Seeds Suffers As Dessouky & Fiechter Advance To Cairo Quarters

Fares Dessouky delivered one of the biggest shocks in round three of the CIB Egyptian Open when he came out on top in a pulsating five-game thriller against No.5 seed Mohamed Elshorbagy to advance to the quarter-finals of the PSA World Tour Platinum event in Cairo.

The unseeded Egyptian, ranked 11 in the world, produced an impressive display to overcome the world No.4. It was a strong start from Dessouky who went 2/0 up after winning the first two games 11-6 and 11-8.

But Elshorbagy, who was runner-up in last year's tournament, stormed back with two excellent games to restore parity and force a fifth game decider.

However, it was Dessouky who kept his cool in the fifth to pull off the upset and reach the event's last eight for the first time since 2019 - where he will face world No.2 Paul Coll at the Great Pyramids of Giza.

"It was a very tough match. I was up 2/0 and there was a lack of concentration, a lot of talking to the referee, and then he played some amazing squash and came back to two-all - but I'm happy to get that win," Dessouky said.

"I thought I was going to lose (going into the fifth game), but I told myself that I need to play my best squash and both of us were really tired at the end. I had to push really hard at the end and it worked. I'm glad it worked.

"It was a bit of a challenge for me today because he's in form, he won the last (Platinum) tournament so I had to tell myself that I can win big matches in big tournaments so it's a good thing. I'm happy to be in the quarter-finals and I'm looking forward to it."

Meanwhile, Mohamed's brother Marwan Elshorbagy avenged his defeat to Victor Crouin in last week's Open de France de Squash final by coming from a game down to beat the French No.1.

There was another big upset in the women's draw as USA's world No.11 Olivia Fiechter downed No.5 seed Joelle King to reach the Egyptian Open quarter-finals for the first time, where she will play world No.3 Hania El Hammamy.

Fiechter, who lost 3/0 to King in round three of the El Gouna International in May this year, made the perfect start to the match as she took a commanding 2/0 lead after 11-7, 11-4 wins.

The US No.2 made a good start to the third game as she sensed an upset, with the 27-year-old going 5-3 up.

Kiwi King, however, is famed for her powers of recovery and pulled a game back with an 11-8 win.

In a nerve-wracking fourth game, both players threw everything at each other. Fiechter had a match ball at 10-9, but couldn't convert as King forced a tie-break with a perfect drop.

King then had game balls at 11-10 and 12-11, but saw both saved by a determined Fiechter, who then moved 13-12 ahead before finally bringing an epic contest to an end with a tight backhand to win 14-12.

"Oh my God, I don't think it's sunk in yet. Joelle is someone I have so much respect for and someone I've looked up to throughout juniors and in my career. It was just so neck-and-neck," said Fiechter.

"Every rally felt like a marathon. There was a lot of emotion in that match and a lot of ups and downs. It wasn't as consistent as I'd have liked it to be, but that's what happens when there's a lot on the line. I was trying not to think about making it into my first quarters or getting the opportunity to play in front of the Pyramids.

"I was just trying to focus on my squash and I had to fight for every rally. I'm so happy that I just dug in there and kept retrieving balls and believing in myself. I can't believe it!"

Elsewhere in the women's draw, Hollie Naughton continued her excellent streak in the tournament after coming from behind to defeat France's Melissa Alves to earn her first-ever Platinum-level quarter-final berth.

Elsewhere, the top two seeds in the men's draw, Ali Farag and Paul Coll, and the women's draw, Nouran Gohar and Nour El Sherbini, picked up where they left off yesterday by advancing to the next round with straight game victories.