Quarters : Home hopes dashed as semi-finalists are decided

Home hopes dashed as semi-finalists are decided

There was no joy for German favourites Raphael Kandra and Saskia Beinhard on quarter-finals day at Sportwerk in Hamburg, but a big upset for Wales’s Tesni Murphy as the semi-final lineups were decided …

Tesni downs second seed Tinne in thriller

[6] Tesni Murphy (Wal) 3-2 [2] Tinne Giilis (Bel) 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 3-11, 11-9 (62m)

Wales’ Tesni Murphy defeated Belgium’s Tinne Gilis in a thrilling 62-minute encounter to book a place in the 2024 German Open semi-finals.

Murphy looked fired up in the first game, as she got the better of a number of her rallies. The Welshwoman used a combination of holds and flicks. Despite a strong fightback from Gilis, errors from the Belgian helped Murphy over the line to win the first game 11-8.

Gilis responded well in the second game, staying in rallies and not rushing her shots. There were still signs of edginess in the Belgian’s game, but she seemed in control of most of the rallies as she pushed to an 11-7 second game win.

Murphy fought back in the third game, improving her shot selection, and forcing Gilis across the court to take a decisive 6-1 lead. The No.2 seed grew into the game, but the deficit was to great to overcome as Murphy took a 2-1 lead in the match. Gilis made the rallies longer in the fourth game, playing to her physical advantages and trying to tire out her opponent to good effect, as she pushed on to a conclusive 11-3 win to restore parity at 2-2.

The decisive fifth game saw a very even start, as the pair traded points with both playing a slightly more conservative play style. A fault from Murphy at 5-4 gave Gilis a mental advantage as she pushed on and maintained a narrow advantage in the match to 8-7.

Despite the lead that Gilis kept in the fifth game, it was Murphy who earned the first match ball, and the Welshwoman claimed the win after Gilis hit the ball out to set the Welshwoman up with a semi-final against England No.1 Georgina Kennedy.

“It was a tough match,” said Murphy after the match. “I’m pretty pleased to get the win. I thought it was really good squash from both of us.

“I’ve got huge respect for Tinne. She’s a really good friend off the court so it’s really a difficult one to balance that emotion after the match.

“It was a good match, high quality squash.”

Nele downs Khagafi in three

[1] Nele Gilis (Bel) 3-0 [7] Malak Khagafy (Egy) 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 (28m)

Top seed Nele Gilis defeated Egypt’s Malak Khafagy in straight games to book a spot in the 2 semi-finals.

In a impressive showing from the Belgian, the first game saw Gilis make quick work of the young Egyptian, maintaining a constant fast tempo that Khafagy struggled to keep up with.

The second and third games were a similar story, and Khafagy only managed to accumulate 12 points in total (11-4, 11-4, 11-4) as Gilis showed her class and claimed victory in just 28 minutes.

“Every tournament there seems to be a few, new Egyptians cropping up and they’re all so fearless, so strong and good at a young age,” said Gilis. “I had never played her [Malak Khafagy] before, but I’d watched some of her matches and I wasn’t going to take her lightly at all. She’s definitely an up and coming player and I’m very happy to get away in three.

“For any athlete the highs are very high and the lows are very low. There’s no really a consistent feeling. At first, losses hurt but you have to learn from them and they make the fire inside burn even more and make you stronger and you can learn from your mistakes.

“Usually you come back stronger from those setbacks and people always see the success, but behind the success there’s so many losses and tears! At the end of the day they fire you up to improve and they’re stepping stones to success for sure.”

[6] Dimitri Steinmann (Sui) 4-0 [9/16] Bernat Jaume (Esp) 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 (38m)

Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann progressed to the semi-finals  after defeating Spain’s Bernat Jaume in three games.

The match saw crowd favourite Steinmann dominate most of the rallies as he set pace for the Spaniard. The Swiss player kept consistent and refocused quickly after errors to keep the pressure on Jaume.

The persistent fast-paced style of the Swiss player kept the Spaniard on the back foot, and along with Steinmann’s physicality which allowed him to get to most of Jaume’s drops, the World No.34 cruised to 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 game wins in 38 minutes.

“All credit to Bernat,” said Steinmann. “He played a really good match. “He’s tricky, especially going to the front two corners. I was happy with my movement to the front today so I could neutralise it.

“He gave me a tough run for my money and I’m happy to be in the semi-finals.”

Kennedy stops Aboelkheir threat to reach semis

[3] Gina Kennedy (Eng) 3-0 [5] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (Egy) 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 (28m)

In the first quarter-final England’s Georgina Kennedy defeated Egypt’s Fayrouz Aboelkheir in straight to take the first semi-finals spot.

The England No.1 looked stronger from the start of the game. The Egyptian showed signs of quality as she put away several good winners, including a pin-point accurate backhand drop into the nick at 2-8, but the intensity of Kennedy was too much as she overwhelmed Aboelkheir and took the first game 11-4.

The match continued in the same vein as Kennedy kept ahead and chipped away at her opponent to claim 11-5 and 11-6 wins in the second and third games.

“She’s such a threat,” said Kennedy. “I’d never played her before, but because she’s doing so well, luckily there was a lot for me to watch on SquashTV. 

“She’s been pushing a lot of the top players so I was nervous, but it gave me a lot of fire in my belly, I don’t want to lose to someone so much younger than me and that helps me.”

Ng sails into semis

[4] Eain Yow Ng (Mas) 3-0 [9/16] Velavan Senthilkumar (Ind) 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 (42m)

Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng progressed to the semi-finals after a convincing win over India’s Velavan Senthilkumar.

The first game saw both players stay close in scoring. A forehead drive that died in the back right corner from the Malaysian pushed the game to 4-5, and it Yow Ng that got the better of the game from there. Every long, attritional rally saw Senthilkumar make an error trying to force attacking shots, and the Malaysian pushed on to win the first game 11-7.

Yow Ng remained on top in the second game, and the Indian continued to leak errors at crucial moments to extend the No.4 seed’s lead as he won 11-6 to take a 2-0 advantage.

The third game played out in a very similar manner. The Malaysian controlled the tempo of the match and a combination of quality shot-making from Yow Ng and mistakes from Senthilkumar gave the World No.22 the match 3-0 to set up a semi-final clash with the winner between Joel Makin and Timothy Brownell.

“It’s always been a close affair between us,” said Ng after the match. “For some reason, every time he upsets a few players to get to me.

“It’s getting tougher every time, but I also know my strengths, I know I can hang in there, play the big points better, and I think it showed in the first and second games.

“I’m just happy to get through in three today.”