After sweeping all eight major titles in 2021, World No.1 Nour El Sherbini and World No.2 Nouran Gohar will again be the top two seeds for the upcoming CIB Black Ball Open, which will take place from March 12-17 at the Black Ball Sporting Club in Cairo.
48 of the world’s leading female players will battle it out in Cairo, with the world’s top two women expected to meet in the PSA World Tour Platinum final. World No.1 El Sherbini will face either Finland’s Emilia Soini or Belgium’s Tinne Gilis in the second round, before potential clashes against Egypt’s Nadine Shahin, and either England’s Georgina Kennedy or Egypt’s Salma Hany in the quarter finals.
The World No.1 was the victor on both of the PSA World Tour’s visits to Cairo in 2021, defeating US No.1 Amanda Sobhy in the final of the Platinum level event in March, before then beating compatriot Hania El Hammamy in December’s Gold level final, bookending her year with success.
On the other side of the draw, Gohar starts her Black Ball campaign against Scotland’s Lisa Aitken or Swiss No.1 Cindy Merlo in the second round, and she could go on to meet USA’s Olivia Fiechter in the last 16, in a repeat of the Cincinnati Gaynor Cup final. Sarah-Jane Perry lies in wait in the quarter finals before a possible duel with USA’s Amanda Sobhy in the last four.
2020 winner Hania El Hammamy will be the No.3 seed for the tournament, and after starting her week against either England’s Lucy Turmel or Hong Kong’s Tze Lok Ho in the second round, she could then meet compatriot Nour El Tayeb in the last 16.
Sobhy will be the No.4 seed, and the American will begin her campaign against either Egypt’s Yathreb Adel or younger sister Sabrina in the last 32. India’s Joshna Chinappa and New Zealand’s Joelle King would then lie in wait for the World No.4 as the tournament progresses.
Action from the Black Ball Sporting Club will be shown live on SQUASHTV, while the semi-finals and finals will be shown by PSA’s broadcast partners.
First Round Draw: CIB Black Ball Open
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) – [bye]
Emilia Soini (FIN) v [17/32] Tinne Gilis (BEL)
[17/32] Hana Ramadan (EGY) v Ineta Mackevica (LAT)
[9/16] Nadine Shahin (EGY) – [bye]
[17/32] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v Sana Ibrahim (EGY)
[9/16] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) – [bye]
[17/32] Donna Lobban (AUS) v Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG)
[7] Salma Hany (EGY) – [bye]
[8] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) – [bye]
Nicole Bunyan (CAN) v [17/32] Danielle Letourneau (CAN)
[9/16] Tesni Evans (WAL) – [bye]
[WC] Jana Shiha (EGY) v [17/32] Rachael Grinham (AUS)
[17/32] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) v Alexandra Fuller (RSA)
[9/16] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) – [bye]
[17/32] Lucy Turmel (ENG) v Tze Lok Ho (HKG)
[3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) – [bye]
[4] Amanda Sobhy (USA) – [bye]
Yathreb Adel (EGY) v [17/32] Sabrina Sobhy (USA)
[17/32] Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v Anna Serme (CZE)
[9/16] Joshna Chinappa (IND) – [bye]
[9/16] Olivia Clyne (USA) – [bye]
[9/16] Nele Gilis (BEL) – [bye]
[17/32] Farida Mohamed (EGY) v Millie Tomlinson (ENG)
[6] Joelle King (NZL) – [bye]
[5] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) – [bye]
Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG) v [17/32] Emily Whitlock (WAL)
[17/32] Nada Abbas (EGY) v [WC] Nour El-Sharkawy (EGY)
Cristina Gomez (ESP) v [17/32] Mariam Metwally (EGY)
[9/16] Olivia Fiechter (USA) – [bye]
Enora Villard (FRA) v [17/32] Hollie Naughton (CAN)
[17/32] Lisa Aitken (SCO) v Cindy Merlo (SUI)
[2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) – [bye]
Source: PSA