[2] Amina Orfi (Egy) 3-0 [6] Satomi Watanabe (Jpn) 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 (38m)
[1] Paul Coll (Nzl) 3-1 [2] Marwan Elshorbagy (Eng) 11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 11-3 (59m)
Final : Orfi and Coll claim the titles
Paul Coll and Amina Orfi have been crowned the New Zealand Open champions after the Kiwi overcame Marwan ElShorbagy and the Egyptian beat Satomi Watanabe in front of a sell-out 1,160 fans in Christchurch’s Isaac Theatre Royal – a record-breaking crowd for squash in New Zealand.
In the women’s final 17-year-old Orfi exorcised her demons with a thorough dismantling of Watanabe. Two months ago, Watanabe broke Orfi’s heart in the semi-finals of Squash in the Land in Cleveland with a 77-minute long five-game epic victory that was decided by a tie break in game five.
Today’s match was another affair entirely, with the young Egyptian dominating early proceedings to take the first game 11-5.
“To be honest, I still can’t believe it,” Orfi admitted. “I thought about the defeat in Squash in the Land coming into this tournament, even when I was back home. But I just tried to forget it because it was a tough match and it could have gone either way, so I just made sure I didn’t really focus on that today.”
In the men’s final, second seed ElShorbagy went into today’s match with revenge on his mind after losing out to Coll in the final of the last edition of the New Zealand Open, in Tauranga in December 2023. Top seed Coll quickly set the tone as he took the opening game and although ElShorbagy levelled the match it was Coll who ran out the winner in four games.
“It’s been an unreal week,” Coll said. “It’s in my hometown and I had so many family and friends here, some people that have really helped me out over my whole career. To play such a big event here, to have 1,200 people turn out today, to have some close friends court side, have family three rows back, was pretty unreal. I’m so filled with emotion.”
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Semis : Coll fightback delights home crowd in Christchurch
Defending champion Paul Coll will contest another New Zealand Open final after the Kiwi former World N#1 struck back from a game down to beat Baptiste Masotti to set up a rematch with England’s Marwan ElShorbagy in the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch.
The women’s final, meanwhile, will be between Egyptian 17-year-old Amina Orfi and Japan #1 Satomi Watanabe after they defeated Rowan Elaraby and Salma Hany.
Top seed Coll, who spent his junior years in Christchurch, had some alarm bells ringing in the 1,000-strong crowd as he dropped the first game 9-11 to his French opponent. To the relief of his fans, Coll rectified the situation, looking more relaxed as he took the next three games to advance.
Coll said: “I came out relaxed all week and I was just trying to enjoy it, it’s the most incredible place I’ve played and to have over 1,000 people here I can’t believe it.”
Standing between Coll and silverware is second seed Marwan ElShorbagy. The Englishman has unfinished business in New Zealand after a 3-0 defeat to Coll at the last editionand today he crushed third seed Eain Yow Ng of Malaysia.
The women’s final promises to be an intriguing clash as second seed Orfi and sixth seed Watanabe meet for the third time this season, with Watanabe dishing out defeats to Orfi in the semi-final stage of the Silicon Valley Open and Squash in the Land.
Both impressed tonight as Watanabe powered past Egyptian seventh seed Salma Hany while
Orfi took a straight games win ove rcompatriot Rowan Elaraby, the third seed.
Quarters : Salma comeback topples top seed Tinne in Christchurch
Salma Hany came roaring back from two games down to topple tournament top seed Tinne Gilis and reach the New Zealand Open semi-finals in the Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch.
Going into today’s match, Hany had never beaten Gilis in three previous attempts, with Gilis breaking the Egyptian’s heart on home court at last year’s El Gouna International by taking a five-game win after Hany had come back from 0-2 down to level. Today, it was sweet revenge for the 28-year-old.
“Absolutely incredible!” Hany said. “I’m very, very proud of how I fought today. To be able to come back after 0-2 against such a great player is definitely something I’m very proud of. I definitely remembered how I came back in El Gouna after she bagelled me, and in the second game… well, I need to stop mentioning that! I knew I had the mental strength to come back from 0-2 down and I just kept telling myself to keep pushing until the last point.”
Hany will face Japanese sixth seed Satomi Watanabe in the semi-final after the Japan #1 received a walkover against Scotland’s Georgia Adderley due to injury. The other semi-final will be contested by Egyptians Amina Orfi and Rowan Elaraby after they both overcame Malaysian opponents, with 17-year-old second seed Orfi beating Rachel Arnold 3-1 and Elaraby defeating Sivasangari Subramaniam – who wore strapping to her right leg throughout – in straight games.
The men’s semi-finals will see New Zealand top seed and defending champion Paul Coll go up against France’s Baptiste Masotti while second seed Marwan ElShorbagy will play Malaysian third seed Eain Yow Ng .
Day Three : Jeeva reaches first major QF as round two concludes …
Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva reached the quarter-finals of a Silver-level PSA event for the first time as the World #65 shocked World #22 Abdulla Al-Tamimi of Qatar on day three of the New Zealand Open at the Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch.
“It’s definitely the biggest win of my career,” Jeeva said. I’ve not had the chance to play many top 50 players. This is the first time I played Abdullah and he’s the highest ranked player that I’ve beaten, so far!”
Jeeva will take on Malaysian compatriot Eain Yow Ng in the quarters after the third seed ended the run of 18-year-old local wildcard Oliver Dunbar with a convincing win in straight games.
Jeeva and Ng were not the only members of the Malaysian contingent to enjoy success today, with women’s fifth seed Sivasangari Subramaniam and eighth seed Rachel Arnold also progressing.
In an uneven performance, Sivasangari battled back from 1-2 down to overcome compatriot Aira Azman and set up a quarter-final clash with Rowan Elaraby, while Arnold got the better of Hong Kong, China’s Lee Ka Yi.
Arnold will take on 17-year-old Amina Orfi, the second seed coming through an all-Egyptian encounter with Hana Moataz after saving eight game balls in 28-minute-long first game to complete a 3-1 victory.
For the home crowd, defending champion Paul Coll provided the perfect tonic after Dunbar’s loss, with the top seed – who spent many of his junior years in Christchurch – beginning his campaign with a comprehensive win over Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue.
Day Two : Adderley topples defending champion as Round Two begins …
Defending New Zealand Open champion Nele Gilis-Coll crashed out in dramatic fashion as Scottish World #23 Georgia Adderley put in a career-best performance on day two of the Silver-Level event at the Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch.
Adderley went into the match having never taken a game off Gilis-Coll, with the Belgian World #10 winning all three of their previous meetings in straight games. The Scottish #1 turned that around to to wrap up a shocking straight-game victory of her own.
Adderley will play Japanese sixth seed Satomi Watanabe in the quarter-final after the World#11 came from a game down to beat Hong Kong’s Tomato Ho.
“For sure it’s the biggest result of my career” Adderley said. “I mean, she’s top 10 in the world and I don’t think I’ve ever beaten a top 20 player, certainly not in the PSA. So yeah, big result. Pretty happy!”
It wasn’t all good news for Scotland though as France’s Auguste Dussourd fought back from a game down to put Scottish fourth seed Greg Lobban to the sword.
“Today, when I got into the court, I said I wouldn’t focus on the result, whether I win or lose at the end. Today, it’s the performance that matters, not the result,” said Dussourd, who plays compatriot Baptiste Masotti in the last eight after the sixth seed recovered from a slow start to overcome Egypt’s Yahya Elnawasany.
Round One : Wildcard Dunbar stuns Soares as New Zealand Open begins
Home wildcard Oliver Dunbar produced one of the shocks of the season as the World #255 stunned Portugal’s World #54 Rui Soares to kick off the New Zealand Open at the Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch.
Despite being ranked more than 200 places below Soares, Dunbar played with no signs of nerves and sent the home crowd into raptures by completing a famous victory by powering tin four games.
“That’s definitely the biggest win of my career. It was great to do that at home, I’ve got my Dad here and a few club mates came to watch so it’s pretty cool,” said Dunbar, who will face third seed Eain Yow Ng of Malaysia in round two.
Dunbar is one of two Kiwis through to the second round; top seed Paul Coll received a first round bye, while wildcards Ella Lash and Anthony Lepper played well but lost out to Malaysia’s Ainaa Amani and Spain’s Bernat Jaume. Former World #3 Joelle King struggled with an injury in her match against Malaysia’s Aira Azman, with the New Zealand #1 losing in 25 minutes.
Elsewhere, Malaysian world #65 Sanjay Jeeva came from a game down to upset Hong Kong’s Alex Lau, USA’s Marina Stefanoni fought back to beat Spain’s Marta Dominguez, and Auguste Dussourd came through a five-game marathon against French compatriot Edwin Clain.
