Elshorbagy Eliminates Pilley In Testing US Open Encounter by Nathan Clarke October 13, 2014
- Egyptian World No.2 Mohamed Elshorbagy booked his place in the
quarter-finals of the 2014 Delaware Investments US Open courtesy of a
hard-earned 3-0 victory against Australian national champion Cameron
Pilley at Philadelphia’s Drexel University earlier today.
Pilley, one of the
most powerful hitters in world squash, came out of the blocks firing
against the 23-year-old from Alexandria and produced some of his best
squash in recent times, but Elshorbagy proved up to the challenge and
weathered an early storm to eliminate the man from Yamba.
Despite them being
separated by 20 places on the PSA World Rankings there was little
between the players on court and Elshorbagy looked a relieved figure as
he snuck the opening game 13-11 after a tense tie-break.
The second game was
equally tight with both players displaying a dazzling array of
shot-making ability, but again it was the Egyptian who edged it 11-9
before completing a 13-11, 11-9, 11-6 victory.
"I don't know what it
is about Cameron but he always seems to play his best against me and
that was a really great battle today," said Elshorbagy.
"He's such a hard
hitter and fast player. The first two games really were 50-50 and I
tried to match him in the first game, but I changed my tactic in the
second game and luckily I got the the better of the games to get off in
three.
"I'm really happy to come through that match as it was a tough one and I think will help me in the next round."
Elshorbagy will now
take on England's Adrian Waller in Wednesday's quarter-finals where
he'll be hoping to set-up a potential encounter with World No.1 Gregory
Gaultier, who got past a spirited Alan Clyne in his second round match,
in a match-up which could have massive repercussions at the top of the
PSA World Rankings.
Victory for Elshorbagy
in a potential encounter with Gaultier, who faces German Simon Rösner
in his quarter-final, would see him take a huge step towards claiming
the World No.1 ranking for the first time in his career, adding extra
motivation for the dynamic star.
"I'm into the
quarter-finals now and there's only three more matches to go to win
this title and capture that dream of becoming World No.1," said
Elshorbagy.
"There is such a great
battle going on between Greg (Gaultier), Nick (Matthew) and myself for
that top ranking at the moment. Those are the kind of things that we
all play the game for and I'm going to give it my all this week to try
and make it happen."
Waller earned his
place in the last 16 courtesy of a battling performance against
Egyptian Mazen Hesham which sees him into the quarter-finals of a PSA
World Series event for the first time in his career while Rösner
breezed past Leo Au in the other match in the second round, which
continues with bottom half action tomorrow (Tuesday October 14).
2014 Delaware Investments US Open: Second Round, Top Half Results: [1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 3-0: 13-11, 11-5, 11-3 [41m] [6] Simon Rösner (GER) bt [Q] Leo Au (HKG) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-8 [38m] Adrian Waller (ENG) bt Mazen Hesham (EGY) 3-1: 11-6, 11-4, 7-11, 11-9 [56m] [3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 3-0: 13-11, 11-9, 11-6 [53m]
