[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [2] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) ย 11-9, 11-2, 11-3 (35m)
A very good start today for the English girl, coached by Ben Ford, from 3/1 down, she dominated the middle of the opener 8/5, 9/6, forcing a few errors from the Egyptian with crispy holds. Some pretty heavy rallies at that point, but as she does, Hania strung 5 points in a row to close the first game, 11/8 in 15 long minutes.
From that point on, to be honest, Hania was in complete control. Keeping the pace off, finding some exquisite backhand lobs, followed if necessary a feathery drop shot, she never allowed her opponent to breathe freely. 11/2, 11/3.
๐๏ธ "What we are witnessing is a ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐๐จ๐จ" ๐
Hania El Hammamy with an absolutely faultless second game here against Georgina Kennedy โคต๏ธ ๐ฅ#OptasiaChampionships pic.twitter.com/iT87JnuxoM
— SQUASHTV (@SquashTV) March 30, 2025
Ben Ford (coach to Gina)
At the end of the first, she started to rush things a little bit. She was 9/6 up, playing absolutely perfect, Hania got a bit edgy, the errors were coming from Gina’s holds. It looked like poor errors but if you see it back, you’ll see that Gina holds it before she hits it. And so Hania is a bit unbalanced.
Yes, Gina rushed a bit things at the end of the first, lost her way a little bit, and from that moment on, it was pretty fautless from Hania, she didn’t put a foot wrong, every counterdrop was perfect, every lift was a winner.
Gina tried to do the same thing, but her quality was not as good as Hania’s, her lobs were not as good, her drops were not as good, and that’s the difference. It’s very hard to win a poing against Hania when she is moving like that.
Gina :ย I didn’t capitalise in the first game, I was playing probably some of my best squash I played. My level was there, I was holding the ball well, which created a few errors from her.
But when she took that first, her confidence grew and I don’t think I dropped that much. Maybe a little bit, she just improved significantly, and I can only say, all respect to her. That was another level.
Everything was so accurate, she was slow balling me, her lobs!… she got 5 winning lobs.
I was disappointed I didn’t respond to her level increase. It shows that when I sense the level is too far apart, subconsciently, I freeze a bit, and I can’t play my best squash. It’s a shame that happens, but all credit to her, she just played very well.
Hania :ย
It was very difficult for me to change my mindset from being #3 seed to being #1. And this is the first time I win an event as #1! I’m very proud of how I managed to win the first game as well.
“The first game was really, really tough today. I had a few nerves, and I think after that first, I relaxed a bit and was able to play my best game.
“I’m very pleased. It is always so tough physically to play against Gina and I always enjoy playing against her. We are very good friends off the court as well and she’s such a nice person. So massive congratulations to her for reaching her first Gold-event final.
“I knew that if I got my tactics right, I got my length right, I would be able to get through in three. But obviously, the first could have gone her way and I had to battle hard.
“I found better targets from there and I found the good performance that I was looking for.
There is a big team behind me and first I need to thank Laura for missing Mother’s Day and being here with me instead. Danny Massaro also helped with the mindset for the week. My team at home Karim Darwish, Bassem Makram, my fitness trainer Mohamed AbdelLatif and my physio Ahmed Seif; all of them are with me every day to try and put me in the best shape possible.
My family of course, my sponsors, Wadi Degla Clubs, CIB, Head, Sodic, and definitely a big thank you to Optasia and all the sponsors for this event. Very happy to be here, and hopefully, I’ll be here next year.
