It’s semi-finals day at the Optasia Championships, as the eight players remaining make a last push for the final on the all-glass court at the Wimbledon Squash Club in London.
Play begins at 16:00 (GMT) with Nele Gilis v Nada Abbas, followed by Mostafa Asal v Paul Coll. Then, at 17:45 it’s Satomi Watanabe v Jasmine Hutton, with play concluding with Ali Farag v Karim Abdel Gawad.
Watch every moment of the action live on SQUASHTV or keep up with the latest scores on thePSA Live Scores page.
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Nele Gilis V Nada Abbas
In the opening match of the day, Belgium’s Nele Gilis takes on Egypt’s Nada Abbas.
Top seed Gilis has made assured progress through the competition so far, with wins in straight games against Katie Malliff in round two and Hana Moataz in the quarter-final.
Abbas, meanwhile, got off to a strong start with a 3-0 win over Millie Tomlinson in the second round, before coming back from 0-2 down to beat Tesni Evans in the last eight.
Today’s meeting is the sixth between the pair, with Gilis winning four of those, including the most recent clash, a 3-0 win for the Belgian in the third round of the Qatar Classic earlier this season.
Mostafa Asal V Paul Coll
Perhaps the most intriguing matchup of the day, as former World No.1s Mostafa Asal and Paul Coll square off for the twelfth time.
The pair met less than three weeks ago in the semi-final of the Windy City Open, with Coll comfortably winning 3-0.
The Kiwi will be expecting a far sterner test from ‘the Raging Bull’ today, however, with the 22-year-old Egyptian looking back to his devastating best in a 3-0 demolition of Joel Makin yesterday.
Coll is targeting a return to the Optasia final for the first time since winning this event in 2016, while Asal is making his Wimbledon debut this week.
Satomi Watanabe V Jasmine Hutton
In what is likely to be a close contest, Japanese No.4 seed Satomi Watanabe takes on the last home player remaining in the competition, No.6 seed Jasmine Hutton.
With just four places separating the two in the rankings, expect no quarter to be given today.
The Japan No.1 goes into today’s clash enjoying a perfect record against Hutton, winning both of the two matches played on tour. Hutton, though, will look to continue her excellent form in Wimbledon, having dispatched compatriot and No.2 seed Sarah-Jane Perry yesterday after comfortably beating Emilia Soini in the second round.
Watanabe, meanwhile, had to dig in in her quarter-final against Melissa Alves, successfully overturning match ball in a 3-2 win, following a routine 3-0 win over Torrie Malik in round two.
Ali Farag V Karim Abdel Gawad
The last match of the day sees another clash of World No.1s, with current occupier Ali Farag facing Egyptian compatriot and former World No.1 Karim Abdel Gawad for the 25th time on tour.
2022 Optasia champion Farag, as he has been all season, has looked top class so far in Wimbledon and is yet to drop a game after seeing off a stern Dimitri Steinmann challenge in round two and then dispatching Marwan ElShorbagy in the quarters.
Defending champ Gawad, meanwhile, has shown a mixture of flair and grit with a 3-1 win over Curtis Malik in round two before fighting back from a game down to beat England No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy yesterday.
A look at the form book suggests this is Farag’s match to lose, with the World No.1 on a six-match winning run against his compatriot, with Gawad claiming just two games across those six encounters.
‘The Assassin’, though, is capable of beating anyone when at his best and, with his long-term injury problems seemingly behind him, will no doubt back himself in what could be an epic.
