Quarter-finalists decided in Sydney

The last two Australians left standing at the 2024 City Tattersalls Group Squash Australian Open have fallen in their round two matches at Sydney University today.

In the opening match of the day, Australia’s top-ranked player Jess Turnbull fell to Sana Ibrahim 3-0. The Queenslander took an early lead in the first game before the fifth seed took control and established a lead which Turnbull couldn’t peg back.

Ibrahim raced through the second game and while Turnbull played strongly to the end, the world No.37 proved too strong.

In the first of the evening session matches, France’s Marie Stephan defeated the last remaining Australian Sarah Cardwell 3-0. World No. 48 Stephan was in a hurry and rushed to a 2-0 lead. 

While the home support for the Aussie at Sydney University’s Sports & Aquatic Centre was spectacular, Caldwell couldn’t quite gain enough momentum to fight back on the scoreboard before Stephan triumphed and booked her place in the quarterfinals.  

Yiwen Chan earned her first-ever appearance in the quarter finals of a PSA World Tour event after ousting No.7 seed Ka Yi Lee in five games.

World No.87 Chan is ranked 44 places lower than Lee in the World Rankings and, after going 2-1 down, Chan responded in the fourth with an 11-6 win to force a fifth game.

Chan pressed on and had four match balls to seal the win, but three were saved by Lee. However the Malaysian converted at the fourth time of asking to advance to the last eight of a World Tour event for the first time in her career.

“I’m really happy to make it into the quarters for the first time,” she said.

“I was just focusing on every point and enjoying the progress. I just tried to keep things simple and my coach was with me and I think it helped me having that support.

“I really hope I can get some good results this year and prove to everyone that I can do better.”

Egyptian rising star Amina Orfi kicked off her tournament campaign by seeing off her compatriot Haya Ali in straight games.

Orfi, who won her maiden title on the PSA World Tour at the Squash on Fire Open last month, was facing fellow Egyptian teenager Ali for the first time on the World Tour.

No.2 seed Orfi had the match sewn up in 26 minutes, winning 11-3, 11-6, 11-4.

Hong Kong’s Tomato Ho also squared off against a fellow countrywoman, defeating Ching Hei Fung 3-0.

After taking the first two games 11-5, Ho saw some match ball opportunities squandered while Ching was also unable to capitalise when game ball was presented to her. Ho managed to convert in the tiebreak to win 14-12 in the third to book her spot in the last eight.

Men's Draw

In the men’s draw, No.2 seed Youssef Soliman eased into the last eight with a comprehensive victory against Tang Ming Hong.

The World No.12 found great success in driving the ball into the back of the court, while mixing the pace against the Hong Konger to record a 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-2 win in the second round.

Soliman’s quarter final opponent will be David Baillargeon, who also safely progressed with a 3-0 win at the expense of Wong Chi Him.

Post-match, Soliman said: “It’s tricky – I didn’t know what to expect from [Tang Ming] Hong.

“Most of the Hong Kong players have a good flow on court and I saw that he’s a very good player, a good flow and I had to break his rhythm and his flow. I did well to do that and I’m glad to be through in three.

“It was the first time [playing Hong] and you don’t know what to expect. You watch them a couple of times and I saw his match yesterday, but still to share a court with him is different. He may have been a bit tired from yesterday, but I’m happy with the way I played.”

Soliman will be joined by No.3 seed Sebastien Bonmalais in the quarter finals after he beat Noor Zaman 3-1.

Henry Leung recovered from 2-1 down to beat Spencer Lovejoy for the last place in the quarter finals.

Lovejoy, who was aiming to reach the quarter finals of a World Tour event for the first time, was 2-1 up before Leung mounted a comeback with an 11-9 victory in the fourth to send the match into a decider.

Both players were patient in their play, picking their moments to attack as Leung capitalised on errors from Lovejoy to secure a quarter final berth.

Quarter-final matches will commence on Friday at 2:15pm AEDT with all matches streamed shown LIVE on SquashTV.

Click here for all results.

2024 CITY TATTERSALLS GROUP SQUASH AUSTRALIAN OPEN
DAY 2 | THURSDAY 21 MARCH 2024
Australian Results

Women
[5] Sana Ibrahim (EGY) d Jess Turnbull (QLD) 3-0 (11-7, 11-2, 11-7)
[8] Marie Stephan (FRA) v Sarah Cardwell (VIC) 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-6)