American world No. 11 Amanda Sobhy fell short in the 2015 Tournament of Champions quarterfinals, losing in four games against Egyptian world No. 2 Raneem El Welily Wednesday afternoon in Grand Central Terminal. On Monday, the twenty-one-year old from Sea Cliff, New York, became the first American woman to reach the Tournament of Champions quarterfinals with her five-game upset over Malaysian world No. 7 Low Wee Wern. With her opening victory, Sobhy set up a quarterfinal clash against third-seeded El Welily, who narrowly lost the Women’s World Championship final in December against world No. 1 Nicol David. El Welily commanded the first two games, winning both with an 11-5 scoreline. Sobhy suddenly turned the match on its head, storming to win the third 11-2, and forcing a fourth. El Welily duly responded in the fourth, edging ahead early on, before pulling away to close out the match 11-4. Despite the loss, the Harvard senior reflected positively on her tournament and playing in front of a partial home crowd and her Harvard teammates. “The week was great, definitely one of my favorite weeks for squash ever,” Sobhy said. “This is one of my favorite tournaments, and I’m just so happy that I won my first match and was able to play in the quarterfinals in front of this home crowd.” “I felt like Raneem had an answer for everything I threw at her,” Sobhy admitted. “I honestly just didn’t know what to do, she was all over me. The third game, I had no idea how I won it. I was just happy to win a game and play on the glass court a little bit longer.” “She played really well, and almost beat me 11-0 in the third,” El Welily said. “I’m glad I adjusted myself in the fourth, and with some good advice, was able to win.” El Welily will now contest the semifinals against English world No. 3 and second seed Laura Massaro, who recovered from 2-0 down in games to defeat French world No. 6 Camille Serme in the first match of the afternoon session. ussquash/amanda-sobhy-falls-in-four-against-world-no-2-el-welily-in-grand-central/ (images: Steve Line/squashpics)
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 22:05:25 +0000
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