United States No.1 Olivia Weaver booked her spot in the semi-finals of the PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family after beating Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam earlier today in front of her home fans in Chicago.
Weaver will now appear in her second World Championships semi after winning 11-3, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5 at Lakeshore Sport & Fitness. Weaver’s semi-final opponent will be seven-time World Champion Nour El Sherbini. The pair met at the same stage of last year’s tournament when El Sherbini recovered from 2-1 down to prevent Weaver from becoming the first American ever to reach the final.
“It never always goes to plan out here,” said Weaver.
“There’s always something unexpected that happens, but we prepared really well for this match. Siva has been playing incredibly well and she beat me the last time we played in Cincinnati, she’s been in really good form. I was really pleased with the adjustments I made since last time, and I enjoyed the occasion and being on this court.
“She’s incredibly skilful with the racket, you have to keep it away from the middle and try and take away her time. I tried to find my lines on this courts, which I think I did well, so I’m really pleased. It’s easy to be hard on yourself out here, but I always try to be critical and not judgemental.”
El Sherbini A Step Closer to Eighth Title
Seven-time World Champion El Sherbini moved one step closer to a record-equalling eighth Worlds title after the Egyptian overcame England’s Georgina Kennedy in straight games.
Despite the 3-0 scoreline, it was a match which saw El Sherbini dig in against a tenacious Kennedy, with two of the three games seeing El Sherbini prevail on the tie-break.
El Sherbini has now reached a 10th successive World Championships semi-final and is this week attempting to match Nicol David’s tally of eight World Championship titles.
“I’m very lucky to win this match, it could have been 3-0 the other way,” said El Sherbini.
“I tried to dig in and tried to play every point, even if I wasn’t hitting my targets or playing the game plan that I wanted to play. Gina was really good and was attacking way better than me today. I’m glad to win and I’m glad I kept fighting for every point.”
Asal Beats 2016 World Champion Gawad
World No.1 Mostafa Asal is through to the last four of the men’s event after dispatching 2016 World Champion Karim Gawad. Asal, who hasn’t dropped a single game on his way to the last four in Chicago, produced an impressive display to keep Gawad at bay and advance, winning 3-0.
It will be a fourth successive appearance for Asal in the semi-finals of this event, with the Egyptian finishing as runner-up last year to Peru’s Diego Elias.
“Karim [Gawad] is an amazing personality on and off the court and I’m speechless to be sharing a court with him at the moment,” Asal said.
“Karim is very tricky to play against, sometimes you see phases where you think he’s completely gone but he isn’t. You could see it at the end of the third, he was a little bit off, and then he came back at me and he gave a fight. It was a tricky match, but it was a solid performance.”
Coll Downs ElShorbagy
Asal will take on World No.4 Paul Coll in the last four after the New Zealander saw off 2017 World Champion Mohamed ElShorbagy in an assured performance.
Coll, who will now compete in his fifth World Championship semi, ground down the Englishman to win 11-4, 11-9, 11-2 in 35 minutes. Coll must now end a five-match winless run against Asal as he looks to reach a second World Championship final.
“I’ve played him loads of times and when he makes that push it’s vital you’ve got to stick with him,” said Coll.
“It’s so hard when he’s attacking you like that and going across the ’T’ line. I tried to stay aggressive myself and I think I did that at the end of the second game. He had a few massive five gamers off the back of Europeans, so I knew if I made it physical then he would start to feel it. I’ve got big respect for him what he does and how he plays, he’s still fighting and he’s so hard to play against.”
The semi-finals of the PSA World Championships take place tomorrow (Friday May 16), with the action getting under way from 17:30 (GMT-5). All matches will be streamed live on SQUASHTV and by PSA’s broadcast partners.
For updates on the PSA World Championships, visit the event website or follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Threads, WhatsApp and LinkedIn. Check out the draw here.
Results – Men’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half): 2024-25 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family
[4] Paul Coll (NZL) bt [7] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-2 (35m) [2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt [6] Karim Gawad (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 (56m)Draw – Men’s Semi-Finals: To Be Played May 16th
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v [3] Diego Elias (PER) [4] Paul Coll (NZL) v [2] Mostafa Asal (EGY)Results – Women’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half): 2024-25 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family
[4] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt [7] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) 3-1: 11-3, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5 (41m) [2] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt [8] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 12-10, 12-10 (37m)Draw – Women’s Semi-Finals: To Be Played May 16th
[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) [4] Olivia Weaver (USA) v [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
