Get ready for an epic showdown as two Egyptian titans clash in a monumental final at the Octasia Championships 2026! Witness world number one Hania El Hammamy take on the formidable current world champion, Nour El Sherbini, in what promises to be a thrilling encounter.
This is not just another match; it's a battle between contrasting styles that has captivated fans for years. El Hammamy, known for her incredible movement and improved all-around game, faces off against El Sherbini, widely regarded as the most technically gifted player on the women's tour. Their previous 29 meetings have been fierce, and this 30th encounter is set to be another classic.
Don't miss these two legends of the game as they fight for supremacy. El Hammamy is pursuing her 48th career title, showcasing incredible resilience and a recent surge in form. El Sherbini, the defending champion, is aiming for her 20th title, proving her sustained dominance on the court.
This is a must-watch event for any squash enthusiast, celebrating the peak of women's professional squash. Prepare for a captivating display of skill, strategy, and sheer determination.
#OctasiaChampionships #Squash #WomensSquash #ElHammamyElSherbini
This is not just another match; it's a battle between contrasting styles that has captivated fans for years. El Hammamy, known for her incredible movement and improved all-around game, faces off against El Sherbini, widely regarded as the most technically gifted player on the women's tour. Their previous 29 meetings have been fierce, and this 30th encounter is set to be another classic.
Don't miss these two legends of the game as they fight for supremacy. El Hammamy is pursuing her 48th career title, showcasing incredible resilience and a recent surge in form. El Sherbini, the defending champion, is aiming for her 20th title, proving her sustained dominance on the court.
This is a must-watch event for any squash enthusiast, celebrating the peak of women's professional squash. Prepare for a captivating display of skill, strategy, and sheer determination.
#OctasiaChampionships #Squash #WomensSquash #ElHammamyElSherbini
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00:00So that we are interrupting our players during the matches, please also, as the matches are in progress, please refrain
00:00:08from moving around your seating area, not to distract our players.
00:00:12If I could also ask everybody, when it comes time to leave the venue later on today, if there's any
00:00:18rubbish around your seat, drinks, hats, cups and classic glasses, things like that, food packaging, if you could please just
00:00:25take it up and take it outside of the venue to dispose of it for the bids as you exit.
00:00:30That would be amazing. Thank you so much for your help on that. It just helps our staff clean up
00:00:35the venue, of course, at the end of the play baseball tonight.
00:00:39Have a great day, everybody. Make sure you make lots of noise when I ask you to.
00:00:43We hope you enjoy the spot. I'm so happy to be with all the club today.
00:01:09We'll be going.
00:09:05A mammoth mammoth final here at the Octasia Championships 2026.
00:09:10You're looking at the world number one and number one seed Hanya Elhamami taking
00:09:13on the current world champion and number two seed Noor El Shabini both from Egypt I'm Joey Barrington
00:09:19joining me Vanessa Atkinson good afternoon Vanessa good afternoon Joey cannot wait for this
00:09:28it's a packed house to see these two greats of the game this lady looking to make history
00:09:36once again towards the back end of this season but for now she's focusing on this final looking
00:09:41for her 48th title in London playing this Octasia championship for the first time that 81.8%
00:09:50win rate has risen in this last part of the season with the successes that she's had on
00:09:56the PSA squash tour more recently it's unbelievable she rises again she keeps doing it she we think
00:10:03now's the time that she maybe can't sustain this level and then and then she does it again and
00:10:08and that's what she's proved since Hong Kong really she's got back to the level that that took her to
00:10:15world number one in the first place possibly even playing better than that and moving so well as
00:10:20well yeah I mean that's a big part of her game that needed to be improved and Gregory Gaultier the
00:10:26French
00:10:26general has got stuck into the ghosting and the mobility and strengthening around that vulnerable
00:10:33right knee that she's managed to kind of stay away from any surgery she will probably need it eventually
00:10:38but at the moment she's still fighting strong yeah she's she hasn't had any significant sort of time
00:10:45off with that injury despite struggling with it for quite a quite a long period of time she's never
00:10:52sort of given the body a big extensive rest in terms of being out for a whole portion of a
00:10:57season
00:11:00there's her brother Omar El Shabini I've never seen him on a squash court I'm sure he can hit a
00:11:05ball
00:11:06but familiar face in the crowd she loves having her father with her as well he was in Chicago when
00:11:13she won that monumental platinum event
00:11:2225 years of age her opponent bang on 75 percent getting closer to the 400 match mark and looking
00:11:31for her 20th title she is the defending champion she wasn't tested really she dropped one singular game
00:11:38against Satomi Watanabe last year and then Cruz through in the final against Gina Kennedy a very
00:11:44different final though and what a treat as I said in the studio for all the crowd everyone watching
00:11:50around the world but seeing these two play live in their 30th meeting yeah I mean it's the best two
00:11:56players in the world without a doubt with Olivia Weaver very very close on their heels I mean Orfi as
00:12:02well a big
00:12:03threat but these two uh standing out above the uh above the fray at the minute
00:12:12well Laura Massaro looking uh slightly nervous I mean she doesn't give a huge amount away and um
00:12:19got some lollipop uh suckers there and I mean it's obviously I mean that's extraordinary that is
00:12:25goodness gracious me I've never seen uh such such vigorously uh eaten a lollipop that's amazing gosh
00:12:35I'd like to get one of those
00:12:38so 30 meetings including this one 18 11 to Shabini that first win for El Hamami over
00:12:48Norel Shabini back in 2020 in the black ball open in Cairo
00:12:54yeah I mean that was when she really sort of announced her arrival
00:12:57Al Hamami nobody saw that coming that win she was only 18 or 19 at the time
00:13:05as a junior she was a little bit behind uh players like Rowan Al Arabi but she certainly made up
00:13:12ground
00:13:18again the contrast the best technical player on the women's tour Norel Shabini and then the best mover
00:13:26in the form of Hanyu El Hamami and that's why we get these classics all these five gamers that
00:13:30they've had going to the wire I mean they've been ferocious ferocious encounters
00:13:37yeah that wonderful contrast in styles
00:13:42they will start in 30 seconds so Jason Foster from England will be the central referee and Ashley
00:13:48Smith also from England will be the VR for this women's final
00:13:57they will start in 15 seconds
00:14:33the world number one kicks off this women's
00:14:37Optasia championship final up against current world champion both from Egypt
00:14:44I do feel the crowd are going to get their money's worth
00:14:51and that is a very positive start from Al Hamami in the lovely uh cornflower blue dress Vanessa
00:14:59yeah it's such an interesting match up these two because they uh they sort of have to adapt
00:15:04around each other a little bit with that with their strengths
00:15:09and you know she can't just rely on her movement she has to sort of match
00:15:16try to match Nora Shabini on a squash level
00:15:19and equally Shabini can't just throw the ball into the front and use all those weapons because of the
00:15:25court coverage of Al Hamami she has to pick her punches really well
00:15:29and they both certainly have to be ready to be ready to be in it for the for the long
00:15:33haul
00:15:35i mean that was again immaculate she started particularly on this backhand side
00:15:41straight out the blocks
00:15:58there's the lift
00:16:00crucial part of the tactic against Shabini and the follow-up
00:16:05free love
00:16:10showing a lot of variety already
00:16:26and out
00:16:27and out
00:16:29one at three
00:16:50a little bit of pace punching that ball down the wall
00:16:57we saw that with georgina kennedy yesterday
00:17:02did very well really to deprive shabini of time on the ball keeping the pace really high
00:17:12five one yeah comprehensive stuff
00:17:18taking a very very high tee position taking that ball early not letting shabini settle in at all
00:17:43a little bit slow off the mark there shabini slow to turn
00:17:56down and out
00:18:01two six
00:18:14and out
00:18:16seven two
00:18:36not moving well no should be neat
00:18:41i know she can be at times a slightly slower start of it
00:18:45not quite there
00:18:55down
00:18:56and out
00:18:59three eight
00:19:22And out.
00:19:24Nine, three.
00:19:26Nine, three.
00:19:33Very, very quick out of the blocks here.
00:19:53Yes, sir.
00:19:55Yeah, you were in the way.
00:19:57I think she would have got it.
00:20:00Nine to three.
00:20:08Nine, yes.
00:20:12Okay.
00:20:28She's making every short count, El Hamami.
00:20:31and the attention to detail has been really solid and she'll be firing in that backhand volley drop
00:20:39yeah it has to be she's nearly hit two or three loose balls and they've been immediately punished
00:20:44but for the most part it's been pretty immaculate from the world number one
00:20:51first sort of real unforced error
00:20:57just a little bit of caution required here
00:21:25oh my word
00:21:32this i mean the flip you know i don't know what it is
00:21:36it's like she has to have her back against the wall at times just to get things revved up again
00:21:54that was important for obvious reasons for el hamami who serves with four game balls
00:22:01to settle herself into this final
00:22:19down and out
00:22:22that's it
00:22:25signaling about uh shabini
00:22:30making herself wide or something
00:22:59down
00:23:01it's a massive early lead isn't it for el hamami massive massive early lead
00:23:12yeah the grip maybe just slipping a little bit on that shot
00:23:14nine ten game ball well it's a good job she had that big lead because el shabini has come to
00:23:21the races
00:23:25still two game balls left
00:23:30massive shift in momentum though here
00:23:32i can't believe it i mean
00:23:39i just thought she was you know gonna have a bit of a slightly sluggish
00:23:45start lose the first game and she's within one point now and starting to look very perky
00:23:53completely different player to what we saw in the first few rallies from nor el shabini look at the accuracy
00:23:57down this left hand wall
00:24:04oh
00:24:05oh she got it
00:24:05video referee please check big big call this one el hamami backs herself to get these balls back
00:24:12rice smile from shabini let's have a look vanessa
00:24:17oh i thought she got it you don't yeah
00:24:21i don't want to do a pj i want to watch it again
00:24:25oh my god that's really close it is close let's have a look is it
00:24:35yeah she got it she got it she got it she got it so the athleticism the movement
00:24:43vanjara managing to take the first game by a cats whisker
00:24:52just 10 minutes quite bizarre really started to get quite nerve-wracking for el hamami
00:24:58she does see off shabini we're going to start to see a real game between these two i can assure
00:25:03you of that
00:25:07well it was a very quick first phase of the game with
00:25:11hamami coming out of the block so quickly shabini looking like she was having a really bad movement day
00:25:19but eventually she started not only to move a bit better but started to find
00:25:24those lines and those winners the hold started to come in a little bit more on the backhand
00:25:30and it was that immaculate court coverage in the end that saved
00:25:35oh hamami again not relying on that though she came out very very proactive around the middle of the court
00:25:47that's so important for the world number one
00:25:52not to sit too much in that role of retrieving she has to step up and be aggressive with her
00:25:58own squash
00:26:17but what we can confirm is that norel shabini has woken up in this final
00:26:25get a rip-roaring second game
00:26:30which kept her calm though el hamami
00:26:3315 seconds
00:26:39a couple of seats here and there but there's people that obviously having to go out to the bathroom back
00:26:45in
00:26:52and it's
00:26:53and it's hanyar el hamami that starts the second game
00:26:55and
00:27:11and
00:27:12and
00:27:12and
00:27:23onto that one nice and early
00:27:26any kind of pressure and she's just
00:27:28lifting that ball up on the front wall
00:28:06such a combination between the two
00:28:08you can see as you rightly said
00:28:10Vanessa I mean this is something that I
00:28:11thought she needed to do a little bit
00:28:13earlier I mean I know she won against
00:28:15Watanabe but just using that height
00:28:18Hanyuel Hamami there making the front
00:28:21wall get its money's worth
00:28:25such a danger zone
00:28:28bit of distance off the side wall
00:28:30into the service box
00:28:55what do you think it was about the
00:28:56initial you know the initial phase she'd
00:28:59warmed up properly and everything was she just kind of testing out that body of
00:29:01her is a bit creaky here and there
00:29:03yeah
00:29:03yeah I mean sometimes you've done a proper
00:29:07I'm sure she has done a proper warm-up
00:29:09and you go on court and you just
00:29:13it's just a slow start
00:29:14I think the players could always predict that
00:29:17they would they would probably adjust the warm-up
00:29:19slightly if there's a bit of a niggle sometimes maybe you're testing that out we know she's had issues with
00:29:28the knee
00:29:30no strapping evident
00:29:43there's been a bit of strapping on the shoulder but it certainly looked like it was
00:29:46movement based the slow start
00:29:55very dynamic I like that acceleration so not just the slow balling that we saw with the height but then
00:30:01the acceleration
00:30:04from El Hamami
00:30:21she's brought in that sort of variation on the backhand volley
00:30:25where she's sort of showing the straight ball and then flicking it cross court but just maybe slightly overusing it
00:30:36she's set her stall out on the backhand volley drop isn't she Shabini
00:30:40she hasn't missed
00:30:42hasn't really missed one
00:30:48again that was a quicker attack so she took that a little bit earlier that's why Shabini stumbled
00:30:52I like the interjecting you know like the slow recovery work and then suddenly getting on that ball a little
00:30:59bit quicker
00:31:00just to stop the movement of Shabini you know by her own movement the speed onto the ball
00:31:22lovely
00:31:264-0
00:31:34she's not being deterred from that front left hand corner either which is is important for El Hamami to get
00:31:41that balance
00:31:43knowing how dangerous Shabini is there
00:31:49yeah she's got to pick the right moments to go in and it has to be good
00:31:52she can't afford to leave it sitting up
00:31:59she's got to be sort of brave with those shots
00:32:01oh that was a little bit ambitious
00:32:03and out
00:32:045-4
00:32:05ambitious you could see the pattern of play the lobbing and then trying to get on the volley
00:32:09to catch out Shabini deep in the court
00:32:13what's your prediction for this match
00:32:18oh gosh
00:32:22you didn't actually give one
00:32:24I know
00:32:25somehow
00:32:26I predicted five games
00:32:31oh dear me
00:32:32I'm going to go Hamami but
00:32:34who knows
00:32:42I mean that was going to go anywhere we're all thinking it could be straight short cross-court trickle-bost
00:32:50and she walloped it cross-court
00:33:03maybe give one
00:33:03because she left
00:33:11but I need to say
00:33:11it's going to go anywhere
00:33:11she is saying
00:33:11it's not so bad
00:33:11she's saying
00:33:12i wasn't gonna go anywhere
00:33:13it goes
00:33:19but
00:33:21I can
00:33:30oh wonderful rally winning it on the lob as well fantastic lifting throughout the rally
00:33:36from hamami court service please and then shabini with those really high volleys that she takes into
00:33:44the front another smile from al hamami that's such a beautiful lob the reason she's able to
00:33:51get so much air time it's because she gets under the ball so well it's back to that athleticism you
00:33:57know the lunge at the front you've got to get low to get that height and she does that very
00:34:02naturally
00:34:02and then kind of recalls back in the same movement great to see the lob use so much you could
00:34:10see a
00:34:10smile back at laura massaro after she hit that shot clearly something that has been out
00:34:15five six long and hard well i never saw laura ever smile on court
00:34:37yes flex five six
00:34:58just to confirm that the winner of this this final whether it's hanyur al-hamami or shabini will be
00:35:05world number one so there'll be retention of the world number one if it's al-hamami and then shabini
00:35:09will go back i'll ask for much more to be aligned for this final between these two
00:35:15in a battle that could continue into the rest of the season and beyond perhaps
00:35:46seven six hanging in the balance as we hit the back end of this second game
00:35:50it was an 11-9 first game to al-hamami she had a considerable early lead in that game
00:36:16eight six
00:36:24eight six
00:36:35and out
00:36:37now loose cross court
00:36:38seven eight
00:36:43with that whip
00:36:45chabini making a stand now
00:37:13she couldn't really play this ball wanting a stroke
00:37:17she'd be wanting to play that wouldn't she because there's some space to hit into she's got a point
00:37:22here she's got a point i do feel that if she was to actually hit that she the whole follow
00:37:28-through
00:37:28would hit al-hamami on the back end the whole follow-through would hit her to me i i feel
00:37:33this
00:37:33is a good shout yeah i agree she hits that she will literally swing straight into the body of
00:37:39anuel hamami
00:37:42stroke to al-shabini decision overruled
00:37:45al-shabini has two reviews remaining
00:37:51yes you were in the way it was a loose shot and you were in the way
00:37:58oh no that wasn't a turn
00:38:00not in the strictest sense of the rules no
00:38:09can i get an explanation kind of
00:38:18oh wow
00:38:20video referee decision on the hamami appeal
00:38:25right we've got it
00:38:26it's now a bit of a flurry into the vr
00:38:30so
00:38:37seeing it here they got a bit mixed up
00:38:41is that does it affect the shot yeah does she catch her on the
00:38:45on the kind of on the chest i can't see the contact no i know but she thinks there is
00:38:51contact
00:38:55if there is contact then it's got to be at least because the shot's been prevented so that's what
00:39:02they've seen it as
00:39:05we saw there was contact on her backswing which prevented the shot that she wanted to play
00:39:19but the fact that the ball went down prevented her from playing the shot she wasn't playing
00:39:25i need you to i need you to accept the decision
00:39:30hand out nine eight
00:39:31we just heard it there she you know said it she didn't feel it had touched her at all
00:39:36so i couldn't see it either no a bit of a get out of jail to say the least it's
00:39:41such a crucial time for el hamami
00:39:43she gets a stroke
00:39:58stroke two shavini hanged out nine all we've suddenly seen three strokes in a row
00:40:05shavini's had two and el hamami one
00:40:08locked in at nine all
00:40:25yeah you could hear the clip there
00:40:38i could hear the contact with the racket there
00:40:50yeah
00:40:50knocks the racket but the ball doesn't go down is that what they're basing it on whether it's a stroke
00:40:56or a
00:41:03or a let
00:41:09it's quite it's quite tricky terminology because you can say it's affected and it's gone in the tin and it's
00:41:13still a let
00:41:14or if it's prevented and it's gone in the tin it's still a stroke
00:41:18you can really really confuse yourself to you've just confused me
00:41:24none the wiser
00:41:38the other argument is people can hit shot with no contact whatsoever in at the tin so they can't look
00:41:45when they say look sorry but my shot was prevented there
00:41:48yeah
00:41:50right at the tin
00:41:50because it's really difficult to see sometimes
00:41:52yeah it is
00:41:53it is
00:41:56all we have got is a game ball for shavini to level up
00:42:00very tense times the finale of this second game in this women's final
00:42:12oh i can't believe it she's absolutely skied it
00:42:16top of the tin flying out of court
00:42:19perfect opportunity there
00:42:20she was on it like a flash as well
00:43:03she's doing that really well whenever she's oh that could be a stroke
00:43:07yeah she's right in the swing
00:43:14whenever she's under pressure on that left hand side she's just throwing the ball up in the air across to
00:43:19the right
00:43:20alhamami and it's
00:43:23really effective a really good tactic
00:43:28aim ball opportunity for alhamami to take a two love advantage
00:43:42it's a lovely pace change from alhamami cross-court
00:43:52down
00:43:53inwardly fuming such a nail biting
00:43:57quite scrappy back end of the second between these two
00:44:02now alhamami puts herself in an unbelievable position here
00:44:08into the tie break so 30 minutes bang on for this women's final between the two egyptians
00:44:15and it's the number one seed that leads by two games to love
00:44:21well it was norrell shabini that was two love up in that last encounter in chicago
00:44:27eventually getting through in five but now she's gonna have to do the fight back
00:44:35back and forth all the way through that second game
00:44:38it looked like shabini was gonna take it she had the earlier lead
00:44:43hamami managing to close it out very clever squash
00:44:48breaking up the pace she's lifting really well
00:44:52play will resume in 60 seconds
00:44:54still backing herself when she's got an opportunity in the front
00:45:01trying to use as much variation as possible
00:45:04i mean if anyone could come back from this situation at the moment it is norrell shabini
00:45:12but alhamami even playing slightly loosely there was able to convert
00:45:17those costly two errors for shabini and you know the flurry of strokes
00:45:3615 seconds
00:45:3815 seconds
00:45:4815 seconds
00:45:53elhamami leads two games to love
00:45:56luvol
00:46:05well Hanya El Hamami has only ever lost from two level up twice in her career and the last time
00:46:13was against Sarah Jane Perry at the Black Ball Open which I was commentating on that was Perry's
00:46:19last tournament win again back in 2020 so that was the December tournament and then you had the
00:46:25March tournament which she won against Norrell Shabini so a big a year for her up and down
00:46:34and in their meetings so this is their 30th meeting there's only seven of them out of the
00:46:4030 have ever been three love either way wow has she ever been has she been two love up no
00:46:53and this is a very very good start she's going kind of from strength to strength and she knows
00:47:01that she can't let off in any way she's got to keep the pressure on Vanessa
00:47:16I'm certainly seeing plenty of evidence of Shabini's ability to come back from deficits
00:47:43down and out one three
00:47:55she was down and out against Olivia Weaver at the world championships in Chicago
00:48:04she's been down and out against a few players we thought the same against Amina Orfi in Chicago
00:48:14that's not going to help the cause for obvious reasons
00:48:17it's not quite finding her range she was hitting those targets towards the the mid stage of the
00:48:24second game and the back end of the first suddenly the strokes crept in and then the errors as well
00:48:30it became quite disjointed didn't it Vanessa
00:48:37yeah just that little bit of tension on the big points you often see suddenly the decisions creep up
00:48:57balls just softened off slightly
00:48:59I mean cleverly just putting that service return straight in
00:49:23and out
00:49:26three five
00:49:44and then just like that she's within one point it's really really quite bizarre not quite back on the chariot
00:49:52but she's
00:49:52no no she's called for it though she's called for it they're bringing it to the battlefield
00:50:04fresh bladed spokes on the wheels oh goodness gracious me that was again very uncharacteristic
00:50:10from her into the bottom of the tin on the backhand side as well
00:50:36and out five six
00:50:40and out five six
00:50:41oh she was
00:50:42oh she was i don't know how fluent you are in in arabic but she she wasn't happy there Vanessa
00:50:47no i think that was uh that was blatantly obvious
00:50:51something about volley volley
00:51:01that touch that definitely went out
00:51:05i'm sure that ball went out
00:51:17and out seven five
00:51:25a natural character is that feisty side so she's done a lot of work on the kind of a bit
00:51:29more relaxed
00:51:30slightly smiley it's been something that's coming in this last kind of 18 months or so i would say
00:51:38in the demeanor of el hamami
00:51:41that's an outrageous get
00:51:44stroke two
00:51:45oh she gonna review it
00:51:47eight five
00:51:48two strokes again
00:52:09and out
00:52:11six eight
00:52:16well she's hanging in for dear life
00:52:19well she's hanging in for dear life
00:52:21oh her mommy
00:52:23will not be in any way
00:52:25feeling that she's there yet
00:52:30if anything she'll be feeling even more edgy
00:52:36that will make her feel a whole lot better
00:52:39and out nine six
00:52:41yeah that gives a little bit of extra daylight
00:52:45even from the comeback queen
00:52:48nor el shabini
00:52:49it was like she was uh hunting the nets over the road at wimbledon there
00:52:58oh
00:52:59lovely yeah lovely stuff so
00:53:01and you're el hamami on the verge of defending her title and defending her world number one spot
00:53:07here in london
00:53:09last time she beat nor el shabini
00:53:10was actually in qatar
00:53:11the beginning of the season
00:53:13october 2025
00:53:16and the out of court
00:53:17so
00:53:19so
00:53:19it is a free love
00:53:20in their rivalry for this season
00:53:23london goes to
00:53:25the starlet in the cornflower blue
00:53:28dress matching the court
00:53:29looking as immaculate as ever
00:53:31but a very good concentration from her
00:53:33we saw
00:53:33a few too many kind of strokes and errors
00:53:36that came off the racket of shabini
00:53:39but there's plenty more to play for
00:53:41but
00:53:41and your other mammy came here as the number one seed she had to back up after losing
00:53:46in chicago a few weeks ago
00:53:49and she's certainly done that
00:53:51more importantly for her
00:53:53held off shabini from that world number one position
00:53:57in the new rankings
00:53:59on monday morning
00:54:01we're gonna hear from
00:54:03the defending champion the new champion as well
00:54:05with tom down at courtside
00:54:09khania congratulations
00:54:10you have defended your title
00:54:12you remain at world number one
00:54:13how do you feel?
00:54:14i feel great
00:54:16i get to live for another day
00:54:18in world number one
00:54:19it feels amazing
00:54:21i'm really really proud of how i performed today
00:54:23and how i contain myself today
00:54:25it's a big test for me
00:54:26it was the first time to be playing in a match
00:54:28a big match like this that could make me drop to world number two
00:54:31so i'm really really happy
00:54:33and i'm i'm as i said very proud that i managed to maintain my composure
00:54:37we will speak more during the prize giving ceremony
00:54:40but just for now a word on your opponent
00:54:42nor al shabini such a competitor
00:54:44and also the crowd here supporting you
00:54:47all the way through this week at the optasia championships
00:54:49they've been incredible
00:54:50yeah well it makes it extra special to be able to come here
00:54:53and perform that way against no shabini
00:54:55there's no other opponent than her that would come and defend the odds
00:54:59and and basically she saves her best performances for those big moments
00:55:03and uh and yeah it's just such a great great champion
00:55:07and uh and yeah i learned a lot from her
00:55:10amazing all right well congratulations
00:55:12we'll speak to you a little bit later on
00:55:14enjoy though ladies and gentlemen
00:55:16your optasia championships women's champion
00:55:21hania elhamami
00:55:24hania elhamami
00:55:27defends her title in style
00:55:2939 minutes
00:55:30gentlemen we will
00:55:31three love victory we didn't expect it to be as quick fire as that
00:55:35still some tight score lines in those first two games
00:55:38and she holds off nor al shabini in this final to take another title this season
00:55:51well a fantastic performance there the current world number one retaining that position
00:55:56certainly for a while longer
00:55:58but the battle i'm sure will be on for the rest of the season as well
00:56:02slightly disappointing from el shabini possibly needed that second game
00:56:07it's very tight particularly after the slow start but not to take anything away from hania elhamami
00:56:14she was superb all the way through spot on with the tactics and very very well executed
00:56:28you can scan the qr code on the big screens right now we would love to see you there
00:56:34get more information and buy your tickets right now by scanning the qr code on the big screens
00:56:39and we will see the british open at the end of may start to do at the rest of the
00:56:44theatre here
00:56:44the next time we are back in the uk
00:56:48and a little further on the del on the diary for a brand new season on the psa squash tour
00:56:54how about joining us at alexandra palace the london squash classic look at that what an iconic venue
00:56:59for a week of squash it's a brilliant week
00:57:03a great place to watch your squash as well
00:57:06scan the qr code to get your tickets
00:57:08or visit the website londonsquashclassic.com
00:57:12well what a performance there joey hanyar elhamami not only defending her title here but also retaining that world number
00:57:18one spot
00:57:19yeah it was i mean you know it took her the 24th time in their meeting so that was their
00:57:2330th meeting
00:57:2424 times to actually beat nora shabini 3-love she's done it again for the second time this season
00:57:30nora shabini was coming into the season a bit slower having not trained through the summer due to a shoulder
00:57:36issue
00:57:36that she sustained at the back end of of last season and of course elhamami swept through that first phase
00:57:42but it's always going to be back and forth you know that could have easily have changed with that crucial
00:57:47second game
00:57:48vanessa which was a little bit scrappy with a lot of kind of penalty strokes and some errors from from
00:57:54nora shabini
00:57:54but it's it's the day for elhamami and and the matches will go on the rivalry will go on i
00:57:59mean to the next tournament
00:58:00slightly slow start for shabini but you could see that um they had a really set game plan ready um
00:58:07for this match
00:58:08and she managed to execute that really consistently throughout the throughout the whole game
00:58:12she did she the the kind of attention to detail i say on those shots elhamami who moves so well
00:58:18can
00:58:19sometimes kind of hit and move a bit too early and and the shot quality can be at this level
00:58:24can be a little bit loose
00:58:25and that's when shabini picks her off so well but she made sure she kind of stayed through the shots
00:58:29whether she was taking it short or taking it deep or using the wonderful height and just making them
00:58:34very very detailed and correct to get that extra accuracy and put the pressure on
00:58:38but um you know i mean for her defending the world number one spot is is a new and it's
00:58:44still relatively
00:58:45new to her but also defending a title as well against nor elshabini it's still quite new for her
00:58:50yeah well she mentioned that in the interview didn't she that she really was aware of the fact
00:58:54that um that she was playing for the world number one spot and that it hadn't been a position that
00:58:58she
00:58:58sort of felt that she'd been in when she first got there she kind of got there and then didn't
00:59:03really
00:59:04perform in the china open but she was suddenly the world number one so it was a bit of an
00:59:08unusual way to
00:59:09get there in the first instance and and she she deserves to be there she's had the season of her
00:59:14life so far
00:59:15and nor elshabini will be back with a vengeance you know she's played through after chicago and this is
00:59:19what you want to see is this the back and forth rivalry whether it's the men's or the women's tour
00:59:23you know we want to go in there we didn't know what's going to happen i thought it would be
00:59:27at least
00:59:27five games with the track record that they have but today it was elhamami's kind of clean sweep three
00:59:32love victory she'll take that she'll probably go shopping tomorrow well we've won champion is crowned and there
00:59:39is one more to come massive match coming up between mustafa isal the current world number one and he is
00:59:46up against his old rival diego elias and that's coming up in a few minutes time i think we'll have
00:59:52a
00:59:52little bit of a break a little bit of a break i mean they've had to obviously you know it's
00:59:56a follow-on
00:59:57affair but i they know fully well for following these players that have just played the girls there that it
01:00:03takes time so they would have been a bit caught on their heels about getting warmed up so we'll have
01:00:07to
01:00:07improvise a little bit before they're ready well join us again soon we'll be back shortly with the men's
01:00:12final make sure you're back for that huge match coming up
01:00:41so
01:00:49you
01:00:50you
01:01:06you
01:01:11you
01:01:12you
01:01:17you
01:01:22you
01:01:24you
01:01:24you
01:01:32you
01:01:33you
01:01:35you
01:01:43you
01:01:44you
01:01:47you
01:01:47you
01:01:48you
01:01:51you
01:02:00you
01:02:01you
01:02:08you
01:02:10you
01:02:15you
01:02:16you
01:02:22you
01:02:35you
01:02:36you
01:02:36you
01:02:38you
01:02:38you
01:02:40you
01:02:41you
01:02:42you
01:02:42you
01:02:46you
01:02:48you
01:02:48you
01:02:48you
01:02:48you
01:02:50you
01:02:58you
01:03:02you
01:03:03you
01:03:03you
01:03:12you
01:03:16you
01:03:17you
01:03:34you
01:03:35you
Comments