Eleinen Downs ElShorbagy To Reach Maiden Platinum Quarter-Final

Egyptian world No.13 Aly Abou Eleinen reached his maiden Platinum quarter-final after defeating England's world No.9 Marwan ElShorbagy in an exciting four-game encounter on day four of the El Gouna International Open in the Egyptian Red Sea resort.

The 24-year-old, who in round two shocked world No.6 Mazen Hesham, continued his excellent run with a comprehensive performance on the traditional court at the El Gouna Squash Complex.

Eleinen clinched a tight opener 13-11 before doubling his lead by the same scoreline in game two.

ElShorbagy hit back with an 11-4 win in game three, but the lightning fast Eleinen came storming back in game four, covering every inch of the court to win it 11-6.

Eleinen will take on compatriot Mostafa Asal in the quarters after the No.4 seed eased past Dimitri Steinmann.

"I enjoyed it all. I enjoyed the pressure, I enjoyed the match, the tactics, the reffing, the decisions, the arguing, the easy parts, the tough parts, I enjoyed the whole package!" Eleinen said.

Joining Eleinen and Asal in the quarters are No.2 seed Paul Coll of New Zealand and No.5 seed Karim Abdel Gawad of Egypt, after Coll cruised past France's Gregoire Marche and Gawad came from a game down to beat Scotland's Greg Lobban.

In the women's draw, defending champion Nouran Gohar came through a feisty encounter with rising star Amina Orfi.

After a hard-fought opening game win, No.2 seed Gohar appeared to be cruising when she took game two 11-3.

16-year-old world No.13 Orfi impressed in game three as she pulled a game back, but Gohar - who returned to world No.2 earlier in the day - proved too strong, wrapping up the match with an 11-5 win.

Afterwards, Gohar said: "I think it's more about winning titles now, thankfully I've been to world No.1 on multiple occasions. Obviously I would do anything to come back to world No.1 but that box is already ticked on that objective and there are other goals in my mind."

Gohar will play USA's Olivia Weaver in the last eight after the No.5 seed stormed past Egypt's Malak Khafagy.

Also through were English No.4 seed Georgina Kennedy and Egyptian No.6 seed Nour El Tayeb, with Kennedy overcoming Malaysia's Aira Azman and El Tayeb defeating England's Sarah-Jane Perry.