KUALA LUMPUR: Nour El Sherbini stormed back from a two-game deficit to defeat top seed Laura Massaro and become the youngest-ever women’s squash world champion on Saturday.
The 20-year-old Egyptian’s victory at the PSA World Women’s Championship in Malaysia also vaults her past Massaro into the sport’s No.1 ranking.
“I’m dreaming right now, I didn’t imagine I could win this match,” said El Sherbini.
She had looked like a champion all week.
In the quarterfinals she crushed Nicol David — the defending world champ who had dominated the sport over the past decade — ending the Malaysian’s bid for a ninth world title.
She then swatted aside her compatriot Nouran Gohar in the semifinals to set up a rematch of the 2013 final that was won by Massaro.
Massaro seemed headed for her second world championship as El Sherbini, appearing rattled, committed several unforced errors and questioned the officials’ decisions in dropping the first two games 6-11 and 4-11.
But she recovered in the third with a series of devastating volleys and held Massaro off 11-3, 11-5, 11-8 in the last three games.
“Me and Laura’s games have always finished in five games. This time was going to be my turn and I was confident knowing that I was playing good,” El Sherbini said.
Massaro paid credit to El Sherbini after the match.
“It’s amazing for her to have come back from two games down. I will take this defeat on the chin and return stronger,” she said.
El Sherbini’s defeat of David earlier in the week left the Malaysian’s hometown fans stunned and provided further evidence that her decade-long dominance of the game may be over.
The Malaysian has a record eight world championships but has suffered a dip in form over the past year. In September she surrendered her phenomenal nine-year stranglehold on the world’s No.1 ranking.
But David expressed confidence that she could stay among the sport’s elite despite falling to a previously unthinkable world No.5, and she shot down speculation that she may consider retiring soon.
“Disappointed — but not even close to retirement,” she tweeted late Thursday after her loss.
No world championship was held in 2015 after the event was suddenly called off in December amid controversy, with its previous promoter claiming security concerns in Malaysia prevented it being staged.
Malaysian officials denied any security threat and accused the promoters of a ploy to secure more financial support.
El Sherbini is world squash champion
El Sherbini is world squash champion
Benzema grabs hat-trick on Al-Hilal debut as Blues cruise to victory over Al-Okhdood
RIYADH: Karim Benzema had a debut to remember on Thursday, just days after completing a blockbuster move to Al-Hilal from Al-Ittihad.
The Frenchman, who had scored eight goals for his former side this season, took his tally to 11 as he grabbed a hat-trick against home side Al-Okhdood.
Benzema, wearing the No. 90 jersey, led the line in Najran as Al-Hilal sought to hit the 50-point mark in the Saudi Pro League and maintain their lead at the top. With Al-Ahli just three points behind and playing at the same time against Al-Hazem, victory was imperative.
Flanked by Malcom and Salem Al-Dawsari, Benzema enjoyed a comfortable first outing with the Blues. As he dropped deep to overload the midfield and drifted intelligently between attacking channels, a goal on his debut always felt inevitable.
After a goal resulting from slick combination between Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Al-Dawsari was ruled out because of a foul by Ali Lajami in the build-up, the game remained goalless in the opening half hour.
But then Benzema, targeting the same channels as Milinkovic-Savic and Al-Dawsari, dropped deep to initiate a move before advancing into the six-yard box to backheel the opener in the 31st minute.
Fifteen minutes after the break, Kalidou Koulibaly won possession high up the pitch before releasing Malcom into space, who squared for Benzema to tap home his second.
Al-Dawsari created Benzema’s third just three minutes later, after Milinkovic-Savic carried the ball toward the box and gave the winger a chance to pick out Benzema with a low cross.
Pundits on official broadcaster Thmanyah highlighted the role Benzema was playing in helping Al-Hilal diversify their attacking play. With the trio of Malcom, Milinkovic-Savic and Al-Dawsari missing a consistent, clinical striker to provide for until now — 10 players in the league have scored more goals than Al-Hilal’s top scorer Marcos Leonardo — Benzema provided the final piece of the puzzle and completed it with full marks on his first appearance.
With the clock ticking down, Al-Hilal capitalized as Al-Okhdood tired, and Malcom grabbed his side’s fourth goal in the 70th minute, before Al-Dawsari added a brace to complete an emphatic 6-0 rout.
Over in Jeddah, Al-Ahli faced a visiting Al-Hazem side led by the last striker to guide the Greens to a league title, Omar Al-Somah. The Syrian striker failed to make much of an an impact on his return to Al-Inma Stadium, however.
After a difficult first half against resilient opponents, Ivan Toney finally broke the deadlock in the 58th minute to extend his tally at the top of the Pro League goal-scoring chart to 19. It came when veteran keeper Ibrahim Zaid, deputizing in goal for Bruno Varela who was forced off in the 33rd minute due to injury, spilled a corner, allowing Toney to pounce and tap in from close range.
Any hope of a comeback was extinguished in the 76th minute when Sultan Tanker bundled the ball into his own net following a low cross from Mohammed Abdulrahman.
Earlier, Al-Fayha defeated Al-Najma 3-0 at home to move ahead of Al-Hazem into 11th place in the league. The visitors continue to endure the worst start to a season in Pro League history, becoming the first team to go 20 matches without a victory.
On Friday, NEOM host Al-Riyadh at 5:25 p.m. and Al-Ettifaq face visitors Damac at 6 p.m., before the weekend’s blockbuster match-up as Al-Nassr host Al-Ittihad at 8:30 p.m.
