Abbas stuns King as third round of World Squash Championships begins

Nada Abbas, left, sprung a surprise at the World Squash Championships as she eliminated fifth seed Joelle King ©PSA World Tour

Fifth seed Joelle King of New Zealand was the highest-ranked player to be eliminated in the women’s draw as the third round of the World Squash Championships got underway in Cairo.

King was beaten by Egyptian 15^th seed Nada Abbas, who triumphed 11-7, 15-13, 8-11, 11-6 in just under an hour to reverse the result from when the pair met at last month’s British Open.

Abbas will face fourth seed Amanda Sobhy of the United States in the last eight, after Sobhy battled past Belgium’s Nele Gilis 11-9, 11-8, 11-9.

Women’s top seed Nouran Gohar of Egypt continued her smooth progress easily overcoming Tesni Evans of Wales 11-6, 11-4, 11-4.

Gohar will take on Rowan Elaraby in the quarter-finals with the Egyptian receiving a walkover after Joshna Chinappa of India withdrew due to illness.

Third seed Mohamed ElShorbagy was a comfortable winner over compatriot Karim Abdel Gawad at the World Squash Championships ©PSA World Tour

In the top half of the men’s third round draw, played today, top seed Paul Coll of New Zealand looked in ominous form as he overcame Mazen Hesham of Egypt 11-5, 11-0, 11-6.

Coll will take on another Egyptian Tarek Momen in the last eight, after the sixth seed battled from a game down to overcome Joel Makin of Wales 8-11, 11-9, 11-2, 11-7 in 73 minutes.

In a high-quality contest Egyptian eighth seed Fares Dessouky overcame France’s Gregoire Marche 11-6, 14-16, 11-8, 11-7 in 72 minutes.

Dessouky will face compatriot Mohamed ElShorbagy in the quarter-finals after the third seed overcame another Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad, who retired injured when trailing 11-3, 11-4, 6-0.

Third round action is due to continue in the bottom half of the men’s and women’s draws tomorrow with matches taking place at both the S Club Allegria and the Egyptian National Museum of Civilisation.