Wales’ Emily Whitlock scored her first win since 2022 at the PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family after the World No.50 upset Hong Kong’s Tomato Ho as the event began today in Chicago.
The afternoon session of day one saw 17 matches take place at the University Club of Chicago, with Whitlock holding firm to see off World No.27 Ho by an 11-9, 12-10, 9-11, 14-12 scoreline.
Whitlock squandered five match balls in the fourth game but was able to refocus in the tie-break to earn her first win at the sport’s most prestigious tournament in three years. Belgium’s World No.13 Nele Gilis-Coll will be Whitlock’s second round opponent after she came back from a game down to beat Ka Yi Lee.
“Every point is just as important as at 0-0,” said Whitlock afterwards.
“I don’t think I played any differently, I didn’t force it or change anything because it was match ball. Her coach could argue she should never have lost those points in a row, all I was really thinking was that I had a lot of lactic acid in the legs, so I could really do with winning it in four.
“I just took each point as it comes, I wanted to play a good game of squash, and I think I did that for at least 80 per cent of the match.
“I’ve played well here in 2023 and 2024. I had really rough draws though, I played two top 10 players in the first round. You can compare draws and who is able to take advantage of the way that the draw has been done with the seedings. It wasn’t unfair because it wasn’t done against me personally, but it was just unlucky.
“It’s quite nice to get a win and I took advantage of not playing a top 10 player, I guess.”
World No.3 Hania El Hammamy also made a winning start to her title challenge, beating fellow Egyptian Nour Aboulmakarim in four games. El Hammamy, a three-time semi-finalist at this tournament, will play England’s Lucy Turmel in the next round.
Singh Claims First Worlds Win
In the men’s afternoon session, India’s World No.45 Abhay Singh claimed his first ever win at the World Championships after holding off the experienced Nicolas Mueller. Singh, 26, recovered from a one-sided defeat in the second game to earn his spot in the last 32.
“It was a tough win,” Singh said afterwards. “I played Niki a year ago and lost 3-1. I analysed that match, came through with some good tactics with my coach, and it paid off. He’s very experienced and a tough player to break down. It was a brutal battle physically and both of us were feeling it inside. I did a few things right in the middle of the third and fourth games, I took away his leads and that helped.
“James [Willstrop] was here today and he had a good chat with me after the second game. He wanted me to bring some structure back into that match, it got a bit exhibition style from me, so I had to stick to what I’m good at. I had to put the ball in the back, take the ball into the front and it did pay off towards the end.
“I lost in the first round here [in his first World Championships appearance], so it’s nice to go one better. I’m excited to be in the second round of such a big event and hopefully it can push my ranking up.”
Mosaad Finds Form
2015 World Championship runner-up Omar Mosaad rolled back the years as the 37-year-old defeated compatriot Mohamed ElSherbini in a dominant straight games victory. Next up for ‘The Hammer of Thor’ is a second round meeting with World No.11 Youssef Soliman.
“I knew it was going to be a good match. I played with Sherbini at the Windy City Open last year, and he’s a really tricky player. I did a great job today winning 3-0. I was focused 100 per cent and everything worked today.
“Reaching the final was a good memory but it was a long time ago now. There are different ages between the players but I have to accept it, that’s the game and I have to train very hard. My coaches have done a very good job to get me back to competition again.
“The game has changed a lot, in the old days it was more skilful and technical, especially if you played with [Amr] Shabana and Ramy [Ashour]. It’s more physical now, but I like a challenge.”
Ibrahim Returns from Injury
Elsewhere, World No.13 Youssef Ibrahim returned from injury with a hard fought win against Yahya Elnawasany. The 26-year-old battled to a 12-10, 11-13, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6 victory and he will take on Singh next.
“I’m very happy with the win, it was very tough, physically and mentally,” said Ibrahim.
“Yahya is a a tough first round, I haven’t played since El Gouna, and I was a bit nervous coming into this match. I had to dig deep, but it’s a good match to set me up for the next round and the rest of this tournament.
“I didn’t feel like I was seeing the ball very well. My movement was a bit off and I was getting to the ball a bit late. I was on the defensive side most of the match and wasn’t playing my usual aggressive style, I wasn’t taking many volleys and he was anticipating my shots.”
Men’s First Round:
[8] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-0: 12-10, 11-9, 11-8 (50m)[30] Ramit Tandon (IND) bt Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) 3-1: 10-12, 11-7, 13-11, 11-7 (53m)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [27] Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (39m)
[9] Youssef Soliman (EGY) bt Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 (36m)
[12] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) bt Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) 3-2: 12-10, 11-13, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6 (67m)
Abhay Singh (IND) bt [22] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-1: 11-7, 2-11, 11-7, 11-6 (41m)
Women’s First Round:
[21] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bt Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) 3-1: 11-5, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6 (35m)[5] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt Haya Ali (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-0, 11-2 (27m)
[18] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bt Riya Navani (USA) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 (29m)
Melissa Alves (FRA) bt Salma Eltayeb (EGY) 3-1: 13-11, 4-11, 11-3, 11-3 (32m)
[14] Nada Abbas (EGY) bt Lucie Stefanoni (USA) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 (23m)
[10] Nele Gilis-Coll (BEL) bt Ka Yi Lee (HKG) 3-1: 6-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-8 (45m)
Emily Whitlock (WAL) bt [24] Tomato Ho (HKG) 3-1: 11-9, 12-10, 9-11, 14-12 (56m)
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 11-4, 8-11, 11-2 (39m)
