Team USA’s Amanda Sobhy will make her fourth career World Series semifinal appearance Saturday in the Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open, following a three-game quarterfinal victory over Egypt’s Nour El Tayeb Friday.
In their eleventh-career match up, Sobhy defeated the former world No. 5 11-6, 11-4, 11-8 in twenty-seven minutes in the first match of the day Friday.
“I’m very happy to come through in three today, ” said Sobhy. “Nour used to chop me up in the juniors but last time we played I won it was 12-10 in the fifth, so from the start I tried to stick to the game plan and put her in the back corners, and it worked.
“It’s nice to start the season off by going one better than my seeding and hopefully I can keep it going—I’m looking forward to the semis tomorrow.”
Sobhy’s semifinal opponent is top seed, world No. 1 and world champion Nour El Sherbini. Sobhy has faced El Sherbini just once after losing against the twenty-year-old Egyptian in January’s Tournament of Champions final, a loss in the British Open quarterfinals in March. El Sherbini will be aiming to reach her fifth World Series final of 2016.
“I did a lot of work over the summer with Thierry (Lincou) and my fitness coach Mike and I’m excited to see how it all translates on court, ” Sobhy said. “I’m enjoying playing out there and relishing being the underdog. If I can be relaxed and confident and stay focused, then hopefully I can perform well.”
Watch the semifinals live on SquashTV Saturday from 2:30pm local time, 2:30am ET.