Egyptian squash stars continued their domination of the men and women s PSA World Championships in Chicago, with a combined $1 million prize on offer, the highest in squash history as four players secured their places in the tournament s semifinals.
In the women s draw, world number 3 Nour El-Tayeb of Egypt needed only 25 minutes to beat world number 12 Annie Au of Hong Kong 3-0 (11-5, 11-7 and 11-6).
"It s a different game playing Annie, so much height and lots of play at the front, I m really happy to get through that in three games," El Tayeb said.
“I m very happy to be in the semis and I don t mind who I play."
Defending champion and world number 1 Raneem El-Welily of Egypt defeated her fellow countrywoman Nouran Gohar 3-1 (11-4, 6-11, 11-4 and 11-2) to set up a semifinal game against El-Tayeb.
"I was a bit nervous coming into this actually, since Nouran beat me a week ago in Egypt." El-Welily said.
"I m happy that I was able to keep my focus, especially after she took the second, and delighted to go through to the semis,” she added.
In the men s draw, Egyptian star and world number 1 Mohamed ElShorbagy faced a tough mission to beat world number 6 Miguel Rodriguez of Colombia 3-1 (5-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6) in 61 minutes.
Mohamed ElShorbagy will face his fellow countryman Tarek Momen in the tournament s semifinals after the latter defeated Marwan ElShorbagy 3-0 (11-5, 11-4 and 11-6) in the quarters.
"That was one of the best Miguel s played against me. I could tell it was going to be tough from the start," Mohamed ElShorbagy said.
"He wasn t going to give me anything, I had to win the points. I m glad I managed to get ahead after the first part but it was always tough," ElShorbagy added.
