US Open Title Defences Underway For Reigning Champions ElShorbagy & El Welily

Defending champions Mohamed Elshorbagy and Raneem El Welily successfully began their title challenges at the FS Investments US Open after victories in the second round of the PSA World Tour Platinum events at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Elshorbagy is a three-time champion at the event and will be aiming to add a fourth to his ever expanding collection after already clinching both the China Open and Oracle NetSuite Open titles at the start of this season.

However, Borja Golan did not make it easy for Elshorbagy, with the veteran Spaniard pushing him all the way in a feisty four-game encounter. The Spaniard led 8-3 in the fourth, but was unable to hold onto it as the 28-year-old Bristol-based Egyptian closed out the win by an 11-8, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9 margin.

"When you play Borja, it is always going to be tough," said Elshorbagy.

"He is one of those players that if you are going to take them out, you have to fight for every point. He is so experienced, he knew what time to change the ball, what time to slow the pace and when to play at a faster pace.

"It would mean a lot to get my fourth title here, every season I work on my game a lot. I finish every season ask myself what went wrong and what I need to work on. I want to be back at No.1 again, I don't want any other number but No.1. I'm going after that spot big time this season. Every session I did this summer was with that focus, and I'm not going to relax until I get it."

Meanwhile, world No.3 Tarek Momen survived a big scare after coming through a five-game battle with Qatar's Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi, winning 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6 to book his anticipated place in the last 16.

Tamimi produced strong and disciplined squash in the first game to take a surprise lead over the World Championship runner-up, and fought back from 2/1 down to set up a decider. But Momen showed just how much his mental resilience has improved over the years in the fifth as he kept his composure to set up a third round meeting with Germany's Raphael Kandra.

"I always give every player the upmost respect and never underestimate anyone," said Momen.

"I went into today's match knowing that Abdulla has a good arsenal of attacking shots and I knew that he has a good game, but I feel the way he played today was well above his ranking. He was just unbelievable and at some points I felt like he couldn't make any mistakes."

Elsewhere, world No.1 Ali Farag began his attempts to win a second US Open title with a 3/0 win over England No.1 Daryl Selby, while world No.4 Karim Abdel Gawad defeated up-and-coming Egyptian Mostafa Asal.

US interest in the men's draw came to an end at the hands of New Zealand's Campbell Grayson when he got the better of University of Penn junior Andrew Douglas.

In the women's draw, world No.1 El Welily took just 23 minutes to despatch fellow Egyptian Nadine Shahin in straight games.

The 30-year-old has already reached finals at the China Open and Oracle NetSuite Open this season - winning the former - and she will now face compatriot Yathreb Adel in the next round after she battled past England's Julianne Courtice in a tough five-game encounter at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia.

"I'm always happy to be back here in Philly," said reigning champion El Welily afterwards.

"I absolutely love it here and the atmosphere is always amazing. It's definitely not been a bad start to the season. I'm pretty pleased with the way I have performed, but the season is still very long and it is only two tournaments out of 10 or 12. It counts for nothing so I have to put it behind me and keep moving forward."

Meanwhile, US No.1 Amanda Sobhy overcame compatriot Olivia Fiechter, despite still struggling with the effects of an adductor strain sustained at the Oracle NetSuite Open.

The Boston-based Harvard graduate withdrew from her quarter-final match in San Francisco and, sporting heavy strapping on her leg, battled to an 11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7 victory to ensure that she will face India's Joshna Chinappa in the last 16.

"I was struggling with a little niggle in my leg from San Francisco," said 26-year-old Sobhy.

"So I didn't really know what to expect coming here and whether I was playing or not playing, playing and making it worse. But this tournament means so much to me and I wanted to at least try, so no matter what happened I gave it a shot and tried my best. I'm pleased to win and move to the next round."

Sobhy's younger sister, Sabrina, bowed out to No.2 seed Camille Serme, while US No.2 Olivia Blatchford Clyne lost out to New Zealand's Joelle King.

The day's biggest upset saw Malaysia's world No.48 Sivasangari Subramaniam down England's experienced world No.13 Alison Waters to set up a meeting with 6th seed Sarah-Jane Perry, also from England - marking the first time the 20-year-old has reached the last 16 of a PSA Platinum event.