Team USA’s Amanda Sobhy advanced to the quarterfinals of the first World Series event of the season—the Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open—following a four-game victory against Sarah-Jane Perry in the second round Thursday at Hong Kong Football Club.
Sobhy and Perry faced off three times last year, with Sobhy winning the two most recent encounters in the 2015 NetSuite Open and Delaware Investments U.S. Open.
Sobhy made it a 3-1 record against Perry, holding off a comeback to reach the quarterfinals 11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7 in forty-one minutes.
Quarterfinal play shifts from the Hong Kong Football Club to the all-glass show court. Sobhy’s quarterfinal opponent is Egypt’s former world No. 5 Nour El Tayeb who is returning to the tour after missing majority of last season due to injury.
El Tayeb started her season on a strong note with a five-game upset over fellow Egyptian and three seed Raneem El Welily in the second round. Sobhy and El Tayeb are familiar opponents, having faced each other as juniors and on the PSA Tour ten times since the 2008 British Junior Open.
Sobhy has won the two most recent encounters on tour, including a five-game second round victory in the 2016 World Championship in April.
Watch their eleventh career encounter live on Squash TV Friday at 12pm local time, 12am ET. For full tournament coverage visit the Hong Kong Open tournament page.