SF: One Glasscourt too far for El Tayeb

[2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) 3-1 Nour El Tayeb (EGY)  11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-3 (51m)

Fram reports

What you may not realise, is that El Tayeb came to win this event. She didn’t come here to play the numbers, or make a point about being a mother and an athlete. No. She came here to win. And my LORD what demonstration she made yesterday and today.

And had she had a day off between the victory on Hania, I feel she might have reached the final (at least). And I don’t think it’s physical tiredness today; but mental fatigue. She needs a few competitions of that calibre to get her match fitness back.

If yesterday, she was able to dictate the rallies and step in front of Hania, forcing the Gazelle to work so hard recovering her shots, today, El Sherbini was doing just that: firmly planted at the front, and making her opponent play windscreen scrappers. El Tayeb just couldn’t put Nour under enough pressure consistently.

Yes, El Tayeb took the 3rd, and that proves my point that had she had that day of rest, she might have had that little bit more mental fluid to inject at the end of the game.

Nour El Sherbini reaches her 8th final and will try to win her 6th title. At 26.

PSA Reports

Defending World Champion Nour El Sherbini made it a joint-record eight appearances in World Championship finals as she overcame Egyptian compatriot Nour El Tayeb 3-1 to set up an enticing clash with Nouran Gohar.

El Sherbini went into the match with a dominant head-to-head-record, having won 16 matches to six for El Tayeb, though El Tayeb will have taken confidence from a hugely impressive victory over World No.3 Hania in the quarter-final.

Five-time World Champion El Sherbini flew into a two-game lead as she took the opening games 11-6 and 11-8.

El Tayeb appeared to be growing in the second game and sure enough was able to carry the momentum into the third. The World No.28 put El Sherbini under pressure with a clever range of shots and drew mistakes out of the defending champion.

The pair then traded points as El Sherbini looked to end the match in three, while El Tayeb sought to get a toe in the door. It was El Tayeb who eventually got her way, with the 29-year-old ending the third game with an intelligent drive down the middle onto El Sherbini’s foot.

‘The Warrior Princess,’ had the perfect reply, however, as she came out rapidly in the fourth game to take a 5-1 lead. El Tayeb began to claw her way back into the game, but by this point the El Sherbini lead was too great, and the World No.2 stormed into the final with an 11-3 win.

Sherbini:

“Seeing Nour play yesterday, it was unbelievable squash. She showed everyone what a fighter she is. I’ve known her for a long time and I knew how her life had changed and what a struggle and challenge it is. Seeing her play like this is unbelievable. Every time I see her on court, I’m really proud to see her playing like this. [Knocking out] one of the fittest players on tour yesterday, beating her and playing long matches is amazing. She wasn’t tired today, she pushed to get everything back and I’m just happy to be through.

“I just try to relax and enjoy and don’t put any pressure on myself. I’ve been playing, not many, but a couple of big events and final events. I’ve been in this situation before and I played [Gohar] in the last World Championship and Nouran’s really good. She’s the World No.1 now and she’s achieved a lot this year. I’ll just try to relax and enjoy the day until tomorrow. I’ll be ready for it.”

When asked whether the experience of having already won multiple World Championships would give her an advantage, El Sherbini said: “Definitely, I hope so! I know what this tournament means to each of us. It means a lot to me and it definitely means a lot to her, so I’m sure it’s definitely going to get the best out of us tomorrow.”