[Discussion] TTI Milwaukee Hong Kong Squash Open 2023 (27 Nov -3 Dec)

PSA tournament page
Tournament website.
Prize fund: $190k per draw.
Format: two draws of 64 with 16byes.
Venue: Hong Kong Squash Center, semis & finals at Cultural Centre of Xiqu Centre.

Hi folks,

tournament thread coming from an unusually punctual and problem free train ride back home (so far).

It's been a busy enough start of the season and while in recent weeks we have had some nice tournaments to keep ourselves interested (Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia), for Hong Kong most big guns are back. Minus Nouran Gohar, Joelle King and Joel Makin, all late withdrawals. I was going to give a shout out to some of the really young guns keeping us entertained recently - Zakaria, Khan, Orfi - but only Orfi is playing in Hong Kong and I'm not a fan TBH (my parents are, but then again they also like Asal). So instead I'll give a shout out to Hong Kong Squash, who - given the size of the country - always manage to produce some great Squash talent. They have not quite reached the heights of the the Au sibling's era (Hong Kong men's and women's teams finished third world teams during the mid 2010s), but look at a guy like Kwan Lau, who beat the endlessly entertaining Al Tamimi in a spectacular 3:2 the other day (check out this shot). So good luck to Hong Kong Squash, I hope you do well here and may your future be prosperous!

Now, time for the draws:

Men's, top 1 - 4 seeds: Farag, Elias, Asal, MES

The draw is slightly in flux with Makin out, which has lead to Elias' mood changing for the worse. He's had a bad draw anyway, Gawad in last sixteen (can it get worse?) and now if he manages to beat the most talented player of his generation, he gets to play the winner from Coll and Crouin, which I would argue is an easier prospect for Elias than Gawad. But Elias, as we all know, is not one to complain (haha) because when looking elsewhere in the draw things are almost equally bad: Asal has Ibrahim in round two and Momen/Dessouky in the quarters (after a grudge match against Soliman, for Asal), MES plays Masotti in round two and his brother or Eleinen in the quarters. I somehow feel Marwan's best days are over but then he beat his brother the other day. And congrats to Eleinen for romping through the Hong Kong Open draw beating a very capable Ng 3:1 (edit: I wrote 3:0 earlier) in the finals last week. What a player.

But what about Farag? Well, you know, I was watching this Amazon series earlier on my train ride, Invincible (okay, it's a cartoon), and it's about the son of this super hero who also turns out to be, well, Invincible. Gets battered to death and just stands up and beats them all and is actually a likeable kid. And while I don't know Farag's Dad (I'm sure he's different from Asal's), that's Farag for me at this point, throw at him what you will, he will beat you ninetheless. Yes he lost to Coll after a few hard tournaments (10:12 in the fifth) but he comes rested with an okay draw. He's got Elias' number and everyone else's and the only thing I can think of is Asal thrashing him last season in BO3. That was peak Asal and he isn't there again yet. So anyway, congrats Mr Invincible, you are my pick for the tournament!

Women's, top 1 - 4 seeds: El Sherbini, El Hammamy, Sobhy, Gilis

Huh, Gohar is out and Nele Gilis gets a taste of what it's like being seeded four in a Platinum event, she is the current number four in the world following her win in Singapore where she beat her endlessly likeable sister 3:2 in the finals. While El Sherbini will make the finals anyway, let's look at the other four seeds since it is really intriguing: El Hammamy plays her bogey player Sabrina Sobhy in the second round, but should she win that it's plain sailing until the quarters. Sabrina's sister plays the frighteningly good Orfi in the last sixteen. Orfi of course beat Kennedy (absent) last week and had a tough 2:3 against Sobhy earlier, Sobhy did not hold back afterwards and I think it's fair to say they don't love each other (isn't it great having a feud with a kid?).Tinne Gilis in the quarters for the winner. And speaking of Gilis: Neles's draw sucks big time. Okay, she will likely beat SJ in the last sixteen, but SJ does have the game to beat her if she is moving well. But we have Mrs Subramaniam - who took the Hong Kong Open last week - out to get her in the quarters and I think Siva will not only beat Olivia Weaver (nee Fichter) in round three, but also Gilis in the quarters. I've got a lot of time for her and it's great to see her back after her horrible accident. And so my take is that El Sherbini will beat Subramaniam in the finals 3:1. She isn't quite Mrs Invincible, but she is Mrs Awesome at the very least.

Alright, that's it from the train ride, 14 minutes to go until home. Enjoy the Squash and let us know what you think and first and foremost: enjoy the Squash!