached world No.5. It's big for me to come through and win this one.

"After the first game she was totally controlling it. At 7-3 up in the second, I found a way to get into the match. I lost the game, but it made me believe I could push her more and maybe win the match. I've made some changes in the last couple of months with [Ahmed Effat]. I'm glad he's with me today, we've tried to add more shots and I'm trying to stay in the rallies more."

Meanwhile, Satomi Watanabe has become the first Japanese player in history to reach the event's quarter-finals after the world No.11 dispatched Gilis-Coll's younger sister, Tinne, the 6th seed. Watanabe will play defending champion Nouran Gohar in the next round.

In the men's event, world No.11 Youssef Soliman scored the only upset of the day after he overcame 2017 World Championship runner-up Marwan ElShorbagy in four games, earning a spot in his maiden World Championship quarter-final.

Soliman had endured a six-match losing run against the eighth-seeded Englishman and hadn't beaten him since 2020. However, he recovered from a game down and wore ElShorbagy out physically to record a 5-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-0 win.

"It was very tough mentally, he beat me six times," said Soliman.

"In the first game he was up for it, but I stayed calm. The third was very crucial, but I stayed composed and I'm hoping he is ok. I'm definitely very happy with my performance.

"He congratulated me and I asked if he was okay, but he said he was alright. He said a few nice words. I'm hoping to be less physical in the future because I'm relying on it so much. Against Marwan I need to use my physicality, against some players I'm not able to. I'm glad I kept the rallies going, I did my best to make it physical and I think it paid off in the last game."

Soliman will play reigning champion Diego Elias next, while Egypt's four-time World Champion Ali Farag is through after his third round opponent Leonel Cardenas was withdrawn due to concussion. 2019 World Champion Tarek Momen overcame England's Jonah Bryant to set up a last eight meeting with fellow countryman Farag.