Court 2 3pm Katie Malliff (ENG; 38) VS. Alex Haydon (AUS; 68)
The opening matches provide our first look at the tournament’s second seed. On court 2 it’s Katie Malliff of England versus Alex Haydon of Australia. Both are first time NASH Cup participants. They share the opening points but Katie quickly finds a rhythm and builds a lead. Both have patient swings preferring accuracy to power, but this is allowing Katie to move Alex around. She takes the opener 11-3.
3pm can be a challenging time to find writers and this one had to switch to the live broadcast (commentator) for the final two game. Alex opened the second game with far more power trying to change the narrative but Katie simply wouldn’t make errors. The rallies were often long, but Katie captured the majority of the points and the match 3-0.
Court 3 3pm Yahya Elnawasany (EGY; 39) VS. Tom Walsh (ENG; 66)
Yahya, a mechanical engineering student, 22 from Egypt.
Both in their second consecutive NASH Cup.
Game 3 - tied at 2-2. Tom goes up to 6-2 then stopped by a great overhead crack to the front right corner. At 7-7 a stroke is awarded to Yahya. Then 9-7 for Tom. A sneak hit down the left wall and it is 9-8. Tom is serving with 10-9 lead. Some confusion as to whether a ball was up or down. Then a nice drop by Tom and it is 11-10 in his favour followed by a mis-hit by Yahya and Tom wins 12-10.
Game 4 - Yahya is up 3-1 while Tom makes great stretches to stay in the game. He is still serving at 5-1. A leg cramp sidelines Tom for a few moments. The game resumes and it is soon7-3 for Yahya. A stroke is awarded to Yahya and it is 8-4 for him. He continues with great overhead smashes to the low front corners and leads at 10-6. The next point goes to Yahya who wins the game at 11-6 and also the match.
Court 2 3:45 Mohamad Zakaria (EGY; 64) VS. Jeremias Azana (ARG; 76)
The opening men’s match continues on court one commanding most of the crowds attention, but from everything we’ve heard Zakaria is a player to watch. He’s under 19, so is playing with glasses and has been world junior champion. Jeremias came through a challenging game yesterday and will need to stay focused and find the weaknesses early. He does a good job as the first game starts jumping to a 3-2 lead. Lots of touch drop shots and lobs from both players as they try to get a feel for the others game plan. We’re 8 minutes in and only 6-4 Azana following a look lob and stroke call. The intensity of the rally has spiked higher and there are far more let requests…not all accepted by the official. Azana up 8-6. Zakaria backs into Azana and asks for let, but he’s turned down and it’s 10-8 Azana. 11-9 ends game 1.
The NASH Cup has seen some wonderful players over years and some believe Zakaria is next to ascend. 4 past NASH Cup players are currently in the world’s top 10. Diego Elias; Mostafa Asal; Joel Maken and Olivia Weaver. None of them won here.
Game two opens with some quick points for Azana. Both players are leaning on the kill shot for points as there are few balls they can’t get to. Length isn’t working; boasts aren’t working; it comes down to a straight drop. The match goes to 4-4. Zakaria seems to have figured out what the official will allow in the way of calls and is moving around the court well. His positioning is forcing Zana to cover more ground and that’s leading to missed shots. 7-4. If Zakaria sticks to this game plan he may take control of things 9-7. Azana tightens things up, but a massive kill shot form Zakaria into the front left off the serve ends game 2 11-9.
Both players take a little coaching between games and come on aggressively. The crowd is loving it. Zakaria jumps to a 2-0 lead. Azana is getting very little time in the front court as Zakaria keeps cutting the ball off and hitting hard. 6-0. A blistering overhead from the left wall to the front right corner; and then a sharp reverse boast from the back corner puts it 8-0. Both were so tight the crowd couldn’t tell if they were good or not. Azana executes a clean hold cross to get on the board 9-1. 11-2 ends game three. Zakaria has the momentum. Azana needs to find a new plan.
In the opening rally both players do what so many are told not to….they drop the drop shot. In the end Zakaria goes one more than Azana saw coming and it’s tight. 1-0. Tremendous rallies with what should have been 4-5 winners before something comes together. Azana counts on his speed, but Zakaria is getting to everything. 5-2. A no let and we are 6-3. It’s only game 2 on thr night and we are already behind as this one reaches the 50-minute mark. 8-5. The crowd is nearly full as Zakaria pushes to maintain a lead. 9-8. A missed drop ends it 11-8.
Court 3 3:45 Marina Stefanoni (USA; 58) VS. Catalina Pelaez (COL; 81)
Catalina, married, a professional full-time squash player is 33 from Columbia.
Marina is from the US, 21 yrs old and a full-time professional squash player.
Game 1 - Marina wins the toss but loses the first point. Easy rallies follow and it is tied at 2-2. Marina takes control and the lead at 7-4. Her lead continues to 9-7 with a few errors from Catalina. It's tied at 11-11. Catalina wins the point. And the next one to win 13-11 ... a very close game.
Game 2 - Its 4-0 for Marina, then 6-2 in her favour. Catalina's knee surgery doesn't appear to slow her down. But a few errors against her gives Marina a 11-3 win.
Game 3 - Marina feels the momentum and leads quickly at 4-0. At 7-2 Marina continues to maintain control moving well around the court. Her accuracy leads to a 10-2 advantage but Cataline battles back for the next point before losing the game at 11-3.
Game 4 - Again Marina takes an early lead at 6-1. It is broken by a sneaky cross-court by Catalina. At 7-3 Marina serves and follows up with shots Catalina can't get to and the score goes to 9-3. Then 10-3. Catalina battles back to 7 points before losing the match. Marina wins with a score of 11-7.
Court 2 4:30 Emilia Soini (FIN; 51) VS. Marta Dominguez (ESP; 61)
Court 3 4:30 Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN; 58) VS. Sanjay Jeeva (MAS; 67)
Game 1 - Ryu (Ryunosuke) receives the serve. He tries to keep the left-handed Sanjay on the right wall but loses the first two points. It is soon a very snappy game with few balls getting past the opponent. Ryu takes the lead at 4-2 but it is soon tied at 4-4. Ryu maintains a lead of 7-5 with tighter shots and great court coverage. A collision interrupts the game at 9-6 for Ryu. Then 10-7 for Ryu. Stroke for Sanjay. Finally, Ryu wins the game at 11-8.
Game 2 - Both players move very fast but Ryu seems to have quicker hands. Its 4-2 for Ryu. His forehand seems to be his strength as nothing gets by him on the right wall. At 5-5 they are both proving to be great "divers" as they stretch for shots. At 6-6 the rallies are getting longer. The battle continues at 8-8 when Sanjay makes a great low cross-court. Then he hits the bucket and loses the next point. (Bucket holds the towels). Now it is 9-9. Sanjay hits a nick and goes up 10-9. No let given and it is 10-10. Ryu hits the tin. Twice. Sanja wins the game 12-10.
Game 3 - Ryu shows quick hands to go up 3-0. After much jostling and after the PSA website goes down so we can't see the score, the game ends in Sanjay's favour at 11-7.
Game 4 - 3-1 for Sanjay. He dominates with new speed. Then 6-1. He can't be stopped. Then 8-1 with more "splits" in the works. At 9-4 Ryu is showing signs of hope. Sanjay wins with 11-4 lead.
Court 2 5:15 David Baillargeon (CAN; 42) VS. Salah Eltorgman (CAN; 88)
Alright battle of The Great White North! Unseeded Western Student Salah Eltrogman and hometown favourite by default is taking on the 1 player in Canada David Baillargeon. Both are members of Squash Canada’s National Team.
Game 1 - David is very relaxed out there and controlling the tempo of the game with super tight lengths and volleying some incredible soft cross court winners. He jumps out to a quick 8-4 but Salah is a very imaginative player and creates so hard twist and turns for David creating a couple of errors. He fights back to make it close but David just keeps sticking to taking the ball early and he’s length is better giving him more opportunities to close out the first game 11-9.
Game 2– Well David really game out dominating this game. Flawless length, some impressive winners and just a dominant performance . Salah was done 9-3 and didn’t want to give up. He really started to show the racquet skills he possesses and was hitting some crazy tight winners that were so decisive and deceptive. But in the end David just proved to much and takes it 11-7.
Game 3- Salah has come out playing a foot further up the court and volleying everything. He was creating immense pressure and was really controlling this game taking a 7-2 lead. David makes some adjustments to counter this barrage of pace and winners and shows why he is # 1 in Canada as he runs the next 9 straight points to win 11-7 and the match 3-0.
Court 3 5:15 Grace Gear (ENG; 44) VS. Asia Harris (ENG; 69)
Game 1 - Grace wins the toss and the first point. She soon goes up to 8-3 with better court coverage. The game ends at 11-4 for Grace.
Game 2 - Grace takes the early lead with 3-0 before losing a point. They tie at 3-3. Stroke to Grace who climbs to 6-4. there is a lot of the competitors bumping into each other this set. And Grace has won the second set 12-10.
There were again an ongoing issue of running into each other and it was definitely an advantage for Grace as it I believe became a mental issue for Asia - her thinking many calls were unfair. Grace went on to win this third game 11-9 - taking the match in 3 straight games.
Court 2 6:30 Salma Eltayeb (EGY; 39) VS. Caroline Fouts (USA; 92)
Caroline Fouts from the US won the match against fourth-seeded Salma Eltayeb with a final score of 3-1. Here's a quick recap of the match:
- Eltayeb started strong, leading 7-4 after some consistent play and a few unforced errors from Fouts.
- Both players explored different areas of the court, but Eltayeb managed to take the first game 11-9 in 9 minutes.
- Fouts responded by gaining momentum, taking advantage of Eltayeb's movement and forcing errors
. - Fouts won the second game 11-8 after building a strong lead.
- After a tight start, Fouts' boasts and drop shots were effective, helping her secure a lead and eventually take the third game 11-8.
- Fouts led most of the final game, though Eltayeb kept close with powerful cross-court shots and boasts
. - Fouts sealed the victory with an 11-8 win in the fourth game, securing the match 3-1.
Fouts showed strong tactical play with effective boasts and drops, eventually overcoming Eltayeb in a well-fought match.
Court 3 6:30 Leung Chi Hin Henry (HKG; 48) VS. Kareem El Torkey (EGY)
-Leung Chi is from Hong Kong and Kareem is from Egypt. I watched Kareem play yesterday in his match and found his agility on the court very good and exciting to watch. Will be interesting to see if that ability continues into today’s game against Leung.
I would say the first game seems to start with both players feeling each other out - testing each other with different shots. And both players are responding very well to the other players tests. The score at the beginning was 6-2 for Kareem and the skill level of his shots seems excellent at the start of the match outwitting Leung.
Leung seems to be hitting the tin a lot early in the match which is costing him points. A hit on the tin just cost Kareem a point after a very long rally - just one of many long rallies in this game. While the score is 9-6 at this point the long rallies speak to the fact of the players being equal at this point in the match. Kareem winds the first game 11-6.
This game starts with rallies that are quicker and shorter and the score is quickly tied 2-2. A great shot has tied the game at 4-4 - both players are giving it their all. After a very long rally with brilliant shots by both players the point to make the score 5-4 goes to Leung. After two amazing soft shots low on the court Leung now has a two-point advantage at 6-4. Kareem has made what I would call several unforced errors hitting the tin which has given Leung an 11-6 win in this game. When he left the court Kareem slapped the wall in frustration on the way out after this game. I usually find that anger can get into your head so it will be interesting to see how he reacts as the match goes onto game 3.
An unforced error at the beginning of this game has Leung up 1-0 - is it Kareem’s frustration?? One thing I have noticed about Kareem's style is he often leaps up in the air a bit as he hits the ball. The score is now 4-4 and it appears to me that Kareem has settled down from his anger of losing the second game - but boy are these rallies long. There is a lot of interference and lets going on in this game and I believe it is Leung getting into Kareem’s head a bit after the anger of losing the second game. What a great rally!!! The score is now 10-9 with Leung just winning this point. The technique, agility and stamina in this game is unbelievable. Kareem won this game 14-12 and his excitement was shown. An excellent game by both players - some truly astounding shots.
Well Leung was quickly up 3-0 at the start of this game. The rallies are shorter in this game and the score is now 5-3 Leung. Kareem hit a great nick to tie the game at 5-5. And again, in this game there is a lot of interference going on and lets seemingly to Kareem’s advantage. 10-9 - match point for Kareem. And Kareem’s hit off the tin just tied the game 10-10. and with two errors on Kareem’s part - hitting the tin Leung takes the game 12-10.
Well this game starts an hour into the two players beginning the match. After some quick points to start the match the score is 7-2 for Leung. One thing that I have noticed is that Leung rarely runs into Kareem - the lets and interference is because of Kareem not getting around Leung to return a shot. And this is very evident in this game. Kareem is constantly running into Leung. Several of the points in the last game of this match are because of points for interference. Match point Leung. and Kareem hits the tin to end the match losing 11-7.
Court 2 7:15 Shahjahan Khan (USA; 50) VS. Joseph White (AUS; 84)
The match begins with Joseph White serving aggressively, immediately putting Khan on the defensive. White quickly racks up three consecutive points, using tight, accurate drives on the left-hand side and employing swift changes in direction that catch Khan off guard.
Khan responds by forcing an error from White, making it 1-3. However, long rallies follow, with White maintaining control and winning two additional points through well-placed shots that disrupt Khan's rhythm. Khan serves at 3-6 but loses the point after an intense, tight rally on the left side, where White finishes with a delicate drop shot. Khan tries to close the gap by forcing another error from White, bringing the score to 5-8. The pace and direction of play vary frequently, culminating in a lengthy rally. White questions a pickup call, but he is awarded the next point. Both players continue to showcase their skill with rapid exchanges, but White's resilience under pressure earns him the first game, 11-6, despite Khan's drop shot attempts. *
Game 1 Score: White 11 - Khan 6**
White starts serving from the right side, and Khan returns with a sharp drive down the line, setting a fast pace for the game. Both players demonstrate precision in their shots, but White applies pressure with a cross-court shot that forces Khan to hit the tin. White is awarded a stroke, but Khan evens the score at 2-2 with a powerful drive deep into the right side. A fast-paced rally at the front of the court tests both players, and White wins the point with an accurate drop shot on the right. White pulls ahead to 4-2, as both players target tight margins at the front of the court.
Khan serves from the right but White easily returns. At 6-3, White serves again, and Khan attempts a cross-court lob but misses, hitting the tin. White extends his lead to 8-3 with a deep drive to the left side.
The game is briefly interrupted when a camera at the back of the court is knocked off its mount, but after a brief delay, play resumes. Khan gains a point with a deep drive on the left side, and a long rally explores every corner of the court, leading to a 9-4 score in White's favor. In the 11th minute,
White is awarded another stroke, bringing him to 10-5. Khan responds with a point, and both players battle through incredible pace variations. Khan claws his way back to even the score at 10-10. After a brief pause for towels, Khan makes a poor shot that results in a stroke for White, followed by another tin from Khan. White capitalizes and wins the second game 12-10.
**Game 2 Score: White 12 - Khan 10**
Khan takes the first point after White's serve, but White quickly responds with a point and is awarded a stroke following Khan's failed drop shot attempt. White surges ahead, leading 5-2 after just three minutes. A let decision from the referee on Khan's movement on the left side leads to White being awarded a stroke due to Khan's interference in the middle of the court. White creates distance with a 7-4 lead. Khan, serving from the left side, forces an error from White, narrowing the score to 5-7. He follows up with a deep cross-court shot to the right, bringing it to 6-7.
The pace remains relentless, with White maintaining a 9-6 lead after forcing Khan to hit the tin. White then strikes a perfect cross-court nick to bring up match ball at 10-8, but Khan keeps the match alive by making it 9-10 with an accurate drop shot on the left side after a long rally.
Facing a second match ball, the two engage in a fierce battle on the left side. Khan dives in an effort to retrieve the ball but ultimately concedes the point. Frustrated, Khan smashes the glass wall at the back of the court but quickly apologizes.
White wins the third game 11-9, sealing the match 3-0.
**Game 3 Score: White 11 - Khan 9**
**Final Score: White 3 - Khan 0**
Joseph White’s sharp drives, consistent pressure, and ability to manage long rallies were key to his victory. Despite Khan’s efforts, particularly with his drop shots and pace changes, White’s composure and accuracy led him to a straight-game win.
Court 3 7:15 Torrie Malik (ENG; 54) VS. Sara Cheng (HKG; 65)
Torrie of England v Sara of Hong Kong about to commence. Game on. This is about to be a very anticipated match up of the night. Both players evenly matched at 54th and 65th in the world. Sara serves and jumps out to an early 2-0 lead. Both players come out flying, trying to gain the advantage over their opponent and feel out each other’s game. Sara’s patience is paying off early as she is controlling the tempo of these early-on rallies. Torries not backing down has tied up the score and is refusing to let sara take a significant lead. 7-6 Torrie with the first “yes” let decision of the night. The ref is really letting these two players play through. 8-6 Torrie. After a few long rallies and carefully timed holds, Torrie has come back from trailing a better part of the first half of the match to win it 11-6.
Torrie is beginning to show her experience on the court and is making the younger Chinese player move around the court at will. Sara isn’t giving up on the rallies and despite not controlling them stays in the fight. Torrie quickly responds to the Chinese players 2 quick points with a carefully timed and placed lob to the back right corner to regain the lead. 4-2 Torrie. 5-2 Torrie. The English player continues to dominate and not let the younger player any room to control any part of these rallies. If the T was a house, Torrie has moved in and is making it her home. 7-4 Torrie. 9-6 For the English player. Business end of this match and she’s about to seal the deal as she attacks the ball making a volley boast putting her within 1 point of game ball. A few minutes later a short ball confirms the win for the English player.
2-love for the English player going into game 3. Torrie comes out strong and takes an early 3-nothing lead against Sara. Can Sara battle back? Only time will tell. From where I’m sitting, it looks like it’s going to be quite the hike up hill if she’s going to take a game off the older, more experience English player. 6-3 after the English player almost pelts the Chinese player in the leg after digging out a perfectly placed lob from the Chinese player. 8-4 Torrie. 5-8 Sara… 6-8 sara!!! Can she come back?!?! It’s not looking likely as Torrie makes it 10-7 and finally takes the victory with a back nic to seal the deal. 3-0 Torrie Malik! Great match!
Court 2 8:00 Nicole Bunyan (CAN; 49) VS. Saran Nghiem (ENG; 67)
The match between Nicole Bunyan and Saran Nghiem started with high intensity. Nicole took advantage of early errors and won the first game decisively 11-2, which may have come as a result of years of character building at the Nash Cup.
Saran regrouped in the second game, showcasing a perfect nick on the front left. Tensions rose as Nicole requested a let after light contact, and an unfortunate call on a loose ball resulted in a stroke against her. However, Nicole fought back to tie the game at 8 all with a perfectly placed winner, though Saran edged out a close victory 11-9.
In the third game, Saran dominated with sharp short shots and tight length, while Nicole struggled with let calls. Amid crowd distractions, Saran cruised to an 11-4 win, taking a 2-1 lead.
Despite long, breathtaking rallies in the fourth game, Nicole faced a steep challenge. Saran’s commanding play led to an 11-4 win, securing a 3-1 match victory. Both athletes displayed impressive skill, but Saran’s consistency prevailed.
Submitted respectively and enthusiastically by J Beintema and ChatGPT
Court 3 8:00 Cesar Salazar (MEX; 53) VS. Finnlay Withington (ENG; 83)
We’re about to begin! Stands are full and the noise levels are beginning to rise. Game 1, first serve Finley to receive. Cesar takes an early 2-1 lead over the English player. Fun fact Ceasars previously highest world ranking was 25th back in 2015! Cesar, the more experienced player, is starting to show why he was ranked so high back in the day. Comfortably controlling the rallies, making the younger English player work for every point. Massive rallies leave Ceasar moving up 7-4 over the Englishman. 8-5 Mexico! Business end of the match and Cesar continues pouring on the pressure. 10-6 Mexico. Game point, 4 game balls but the Englishman responds with a nic winner to try and break up the Mexicans momentum however it’s a little too late and Cesar quickly responds with a volley winner to take the first game.
Second game. Cesar immediately jumps to an early 2-0 lead. Finnlay isn’t backing down and scores to get back into it. Cesar continues to put pressure on the young Englishman by controlling the t and ultimately the rallies thus far in the match.
A nice hold sends the Mexican the wrong way, tying the game at 4-4. Finnlay scores again quickly, giving him his first lead of the game and the match tonight! Despite Finnlay a best effort in the match so far, Cesar’s experience is proving to be too much for the younger Englishman to handle and Cesar quickly responds by scoring 6 easy points giving him 5 game balls early on in this second game. A mere seconds later Cesar attacks, takes the game and goes up 2-0 on the Englishman.
1-0 Finley! 2-0 Finnlay to start the third game of this match. A strong start for the English player. The Mexicans experience quickly dissolves the Englishman’s lead and ties up the game 4-4. If Finnlay’s going to make a push, it needs to be now! With his biggest lead of the night, 7-4, Finnlay looks strong going into the business end of this game! 9-4 Finnlay! Is it too soon to call the game Finnlay? Maybe not! The English man quickly converts a quick drop into 6 game balls and doesn’t take too long to only need two of them to take game 3! 2-1 Mexico going to the 4th!
Game 4 starts off with a “yes” to end the first rally leading into a nice little exchange of back and forth drops with too many unforced errors creeping in for the Englishman and just like that has fallen 4-1 to Cesar from Mexico. Finnlay’s not back down and is using his momentum from his 3-game win to stay in this game! 4-4! Anyone’s game 4 at this point. 7-4 for the younger player from England! Despite being a more experience player, the older Mexican player seems to be conceiving this 4th game saving his energy for a final game 5. I maybe spoke to soon as Cesar has battled his way back tying it at 8! 9-9! The Mexican doesn’t not want this going 5! With a controversial “yes let” for the Mexican at 9-9 he catches a break and crowd goes nuts! 10-9 Cesar! Finnlay goes off with a broken racket. Maybe a new racket will improve his odds? Not likely and after making a drop so close to the side wall, a piece of paper couldn’t find the day light, Cesar sends the younger, less experienced player packing! Game, match Cesar from Mexico
Court 2 8:45 Curtis Malik (ENG; 40) VS. Moustafa Elsirty (EGY; 75)
Let’s get to one of the most anticipated matches of the night and the first proper sightings of “GAAAARY!”, - a Nash Cup Annual tradition.
The first game started as all do, with 2 players, and a serve. From then on, this match was anything but ordinary. El Sirty pushed out to a quick lead 3-0, after surviving in 5 the night prior. Curtis Malik, a crowd favourite was there with the support of multiple family members and copatriots. Once settled in Curtis attempted to counter the pace of El Sirty with measured precision, and battled back to bring it near at 5-6. Mustafa hit a stride and made a run of hard paced shots and retrievals to quickly end the first match. Quick of course, relative to the upcoming games to follow..
It’s very difficult to capture the energy and feel of games 2 through 5. Yes, spoiler, it went to 5. It was a continuous battle of physicality, power and flair vs disciplined and strategic movement and hitting. Curtis adjusted to the rhythm of the first game, yet it remained close at 4-2. From there a series of calls, great shots and retrievals, and powerful tins brought us to 8-4. What followed were back to back tins from ElSirty giving Malik game ball, who took little time to equalize the match score.
The third followed a trend that would continue throughout the rest of the match. Trading points, back and forth, and many, MANY calls. Our hard working referees were absolutely tried and tested throughout the evening, and game 3 is when the asks really started coming into play. In this game, intense rallies took over, with many hard and low cross courts, which both players managed to retrieve and reset. The players were tied at 5-5, then 7-7, later 9-9 and ultimately 11-11. Sirty sent a cross court deep into the rear corner to push ahead one for game ball, but Curtis patiently held a shot to draw a stroke and bring it to 12s. One forehand kill was followed by a stroke against El Sirty and Malik jumps ahead 2 games to 1.
Curtis came out so strong in the 4th, hoping to end the night of his Egyptian opponent with a 5-1 lead. A fire was lit, and Mustafa battled back to a score of 6-5 with heavy and hard accuracy. Shortly after, El Sirty slipped and wiped out in the back of the left corner and requested a physio timeout. Our great medical staff took the player aside, checked him out, and after a short break we resumed. In the interim, everyones favourite ‘Man of the Court’ the svelte Gary Sullivan took to the hardwood, armed only with a towel and immense charm, but motivated by the chants and cheers for his efforts.
El Sirty returned with a fresh shirt and outlook on the game, and again, traded points, between many referee calls, to save a match ball at 10-9 and push it to 10-10, then ultimately sealing a 5th game 12-10 after another No Let call.
Well folks, this is absolutely what we wanted. A tense battle, feats of extreme athleticism, and loud cheers for dudes with towels. The 5th started as the games before had - back and forth, calls one way, calls another way. Neither player managed to get more than 2 points ahead, and, yet again we were going into extra points, after many more calls. An eruption from the crowd came at 8-8 when Malik reverse boasted at the front to freeze his opponent. That was followed by a couple of unforced errors on both sides, and a few more calls for good measure. It got INTENSE. First a no let, followed by a let gave Elsirty match ball! Malik patiently retrieved and recovered and got a no let at the end of an intense rally to bring it to 10s. Malik then sneakily served to the body, which couldn’t have back wall nicked at a better time! The crowd absolutely erupted! Another intense rally followed, and Malik again rolled out a winner on the right side, mid nick. Now it was the Malik family’s turn to erupt, with perhaps the largest scream coming from Curtis’s sister Torrie. Epic was an understatement - this match truly had it all and left the crowd in awe!
Court 3 8:45 Georgia Adderley (SCO; 33) VS. Nour Heikal (EGY; 71)
• 0-0: Top seeded Adderley starts strong with a confident serve, taking the first point with a sharp volley.
• 3-2 Haikal: Haikal, playing fearlessly against the second seed, finds her rhythm with tight drops and accurate drives.
• 5-3 Haikal: Haikal extends her lead, using her speed and precision to force Adderley into errors.
• 6-6: Adderley fights back, pushing Haikal deep into the corners with her powerful drives.
• 8-8: Both players exchange long rallies, showing excellent defensive skills.
• 10-9 Haikal: Haikal earns game ball with a clever forehand drop.
• 12-10 Adderley: Adderley saves game ball with a deep backhand and clinches the game with a precise straight drive into the back corner.
• 3-1 Haikal: Haikal responds strongly in the second game, forcing Adderley to scramble with well-placed shots.
• 5-3 Haikal: Haikal maintains her lead, applying pressure with sharp drops and tight volleys.
• 7-5 Haikal: Adderley tries to fight back, but Haikal’s speed keeps her ahead.
• 10-6 Haikal: Haikal reaches game ball after a well-executed backhand drive.
• 11-6 Haikal: Adderley tries to save game ball, diving for a tight drop from Haikal, but she can’t make the recovery. Haikal levels the match at 1-1.
• 2-2: The players trade points early, showing strong defensive and attacking skills.
• 4-2 Adderley: Adderley starts to dominate, using her powerful, deep drives to pin Haikal to the back of the court.
• 7-5 Adderley: Haikal fights to stay close, retrieving difficult shots, but Adderley’s power continues to control the pace.
• 10-6 Adderley: Adderley powers through to game ball with aggressive volleys and accurate drives.
• 11-8 Adderley: A cross-court nick secures the third game for Adderley, giving her a 2-1 lead.
• 2-0 Adderley: Adderley comes out strong, taking an early lead with aggressive forehand drives.
• 5-3 Adderley: Haikal tries to rally, but Adderley keeps her on the defensive with powerful volleys.
• 7-5 Adderley: Haikal stays close, using her quick movement to pressure Adderley, but the second seed stays in control.
• 9-5 Adderley: Adderley extends her lead, applying relentless pressure with deep, powerful shots.
• 11-5 Adderley: Adderley closes out the match in style with a forehand winner into the back corner, securing the fourth game and the victory.
Final Score: Georgia Adderley (2) 3-1 Nour Haikal (12-10, 6-11, 11-8, 11-5)
