ElSherbini Advances To Tenth Successive ToC Semi

Eight-time World Champion Nour ElSherbini defeated Jasmine Hutton to progress to her tenth consecutive semi-final at the Sprott Tournament of Champions presented by Crowd Street at Grand Central Terminal in New York City.

ElSherbini, whose first appearance in the last four in New York came in 2012 when she was just 16 years old, had to recover from 1/0 down to defeat the England No.2 to achieve the feat.

The world No.5, a five-time winner of the Tournament of Champions previously, lost the first to Hutton as the Englishwoman started the brighter, getting in front of the Egyptian and getting onto the ball early.

ElSherbini, who's never lost to Hutton on the PSA Squash Tour, kept that streak intact as the 'Warrior Princess' was more accurate and clinical to win the remaining games 11-2, 11-5, 11-5.

"I think I have a problem with the start, but Jasmine is amazing, she is playing really good and she has improved a lot this season and the season before," she said.

"It's always a tough match against her, it's never easy, so I expected a battle today. She is so physically good and very skilful as well.

"The first game went to the wire, but I am just happy I won in the end."

ElSherbini meets a familiar foe in Wednesday's semis in compatriot Hania El Hammamy, the defending champion who eased her way to a 3/0 success against Satomi Watanabe.

El Hammamy, who lost her previous encounter with Watanabe in the semi-finals of the China Open in November, avenged that defeat to move another step closer to retaining her title in New York, winning 11-6, 11-7, 11-8.

In the men's side of the draw, Karim Gawad is through to the semi-finals for the first time in six years after holding off English youngster Jonah Bryant in four games.

2017 champion Gawad rolled back the years, playing some of the vintage squash which saw him become world No.1 and World Champion 10 years ago to down the Englishman for the third time on Tour.

Having won the first 11-7, Gawad was pegged back by Bryant as the world No.14 started to find his range. 34-year-old Gawad then had two game balls saved by Bryant in the third, but he held his nerve to win the tiebreak 12-10.

Gawad was in his groove in the fourth, moving well around the court and hitting his targets with sublime precision to clinch the game 11-6 and advance to the final four.

"I have to give all the credit to Jonah for his great spirit on court, his mental side, his tactical side and his physical side at such a young age - all credit to him of course. He has so many years in front of him to be in the top four in the world, and I think he will be the top one in the world, so all credit to him," said Gawad.

"I trained so hard to be able to perform like this on court, it's not easy and I always believe that I always have a chance. I am very lucky to have some gifts and I have to use it because in this phase of my career you don't want to run too much but you want to be more clever and use the experience more.

"At the same time, I am really working so hard to be able to stand with these guys for that long, and I believe that I still have much more in the tank.

"It feels great to reach the semi finals, especially in such a unique venue. It's always special and I really enjoy every moment spent on court and I can't wait for my semi-final."

Gawad takes on his fellow Egyptian Mostafa Asal, as the world No.1 progressed to the semis after Youssef Ibrahim was forced to retire during the second game of their quarter-final clash.

Asal took the first 11-8 but was trailing 6-2 in the second when Ibrahim dived for the ball and injured his left shoulder. The world No.6 returned to court after the three-minute self-inflicted injury break, but his restricted mobility left him with no option other than to concede the match.