Tesni Evans is heading home to Wales after her first experience of World Tour finals squash – a tournament which involves only the highest ranked players.
Rhyl-based Evans was among eight female players in the tournament played at the Mall of Arabia, Cairo.
The 25-year-old British champion defeated New Zealand’s Joelle King, but lost her two other group matches against Egyptian World number one Raneem El Welily and French player Camille Serme.
“I lost out 2-0 to Camille,” said Evans. “Disappointed but it was a great week in Cairo. Loved being a part of my first World Tour finals.
“Thats me done for the 2018/19 season. Really happy with how it’s gone.
“Now for rest and then summer training for next season. Can’t wait already.”
Take a bow @CamilleSerme & @tesnievans! 🙇♀️
Just terrific squash from the pair 👏#WorldTourFinals #squash_at_thepark pic.twitter.com/VHCBfqxIUp
— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) June 12, 2019
Fourth seed Serme won 11-5, 13-11 in 28 minutes against Evans during the final group clash.
“I saw that Tesni was not moving as well as usual,” said 30-year-old Serme.
“But she is such a fighter and whatever happened I knew she was going to give it her all in the second.
“She tried to find some good solutions and it almost worked. It was a good tactic, but I’m happy that I found my solutions in the end.”
Serme won her semi-final against Nouran Gohar in straight games.
Her opponent in the final is El Welily, who defeated Egyptian compatriot and World No.5 Nour El Tayeb 2-1 in a thrilling battle.
These two players are no strangers to facing each other on the PSA Tour with the two Egyptians facing each other three times already this season with two of those going all the way to five in epic battles.
El Tayeb last recorded a victory over El Welily in the semi-finals of the PSA World Championships in February, which was voted by fans as the Women’s PSA Match of the Season, but was unable to replicate that feat.
World number one El Welily, aiming to win her first World Tour Finals title, started strongly to open up a lead, before El Tayeb began to fight back. Both players put their best squash on display with El Welily particularly showcasing her flair with some outrageous shots to take a 1-0 lead.
El Tayeb came back strongly in the second, however, as it was her turn to build up a comfortable lead before El Welily showed her mental toughness to come back into the game and save two game balls from her compatriot.
It was not enough to stop El Tayeb from drawing level though as she disrupted the rhythm of El Welily and pushed her into all areas of the court.
In the third, El Welily was able to power to the finish line as she took the final game for the loss of one point.
“I just tried to be more active [in the third] rather than being passive in the second,” said 30-year-old El Welily.
“She played really well, pushed me to the back and then dragged me to the front to make the gap seem big. I’m glad with the way I fought in the second when I came all the way back to 9-10 and couldn’t quite make it.
“But it made a difference somehow and I’m very happy to come out as the winner.
“Nour is obviously highly skilled with the racket and it’s a gift from good. I really appreciate it.
“To finish the season with a win would be absolutely fantastic.”
Women’s semi-final results: [1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 2-1: 11-9, 9-11, 11-1 (38m); [4] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [6] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 2-0: 20-18, 11-9 (37m).
Men’s semi-final results: [4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) 2-0: 11-8, 11-2 (28m); [8] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) beat [3] Tarek Momen (EGY) 2-1: 9-11, 11-5, 11-8 (55m).