[2] Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy) 3-1 [1] Paul Coll (Nzl) 9-11, 11-6, 13-11, 11-9 (83m)
Gawad and Weaver claim Australian Open titles
Karim Abdel Gawad of Egypt and Olivia Weaver of the USA have been crowned the Easy Times Brewing Co Squash Australian Open champions after both came from a game down to beat top seed Paul Coll of New Zealand and Egyptian third seed Amina Orfi at Brisbane’s South Bank Piazza.
Just over one week ago there were serious fears that this year’s Australian Open – the biggest professional squash tournament ever to be held in Australia – would not go ahead as Tropical Cyclone Alfred barrelled towards Brisbane. In the event the tournament was delayed by one day, culminating in today’s finals.
“It’s a huge honour to add my name to all these Australian legends on this trophy,” said Gawad. “I’ve learnt so much from them and thanks to everyone for coming and supporting us.”
“It’s going to take a long time to sink in,” admitted Weaver. “Amina was so tough. It’s unbelievable that she’s doing this at 17. “It wasn’t easy and it’s been a tough week and there are so many moments as an athlete that you doubt yourself and question what you’ve been doing, so just to get through this match and win this event means everything.”
Semis : Orfi downs Gilis as finalists are decided
Teen squash sensation Amina Orfi took another step towards the summit of the game as the 17-year-old knocked out second seed Tinne Gilis in front of 1,000 fans in Brisbane’s South Bank Piazza to set up a final against top seed Olivia Weaver of the USA.
The men’s final, meanwhile, will be contested by New Zealand’s Paul Coll and Egypt’s Karim Abdel Gawad after the Kiwi top seed came back from a game down to beat Marwan ElShorbagy and 2016 world champion Gawad ended the run of tournament surprise package Auguste Dussourd.
Quarters : Dussourd reaches first Gold semi-final
France’s Auguste Dussourd is through to his maiden Gold-level semi-final after outlasting Spain’s Bernat Jaume in an 89-minute cage match, while USA’s Olivia Weaver dethroned reigning champion Salma Hany of Egypt in the women’s event.
Round Two : Upsets and injuries as five seeds exit in Brisbane
Five seeds crashed out of the Easy Times Brewing Co Squash Australian Open after a dramatic second round in Brisbane.
In the men’s event, half of the seeds departed as the fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth seeds Youssef Soliman, Eain Yow Ng, Sebastien Bonmalais and Baptiste Masotti exited while in the women’s event seventh seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir was a high profile casualty.
Progressing through to the last eight at their expense were Egyptians Mohamad Zakaria and Yahya Elnawasany, Spain’s Bernat Jaume, France’s Auguste Dussourd and Malaysia’s Aifa Azman.
Azman won a close encounter to reach the quarter-finals of a Gold event for the first time. “I’m so happy to make my first Gold quarter-finals,” she said. “The last year has been pretty hard for me last year since getting a few injuries; I’ve missed tournaments because I tore my quadricep and this is my first event of the year and I’m very happy to go through.”
Also reaching a Gold quarter-final for the first time were Elnawasany, Dussourd and Jaume, with Elnawasany taking out French seventh seed Bonmalais in a dominant 3-0 win and Dussourd beating compatriot and eighth seed Masotti by the same scoreline to avenge his defeat at last week’s New Zealand Open.
Jaume went through as the Egyptian fourth seed Youssef Soliman seed pulled in the fourth game,
and fifth seed Eain Yow Ng was also forced off with an injury in game five against world junior champ Mohamad Zakaria.=
Round One : Tong fightback ends home hopes in Brisbane
Hong Kong’s Tong Tsz-Wing edged past the wildcard Jessica van der Walt in a see-saw five game match on day one of the Australian Open, which saw all the home hopefuls fall to defeat.
In other notable Round One matches, Rachel Arnold came from two games down to beat Nour Heikal, Nicole Bunyan upset Aira Azman in five, and Yahya Elnawasany ousted Alex Lau in three close games.
PAUL COLL CHATS TO NEWSTALKZB
The 2025 Easy Times Brewing Co. Squash Australian Open to go ahead with revised schedule
