SINGAPORE – With a two-game lead in her first Vitagen Singapore Squash Open final, Belgian Nele Gilis had looked set for another easy win over her younger sister Tinne on Nov 19.
But Tinne threw the script out of the window as she rallied to make it 2-2 at the OCBC Arena and take the match to a fifth game for the first time in a competitive meeting between the siblings.
Nele, the world No. 7, dug deep to clinch the decider to prevail 3-2 in the 82-minute match and bag the US$18,050 (S$24,300) prize money. She also extended her winning record over her 10th-ranked sister.
The pair had faced each other six times previously, with Nele, 27, winning five matches. They last played against each other in September 2022, when Nele won 3-0.
Nele, who shared an emotional embrace with Tinne, 26, after the match, said: “We both left it all out there today and no matter what happened, it was always going to be a special night and obviously I’m very happy that I won but if I’m going to lose to anyone, I’d rather lose to her. I wish we could share that trophy.”
Despite the defeat, Tinne was in high spirits. She said: “It was physically hard, mentally hard. Even though I was 2-0 down, I still wanted to fight for every point... so I started attacking a bit more.
“I saw that she was struggling physically a little bit. I’m like (thinking), she’s only human as well, surely she gets tired at some point.”
Nele had started the better of the two, capturing the first two games 11-6, 12-10 as Tinne looked the wearier of the pair.
However, the younger sister returned to the court with fire in her belly and was determined to make Nele work for her win as she claimed the next two games 11-8, 11-5.
But, following a word of advice from her Kiwi fiance and fellow professional Paul Coll, who was watching in the stands after losing in the men’s quarter-finals on Nov 17, Nele closed out the final game 11-4 in 12 minutes.
The sisters will next play in the Nov 27-Dec 3 Hong Kong Open, before wrapping up their season at the Dec 5-10 New Zealand Open. They will then spend Christmas together with Coll’s family.
In the men’s final, the world’s top-ranked player Ali Farag beat Peru’s world No. 2 Diego Elias 3-1 in 78 minutes to seal the title on his first visit to the Republic.
The Egyptian, 31, said: “I had to play so many tough opponents, and to win the trophy is such a proud moment for me. You could see both of us getting tired at the end, but I was just lucky to get away with the last few points.”
Elias, who turned 27 on the day, had claimed the first game 11-6. But Farag turned up the heat, as he had done many times in the past against Elias, to win the next three games 11-4, 14-12, 11-8.
In the process, he took his record against the Peruvian to 21 wins in 24 matches. When asked whether Farag was his kryptonite, Elias said with a laugh: “A little bit!”
On whether it was one of his worst birthdays, Elias said: “I’ve had worse. I actually really enjoyed it. It’s always a pleasure to play again with Ali and it was a very fair, clean match and I think we both enjoyed it. A lot of suffering but it was good.”
