Welily and Gaultier
take
the titles in Chicago
PSA report
Raneem El Welily made it three Windy City titles in a
row as she came froma game down to beat top-seeded
compatriot Nour El Sherbini in the women's final, and
Gregory Gaultier also recovered from losing the first
game to deny Marwan Elshorbagy a first World Series title.
At the presentation ceremony it was announced that the prize
fund for next year's event will be raised to a record $500k,
shared equally between the two events.
28-Feb, Semis:
Egyptian trio advances
to Windy City finals
PSA report
Three Egyptians won through to the Windy City finals in
contrasting fashions in Chicago.
Women's top seed Nour El Sherbini was in devastating
form as she came from a game down to beat Camille Serme in a
battle between the world #1 and #2, while Raneem El
Welily came through an all-Egyptian five-game thriller
against Nouran Gohar.
In anbother all-Egyptian matchup, Marwan Elshorbagy
reached his first World Series final as he beat Ali Farag in
four close games, while Gregory Gaultier ended the
run of Borja Golan in straight games.
27-Feb, Quarters: Marwan takes one at last
PSA report
as Golan ousts Gawad ...
Marwan Elshorbagy beat his elder brother Mohamed for
the first time in PSA to reach the semi-finals, where he
will met Ali Farag, who came from a game down to beat
Simopn Rosner, in an all-Egyptian semi.
In the women's top half world number one Nour El Sherbini
made it seven wins in a row against Nicol David, while
Camille Serme continued her 2017 unbeaten run with a 3-1
win over Alison Waters.
The bottom half of the men's draw witnessed an even bigger
upset as Borja Golan beat second seeded world
champion Karim Abdel Gawad in four games, setting up a
semi-final with Gregory Gaultier, who beat James
Willstrop in straight games.
The evening's women's matches went the way of the Egyptians
as Raneem El Welily and Nouran Gohar beat
Amanda Sobhy and Laura Massaro to ensure that the top four
seeds contest the semis.
26-Feb, Round Two (bottom) Quarter-finalists settled in Chicago
PSA Report
THe second day of round two action in Chicage saw the
quarter-finalists decided. There were no upsets to report as
second and third seeds Karim Abdel Gawad and
Gregory Gaultier won through, and they'll meet Borja
Golan and James Willstrop in the last eight.
In the women's draw the bottom half quarters will be
Raneem El Welily v Amanda Sobhy and Nouran Gohar v
Laura Massaro.
25-Feb, Round Two (top): Rosner stops Ramy,
Shorbagys set to meet again
PSA Report
Round Two in Chicago started
with the top half of the draws, one big upset and a couple
of escapes.
Germany's Simon Rosner scored his second-ever win (in
11 attempts) against Ramy Ashour to set up a quarter-final
against another Egyptian, Ali Farag, who survived a
five-game encounter with Diego Elias.
The other men's quarter will be another all-Elshorbagy
affair after top seed Mohamed eased past Cesar
Salazar while Marwan came through in five against
Steve Coppinger, saying "I don't know how I won that!".
No upsets in the women's draw as Nour El Sherbini,
Nicol David, Alison Waters and Camille Serme set
up two enticing quarter-finals.
24-Feb, Round One, Bottom
half: Sobhy and Blatchford set up
all-American matchup
PSA report
Round one was completed in Chicago with significant
upsets for James Willstrop, beating eighth seed Omar
Mosaad in straight games, and qualifier Leo Au, a
five game winner over seventh seed Tarek Momen.
Amanda Sobhy and Olivia Blatchford guaranteed
a home quarter0finalist as they set up a last sixteen clash,
wildcard Blatchford beating Joshna Chinappa in three, but
the biggest women's upset came as Canadian qualifier Sam
Cornett came from a game down to beat 9th seed Joell
King.
24-Feb, Round One (top):
Elshorbagy survives in Chicago
as Tesni topples Tayeb ...
PSA report
The main draw got under way in Chicago with a trio of
epic top half encounters.Top seed Mohamed Elshorbagy survived a 94m
five-setter against Paul Coll; Steve Coppinger came
from two games down to beat Cameron Pilley in two hours;
Ali Farag won a see-saw five-setter over Miguel
Rodriguez.
In the women's draw all the matches went to seeding
until the last encounter, in which Tesni Evans came
from 3-8 down in the fifth to beat Nour El Tayeb.
23-Feb: Qualifying complete in Chicago
After two rounds of qualifying at the University Club of
Chicago the main draws of the latest World Series event are
complete, with three unexpected qualifiers in each of the
draw.
For the men, top seed Gregoire Marche succumbed to a
comeback from Karim Ali Fathi veteran Finn
Olli Tuominen beat second seed Nafiizwan Adnan in five,
and British Nationals finalist Joe Lee beat
yesterday's giant-killer Alister Walker to reach the main
draw.
On the women's side Nele Gilis came from two down to
beat Rachael Grinham, Hania El Hammamy beat Millie
Tomlinson in three, and Sam Cornett took out second
seed Coline Aumard to advance.
Windy
City Open 2017
