Team USA’s Amanda Sobhy has reached the second round of the NAZA PSA Women’s World Championship main draw at the National Squash Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The twenty-two-year-old world No. 7 defeated New Zealand’s qualifier Megan Craig 11-4, 11-5, 11-2 in twenty-three minutes to reach the second round Monday.
“I’m happy to win in three and hopefully I can carry the momentum on and get sharper and sharper, ” said Sobhy. “The conditions are tough. You come here after all this fitness training and then you’re tired from the first rally, so you’re just hoping that your opponent is more tired than you.”
Sobhy’s second round opponent is Egypt’s former world No. 5 Nour El Tayeb, who is making her first appearance on the PSA Tour since sustaining a shoulder injury during her run to the 2015 Delaware Investments U.S. Open final in October.
El Tayeb also advanced in three games, and defeated Sobhy in their last encounter during the 2015 Texas Open.
“I’ll be approaching the match against Nour the same as I would any other match, ” Sobhy said. “She’s obviously very crafty, tricky and talented so I’ve just got to be ready to move forward and ready to retrieve all of her nicks and other shots that she is going to try to put away.”
Sobhy and El Tayeb are the first players on court in Wednesday’s second round at 12pm local time, 12am ET.
All matches are streaming live on SquashTV.
Sobhy is the sole American representative in the second round after U.S. teammate Olivia Blatchford lost out in three games against England’s world No. 13 Sarah-Jane Perry Tuesday.
The 2015 British national champion defeated Blatchford 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 in twenty-eight minutes.
For full tournament coverage, visit www.psawwckualalumpur.com.
