Team USA’s Amanda Sobhy is through to her third career PSA Platinum final–and first since rupturing her Achilles four years ago after a Black Ball Open semifinal victory over world No. 10 Salma Hany Wednesday, March 17, in Cairo, Egypt.
Sobhy, world No. 7, entered her seventh career Platinum semifinal with a 2-0 head to head record against Hany, who dispatched U.S. teammate Olivia Blatchford Clyne in the quarterfinals.
The match got off to a competitive start, with Hany taking an early advantage by winning the first game 12-10. Sobhy was quick to respond by winning the second game 11-7, and decisively powering through the third game 11-2. Hany came within reach in the fourth, but Sobhy held on to clinch a spot in the final 11-7 after forty-five minutes.
“She started really strong and I started a bit flat from yesterday and the high of it,” Sobhy said. “It took a while for me to get myself going, but I started to feel my groove in the second. I felt like I was running a bit more and my movement was getting a bit better, I was pressing up on the T instead of being a bit passive and just told myself to stay aggressive and take it to her. If I was going to lose then I was going to go down fighting.”
The twenty-seven-year-old admitted it was a special feeling to reach another Platinum final after only previously reaching two in 2016, just before her injury in March 2017.
“This is my first final post-injury, four years ago on this date I had my surgery on my Achilles and now to see I’m in the final of a Platinum is something special, so I’m going to give it my all,” Sobhy said.
Sobhy’s bid for her first Platinum title be against Egypt’s world No. 1 Nour El Sherbini, who has dropped just one game all tournament and defeated world No. 8 Joelle King the first semifinal of the day.
Sobhy will be familiar facing El Sherbini on the Black Ball Sporting Club court after upsetting the Egyptian in the quarterfinals of December’s Gold edition of the tournament.
Watch the final live Thursday at 8:30pm local time, 2:30pm EDT on SquashTV.
