France’s World No.4 Camille Serme got the better of World No.1 Nour El Sherbini on the opening day of the 2020-21 CIB PSA World Tour Finals to boost her chances of qualification for the knockout semi-finals at Cairo’s Mall of Arabia.
The CIB PSA World Tour Finals features the top eight male and female players on the CIB Road to Egypt Standings, with points on offer at all PSA World Tour events throughout the 2020-21 season. The group stage uses a round robin, best-of-three games format as players bid to qualify for the knockout stages.
El Sherbini finished top of the women’s CIB Road to Egypt standings, but her chances of lifting a second title at the CIB PSA World Tour Finals have suffered a blow after Serme came back from a tie-break defeat in the opening game to win 10-12, 11-3, 11-6.
“I am very happy with my game tonight,” said Serme.
“It has been a while since I had a good win, so I will take that one, especially against the World No.1. I was enjoying my game and really focused on what to do on court and that was really important.
“She can hit many winners as well, but today was more about errors and I will take that. This tournament is never easy anyway, it is a bonus and I am just happy to be enjoying my squash again.”
Serme sits in second place in Group A with 3 points, level with World No.2 Nouran Gohar, who overcame fellow Egyptian Salma Hany 2-1. Gohar leads the group courtesy of having a higher percentage of points won compared to Serme.
Serme and Gohar will go head-to-head in the next round of matches and either player can book their places in the semis if they win and results elsewhere go their way. Meanwhile, a defeat for El Sherbini against Hany could see the top seed bow out of the event.
Defending champion Hania El Hammamy and England’s Sarah-Jane Perry contested the day’s sole Group B fixture, with the Egyptian winning 11-7, 11-9 to become the first player to take maximum points from her first fixture.
“I was a little bit nervous before the match,” El Hammamy said.
“It’s the first pool match, so I have to be sharp from the beginning and it’s best-of-three. It is never easy against SJ, she is a very tricky player and she likes to play some tricky stuff. I try as much as I can not to think about being defending champion, because last time, when I thought about it [at the CIB Black Ball Open], it gave me a little bit of extra pressure on myself.”
Results - First Round: 2020-21 CIB PSA World Tour Finals Women’s Group A
[6] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) 2-1: 10-12, 11-3, 11-6 (34m)
[3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [8] Salma Hany (EGY) 2-1: 9-11, 11-5, 11-2 (52m)
Results - First Round: 2020-21 CIB PSA World Tour Finals Women’s Group B
[2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [5] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 2-0: 11-7, 11-9 (30m)
Draw - Women’s Group A Second Round: To Be Played June 23rd
[8] Salma Hany (EGY) v [1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
[6] Camille Serme (FRA) v [3] Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Draw - Women’s Group B First Round: To Be Played June 23rd
[7] Joelle King (NZL) v [4] Amanda Sobhy (USA)
