Meguid Makes All-Egyptian Sky Open Semis by Howard Harding 22 November 2013
- Omar Abdel Meguid claimed the biggest scalp of his squash career when
he beat world No 15 Alister Walker in the Banque Misr Sky Open to
ensure an unexpected all-Egyptian semi-final line-up in the PSA World
Tour International 50 event at the Sky Resort in New Cairo, Egypt.
The sixth-seeded
25-year-old from Giza battled for 45 minutes to overcome Botswana's
Walker, the No 4 seed, 11-7, 13-11, 9-11, 11-5.
"It's up there with my
victories over Tom Richards and Steve Coppinger," Meguid told
www.squashsite.com later - referring to his upsets as a qualifier in
last month's Macau Open.
"In the third I was so
tired, I could feel my legs giving in - but I went back in the fourth
telling myself to give it 200%, and to make it as hard for him as I
could," explained the world No 35.
"Today, I concentrated
on playing squash. And it worked. I knew I had it in me to do a good
performance. I had a game plan, and I stuck to it!"
Meguid will now face
fellow countryman Mohamed Elshorbagy, the in-form 22-year-old from
Alexandria who lifted his first PSA World Series title earlier this
month at the Qatar Classic.
Second seed Elshorbagy
needed four games to see off compatriot Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (both
pictured in Sky Open action above) 11-3, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9 in 50 minutes.
It was a good day for
the Elshorbagy family as Mohamed was joined in the semis by his younger
brother Marwan Elshorbagy. The 20-year-old fifth seed secured his
unexpected place in the last four at the expense of giant-killer Fares
Mohamed Dessouki, the 19-year-old qualifier from his home town who
ousted third seed Omar Mosaad in the previous round.
Marwan ended the
teenager's run in 45 minutes, winning 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 to set up a
clash with the event's top seed Karim Darwish.
"Fares is a great
squash player - he proved it yesterday by beating world number nine
Mosaad in five games," said Elshorbagy junior later. "He is 19 years
old and reminds me of me when I was young! And if he keeps on playing
like that, he'll be playing top 30 in a year. And I wish him all the
best for his next tournaments.
"Fares is one of the
players of my generation, and I have studied all of them for the World
Juniors," added the former world junior champion. "I knew what to
expect, and I used my experience. Plus I was 100% focused from the
first rally."
Darwish, the world No
5 who had to recover from two games down to reach the quarter-finals,
was back to his best as he cruised to a straight games win over
unseeded compatriot Zahed Mohamed, winning 11-7, 11-3, 11-3 in 31
minutes.
The 32-year-old from
Cairo, the 2009 Sky Open champion (pictured above with Mohamed), is
just one win away from reaching his fourth successive final since 2008.
RESULTS: PSA International 50 Banque Misr Sky Open, New Cairo, Egypt
