Karachi, Pakistan (Sports News): World No.14 Aly Abou Eleinen claimed his biggest scalp of the 2025/26 season after a dominant performance saw him defeat No.2 seed Marwan ElShorbagy at the Rich Venus Karachi Open 2026.
Eleinen, who has had his battles with injuries over the last 12 months, looked back to his best on the all-glass court at DA Creek Club, with the Egyptian racing through to the semi-finals of the Gold-level event by an 11-7, 11-1, 11-9 scoreline.
After edging a high-quality first game by asserting himself in the closing exchanges, Eleinen continued to build momentum as the match progressed, dictating a one-sided second game to the loss of a single point.
Despite an ElShorbagy resurgence early on in the third game, Eleinen once again raised his level to pull away from 7-7 to seal a thoroughly deserved victory after 41 minutes of play.
After the match, Eleinen said: "In my preparation for the match, I just wanted to focus on me. The whole season, I have just tried to focus on myself, and if I can do this against Marwan, it's a good sign because he's such a good player. I'm really pleased with that performance today.
"I wanted to find my targets on that court today. I knew that Marwan had played an extra match on the glass court yesterday, so it was just about adapting as quickly as possible today and I think I did that."
Top seed Karim Gawad was the other winner in the men's draw on day three, with the former World No.1 battling past Malaysian No.1 Eain Yow Ng in a testing three-game clash.
Gawad had to produce some quality squash throughout the 50-minute encounter to prevail in straight games, with No.7 seed Eain Yow holding multiple game balls on his racket in an entertaining third game. However, the World No.4 managed to show his class in the pressure moments to progress by an 11-3, 11-8, 16-14 scoreline.
Meanwhile, in the women's event, top seed Amina Orfi and Nada Abbas set up a semi-final tie after coming through their respective encounters with Aira Azman and Farida Mohamed.
Despite having never dropped a game against No.6 seed Azman from their three prior meetings on the PSA Squash Tour, four-time World Junior Champion Orfi was given a stern test by the Malaysian.
On a severe court which brought the best out of Azman's deceptive short game, Orfi had to be on her mettle at numerous stages of the match to eventually progress.
After a slow start, the World No.3 managed to overturn a 7-2 deficit in the first game while later moving away from 8-8 in the crucial fourth game when a decider looked very much on the cards.
After the match, Orfi said: "I think today Aira played very well. Maybe I didn't quite play that well. Today, she had nothing to lose with our last three matches all going 3-0 to me. I'm happy to get through today because I think she played well."
Meanwhile, No.4 seed Abbas battled through illness to defeat No.5 seed Mohamed in a back-and-forth all-Egyptian encounter.
After trading games into a decider, an injury to Mohamed's shoulder when clattering into the sidewall proved decisive when she was well placed at 6-3 up in the fifth.
Upon resumption, it was Abbas who managed to take eight from the next eleven points to advance to the semi-finals.
The quarter-finals of the Rich Venus Ka
Results – Men’s Quarter-Finals: Rich Venus Karachi Open 2026
[1] Karim Gawad (EGY) bt [7] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 3-0: 11-3, 11-8, 16-14 (50m)
[6] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) bt [2] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-1, 11-9 (41m)
Results – Women’s Quarter-Finals: Rich Venus Karachi Open 2026
[1] Amina Orfi (EGY) bt [6] Aira Azman (MAS) 3-1: 12-10, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8 (51m)
[4] Nada Abbas (EGY) bt [5] Farida Mohamed (EGY) 3-2: 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 0-11, 11-9 (52m)
Draw – Men's Quarter-Finals: To Be Played January 9
[4] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) v Noor Zaman (PAK)
[6] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) v [2] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG)
Draw – Women's Quarter-Finals: To Be Played January 9
[3] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) v [8] Aifa Azman (MAS)
[7] Lucy Turmel (ENG) v [2] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)
