Sobhy & Malik put on a show
The women’s semi-final at the Nash Cup brought together the USA’s Sabrina Sobhy and England’s Torrie Malik in a contest that swung back and forth with both players showing patches of dominance and flashes of attacking brilliance.
The opening game was tightly fought, with both Sobhy and Malik trading clean winners and attacking combinations in quick rallies. Sobhy’s trademark movement began to cause problems, returning shots that usually finish rallies for Malik. That edge allowed her to move ahead 9-5, and though Malik staged a late push, Sobhy held firm to take the first game 11-8 in 10 minutes.
Malik answered superbly in the second, looking far calmer and changing her play to control the tempo. She raced out to a 6-2 lead while Sobhy was pushed into defensive positions around the court. The English player stayed composed, finishing strongly to level the match with an 11-7 win in nine minutes.
The third continued at a furious pace, with Malik’s combinations keeping Sobhy on the run. But a couple of cheap strokes shifted momentum, and Sobhy grabbed a slender lead at 5-3. She held her ground through the middle stages and finished with authority to edge the game 11-8 in 14 minutes.
That left everything riding on the fourth, which began with both players exchanging winners and errors, neither able to pull away. At 8-all the tension rose, but Sobhy found her best squash when it mattered most, stringing together the final three points to take the game 11-8 in nine minutes.
Zaman brings the heat
The men’s semi-final between Pakistan’s Noor Zaman and Colombia’s Matías Knudsen provided a showcase of fast, attacking squash, with both players unleashing sharp movement and aggressive shot-making in front of an animated crowd.
Zaman came out firing in the first game, racing to a 7-1 lead with crisp attacking play that kept Knudsen scrambling. Controlling the middle and finishing points decisively, Zaman closed the opener 11-3 in just seven minutes.
The second game was the reverse in its opening stages, as Knudsen surged ahead 4-0 with a determined push. But Zaman quickly regained control, turning the score around to lead 6-4. What followed was the most competitive passage of the match, as both players exchanged attacking winners and retrieved spectacularly to stay in contention. A tense tie-break eventually went Zaman’s way, 12-10 in 14 minutes, giving him a two-game cushion.
Zaman ensured there would be no slip-ups in the third. Returning to his sharp, aggressive rhythm, he stormed to a commanding 10-3 lead. Knudsen had no answers to the sustained pressure, as Zaman sealed the game 11-3 in just five minutes to complete the win.
Chan Brings the Shock we were Waiting for
Hong Kong’s unseeded Sin Yuk Chan produced a dazzling performance in the Nash Cup semi-finals, sweeping aside France’s Marie Stephan with attacking squash full of confidence and flair.
Chan wasted no time in asserting herself, entertaining the crowd with a string of delicate drops that set her apart from the start. Racing to a 6-1 lead, she never looked back, taking the opening game 11-4 in just five minutes.
The second game followed the same pattern, as Chan dominated with an unstoppable mix of winners and creativity. Stephan simply couldn’t find a way to disrupt her opponent’s rhythm, and Chan doubled her lead with another 11-4 scoreline in seven minutes.
Stephan responded in the third with a steadier game, keeping the rallies tighter and levelling at 3-all. But Chan quickly shut down any chance of a comeback, reeling off eight of the next nine points with relentless attacking accuracy. Sealing the game 11-4 in just six minutes, Chan booked her place in the Nash Cup final in emphatic fashion.
Elshirty puts in the hard yards against Irfan
Egypt’s No.2 seed Moustafa Elshirty powered his way into the Nash Cup final with a commanding performance against Pakistan’s Muhammad Ashab Irfan, showing pace, precision, and resilience across four games.
Elshirty set the tone from the start, combining power with accuracy to pin Irfan deep in the back corners. A run to 9-4 gave him clear control of the opener, which he wrapped up 11-5 in nine minutes.
The second game was even more dominant. Elshirty raced out to a 7-1 lead as Irfan struggled to find any answers to the Egyptian’s quick pace and relentless hitting. With little resistance, the No.2 seed doubled his advantage 11-3, again in nine minutes.
The third, however, saw a shift. Perhaps expecting his opponent to fade, Elshirty was caught off guard as Irfan dug in, playing with greater belief and accuracy to establish a 6-2 lead. Although Elshirty mounted a brief push, the Pakistani raised his level once more to claim the game 11-5 in 11 minutes and extend the contest.
Elshirty quickly reasserted himself in the fourth, refusing to let the setback derail him. Upping the pace and punching accurate drives down the wall, he left Irfan chasing. The effort of the third seemed to catch up with the Pakistani, and Elshirty powered through 11-2 in 10 minutes to seal his place in the final.
Finals Tomorrow,
6pm – Sobhy vs Chan
7.15pm – Zaman vs Elshirty
