2023 Reports 2023 Round Two

R2: Amanda in 3 against Salma

[5] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 3-0 Salma Hany (EGY)  11-5, 11-8, 11-7 (33m)

A change of team I’m told for Salma Hany, not training in Florida with Wael El Hindi, but now more based in Cairo, working with Legend Omneya Abdel Kawy. Meanwhile, whatever happened to the rest of Amanda??? Jzzzz, since she came out with her eating disorder, it’s like she got such a huge load off her mind/shoulders. And basically, there is nothing left of her! In my humble opinion, she is going to be very, very difficult to beat in that shape.

The first game was a bit onesided to be honest, Amanda just in control, Salma covering the court but really really able to impose her style of squash onto the American. 11/5 in 11m.

The second is the one Salma could/should have got. Up 4/0, 5/1, she had changed her game to play mostly on the right side of the court (Amanda is lefthander, of course you know that). But how of the blue, calmly, nearly nonchalantly, the American scored 7 points in a row, zooming to 8/5.

A good readjusting for Salma, 8/8, but it’s too late and Amanda’s got the momentum in her brain, and it’s 11/8 in 11m.

What about the third, with Salma playing well and assertively, Amanda was challenged a bit more, 2/2, 3/3, 5/3 Amanda, 5/5, 6/6. A very bad patch at that point for the Egyptian, three errors in a row, taking her mind off the game ever so slightly,  and it’s a clean finish for Amanda, 11/7.

“I’m happy about it and I think my coach, Wael El Hindi might also be happy about it because I’m trying to get going a little bit faster.

“I’m proud of myself for finishing in three. I know Salma’s not easy, so I’m happy with my performance and that I got off to relatively good starts and kept my momentum throughout the three games.

“The depth is so strong and this is my first match. It feels like I’ve been having a holiday the last four days, and now I’m finally getting going. I’m very fresh so I felt like I could move, but now it’s straight through, there are no rest days and every match is going to be tough.

“You can’t really afford to drop your mental energy or exert yourself too much physically, you’ve got to be on the ball from the word go.

“They’re [El Sherbini and Evans] are both great players. I think in the women’s game it’s awesome these days, the depth is so strong that you can’t go into a first round match thinking you can cruise through, you have to be dialled in from the start. Anything can happen and you have upsets all the time, you saw that in the last stretch of tournaments in the States.”