Rampant Egypt ease into last four

[1] EGYPT 3-0 [7/8] SCOTLAND
Nouran Gohar 3-0 Georgia Adderley  11-6, 11-4, 11-3 (24m)
Hania El Hammamy 3-0 Katriona Allen   11-2, 11-3, 11-2 (19m)
Nour El Sherbini 2-0 Alison Thomson  11-3, 11-3 (13m)

Defending champions Egypt continued their bulldozing run through the WSF Women’s World Team Championship with another comprehensive victory, this time over No.7/8 seeds Scotland.

Scotland, missing their No.1 Lisa Aitken through injury, went into the tie well aware of the magnitude of the task ahead of them, with Egypt’s playing order today comprised of the world’s top three players.

World No.1 Nouran Gohar quickly put the hosts in the driver’s seat with a 24-minute victory over 21-year-old World No.58 Georgia Adderley, before World No.3 Hania El Hammamy sealed Egypt’s route into the semi-finals with a comprehensive 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 win over Katriona Allen.

Both sides opted to play the third match as a best-of-three dead rubber, which World No.2 and reigning team and individuals champion Nour El Sherbini won 2-0 against World No.119 Alison Thomson.

“We’re taking it one match at a time,” Egypt’s coach Engy Kheirallah said afterwards.

“I think there’s always a pressure playing in Egypt because of the expectations, especially when you have World No. 1, 2, 3 and 6 in the world. There are very high expectations and you want to live up to those expectations, but I think they’re all in form, especially after their form in Hong Kong.”

On the decision to play El Sherbini in the dead rubber, Kheirallah said: “We’re preparing for tomorrow and training in the morning, even when it’s good training, isn’t the same as being in a match mood with a referee and a crowd. It’s a different pressure than just training so we made sure that she plays to get that sense of match practice.”