World No.1 Diego Elias was on the brink of elimination from the PSA World Championships before fighting back from two games down to beat India’s Saurav Ghosal at Chicago Union Station on Sunday.

India’s No.1 Ghosal tested the resolve of the Peruvian Puma throughout, and was well worth his two-game lead. The 36-year-old was measured in his play, while Elias made too many unforced errors.

However the World No.1 turned it up a notch in the third, storming into a 7-0 lead before clinching the game to be reduce the deficit.

The Peruvian Puma produced another dominant display in the fourth to send the match into a fifth, demonstrating why he sits at the top of the Men’s World Rankings.

Ghosal, hunting his first quarter-final appearance at a World Championships in four years, rediscovered the energy he had in the opening two games and looked to pull off a huge shock when he had a couple of match balls.

But Elias denied Ghosal, sending the gripping match into a tiebreak. It remained a stalemate at 10-all until Ghosal made an error, and Elias closed the match out to progress to the quarter-finals.

“Saurav was playing great squash from the beginning,” said Elias, who is aiming to become the first South American to win the PSA World Championships.

“He had a good game plan against me and I couldn’t figure it out at the start. It took me a couple of games and I’m just very happy I could come back from that because I was under a lot of pressure and I didn’t start in the best way.

“I wasn’t moving great. I think I can improve a lot of things for the next match and just be way more aggressive. Hopefully I’ll be moving better in the next one.”

.@ginakennedyy is looking sharp! ?

Great shot here in the opening match of the day ?#PSAWorldChamps pic.twitter.com/LFDUNO49pR

— PSA World Championships (@PSAWorldChamps) May 7, 2023

Meanwhile, World No.11 Nele Gilis became the first Belgian women ever to reach the last eight of the sport’s most prestigious tournament as she upset the seedings to overcome World No.7 Olivia Fiechter, winning 9-11, 13-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8 after 94 minutes of pulsating action.

World No.8 Georgina Kennedy put in an impressive performance to dismantle Egypt’s Rowan Elaraby as she booked her spot in the quarter-finals of the PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family for the first time.

Kennedy, appearing in only her second World Championship, asserted her game plan right from the off as she played an immaculate line and length to take the attacking opportunities away from Elaraby.

The English star had won all four of her previous matches against Elaraby and she looked full of confidence as she stormed to an 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 in just 29 minutes.

Wowzers! ?

Thumped in by @mabouelghar ?

Watch the all-Egyptian battle live now on https://t.co/u0FNI5ir3T#PSAWorldChamps pic.twitter.com/3ka5aIGoGr

— PSA World Championships (@PSAWorldChamps) May 7, 2023

2017 World Champion Mohamed ElShorbagy finally got the better of bogey player Youssef Ibrahim as he ended a three-match losing streak against the World No.30.

Reigning World Champion Nour El Sherbini made short work of World No.9 Sarah-Jane Perry to make it 27 matches unbeaten at the sport’s biggest tournament.

El Sherbini generally brings her ‘A’ game to the PSA World Championships – winning six of the last seven and reaching the final in the other – and that was certainly true against Perry today as she stormed to a comfortable 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 victory after 27 minutes of action.

2019 World Champion Tarek Momen continued his title challenge as he came out on top of a gruelling five-game battle with fellow Egyptian Mohamed Abouelghar.

Joelle King maintained her perfect streak at the World Championships as she notched another straight games victory against Tesni Evans.

The New Zealand No.1 has been in top form so far in Chicago having not dropped a single game, and she kept her 100% record intact to book her quarter-final spot. 

Results and Draw

Results – Men’s Third Round (Bottom Half): 2022-23 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family

Draw – Men’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half): To Be Played May 8th
[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) v [9] Mazen Hesham (EGY)
[5] Paul Coll (NZL) v [4] Ali Farag (EGY)

Draw – Men’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half): To Be Played May 9th
[3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) v [7] Tarek Momen (EGY)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [2] Diego Elias (PER)

Results – Men’s Third Round (Bottom Half): 2022-23 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family
[4] Joelle King (NZL) bt [15] Tesni Evans (WAL) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 14-12 (46m)
[11] Nele Gilis (BEL) bt [7] Olivia Fiechter (USA) 3-2: 9-11, 13-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8 (94m)
[10] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt [8] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-4 (29m)
[2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [9] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 (27m)

Draw – Women’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half): To Be Played May 8th
[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [6] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
[5] Amanda Sobhy (USA) v [3] Hania El Hammamy (EGY)

Draw – Men’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half): To Be Played May 9th
[4] Joelle King (NZL) v [11] Nele Gilis (BEL)
[10] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) v [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)