Sobhy Sisters Secure Last 16 Slots At Black Ball Open

Unseeded Sabrina Sobhy produced the only upset on day one of the CIB Black Ball Open to join her sister Amanda Sobhy, the US No.1, in the second round of the women's PSA World Tour Gold event in Cairo this week.

After going 2/0 up against world No.10 Salma Hany, Sobhy junior was able to hold off a comeback by the No.9 seed from Egypt to prevail in five games and claim her first win over a player in the world top 10.

"I had a good start and then I started to fatigue," said Sabrina. "And when you fatigue against Salma and you give her the loose balls, she's just unbelievable.

"I was up 4-1 in the third and she won 11-4 because she just had time on the ball and when you give her time, she just puts everything away. I told myself at the end of that game "this is it, we might not have another tournament for a while, so you're giving it everything you have". I'm pleased I snuck that out at the end, it could have gone either way."

It proved to be a strong day for Team USA overall, with three players through to the last 16 - the Sobhy siblings joined by Olivia Clyne.

World No.7 Amanda will face Egypt's Nadine Shahin for a place in the quarter-finals following her win over compatriot Olivia Fiechter.

"I have a pretty horrendous record in Cairo," admitted Amanda. "I haven't really won the last couple of times I've been here, so that's been lingering in the back of my mind and I wanted to get a win on board and try and reverse the scoreline.

"I wouldn't say my performance was rock solid, but I got by and I'm happy with that, hopefully I can keep improving."

Meanwhile world No.13 Clyne will go head-to-head in the second round with Wales' world No.9 Tesni Evans following their hard-fought wins over Egypt's Mariam Metwally and England's Lucy Turmel respectively.

It will be the first time the two players have faced each other since Evans was forced to limp off court during their match at January's JP Morgan Tournament of Champions due to an ankle injury, which then resulted in her missing the remainder of the 2019/20 season.

"My physicality is something that I've been struggling with since the start of the season and something I've been working hard on over the last block," said Evans.

"I'm really happy because if anything I had to grind and run out today, which isn't really my style, but I think I needed that blow out and hopefully it will stand me in good stead."

Egypt's world No.5 Hania El Hammamy got the defence of her title off to a winning start against Canada's Danielle Letourneau.

El Hammamy's biggest title win came just nine months ago on the same stage when she defeated four-time World Champion Nour El Sherbini to become the Black Ball Open champion, with the tournament being a Platinum tier event in March.

And the 20-year-old Egyptian ensured her winning streak continued at the Black Ball Sporting Club with a strong showing over Canadian Letourneau to prevail in straight games.

"I think it's a bit of nerves and excitement," said El Hammamy afterwards. "It's a different experience [being defending champion] and a different challenge for me. I went on court today wanting to play the best and hopefully I can defend my title.

"All credit to Danielle, she played really well throughout the whole match but particularly in the second, I lost a little of my game plan and then she took advantage. She moved to Cairo and has been training well here - she gave me a hard time in the match."

El Hammamy will face world No.12 Nele Gilis in the second round after the Belgian got the better of Egypt's world No.19 Nada Abbas by an 13-11, 11-6, 11-5 scoreline.

Abbas showed her strength on home soil by taking the lead in the first game. However, good tactics from Gilis saw her lengthen out the rallies and begin to put a lot of work into the legs of Abbas - which she was rewarded for - taking the crucial first game before comfortably closing out in three.

"To be honest, I felt a little unsettled on there," said Gilis. "At the start I was a bit nervous, but I tried to make it as physical as possible because I knew she would get tired quicker than me. We don't get a lot of opportunities to play, so I just tried to enjoy every minute of it."

Meanwhile, an imperious showing from world No.1 El Sherbini saw her comfortably book her place in the last 16 after she dispatched compatriot Zeina Mickawy in 22 minutes.

El Sherbini, who is a two-time runner-up at this event, came flying out of the traps and never allowed her opponent a chance to get into the match, prevailing 11-4, 11-3, 11-9.

"Zeina and I, we play every week," said the 25-year-old. "We play in the same club and have the same fitness coach. She loves to attack a lot, I just wanted to start strong and that's what I did.

"Surprisingly, my knee injury is the same as last year, I am just handling it better now. The struggle is the same, but the time off made me understand my body more. It helped me know when to push and when to stop."

El Sherbini will face surprise opponent Sabrina Sobhy in round two.