Elshorbagy Brothers Charge Into Windy City Quarters by Nathan Clarke photos squashpics.com
February 27, 2016
- Elshorbagy brothers Mohamed and Marwan, the World No.1 and No.10,
edged towards a second consecutive Windy City Open semi-final showdown
after coming through their respective second round encounters during
the third day of action at the PSA World Series tournament taking place
inside the University Club of Chicago.
The pair, who live
together in their adopted hometown of Bristol, England, met in the last
four here twelve months ago when Mohamed triumphed and they are on
course for a repeat encounter after Marwan pulled off the biggest upset
of the day to see off in-form Egyptian compatriot Karim Abdel Gawad
courtesy of a tense five-game victory.
Marwan stormed out to
a commanding two-game lead to capitalise on a sluggish start from his
opponent but five-game specialist Gawad mounted a typical comeback to
force a fifth game in which the World No.10 played with poise and
control to prevail.
“Karim and I know each other’s game very well so we knew what to expect from each other today,” said Marwan.
“I
think I managed to play better in the first two games and he was the
better player in the second two. I know how good he is at winning
five-game matches so I just told myself to keep hitting and running and
giving it my all and I’m very happy to win especially because this is a
big tournament for me.
“I reached the semis here last year
and I’m in the quarters again this year so I’m looking forward to
coming back on court in a couple of days."
Top seed Mohamed,
runner-up in 2015, continued his march towards a maiden Chicago crown
with a hard-earned victory over Mohamed Abouelghar while World No.6
Miguel Angel Rodriguez secured his first quarter-final place at the
Windy City Open courtesy of some missed opportunities by opponent Tom
Richards.
Richard played with confidence, composure and
craft for the majority of their matchup in a performance that belied
the 20 place gap between the pair on the rankings but a series of
all-or-nothing errors at the crucial stages ensured it was Rodriguez
who took the win.
"Tom is playing well at the moment and he
had some good results in the past few weeks so it was a tough match
today,” said Rodriguez.
“I think that nowadays all matches
against top 20 and top 30 players are very competitive but I’m
delighted to come through and make my first quarters here in Chicago.
“He
was playing very solid throughout but I took my chances in the third
where I had a great comeback and I’m happy I managed to see it out.”
After
suffering a shock second round defeat during the 2015 Windy City Open
which led to her taking an extended break from the sport, World No.1
Laura Masaaro made sure lightning would not strike twice as she
compressively defeated compatriot Victoria Lust in the women's draw.
Defeat
twelve months ago proved to be the catalyst for a career-defining
change in the 32-year-old's approach to the game and in the midst of
some of her finest ever form she played with total control to come
through 3-0 after just 31 minutes on court, despite a drop in level in
the third game.
“I felt pretty good on court tonight and I’m pleased with how I started in particular,” said Massaro.
“I
dropped off a little mentally in the third game and that was enough to
let her into the mix so I was quite happy to get off there in three
games at the end as it was getting quite tight.
“Despite
that blip I felt like I had a lot of clarity in mind an played with a
lot of focus on what I needed to do. I’m not worrying about what people
throw at me on court but instead I’m concentrating on playing my game
an hopefully I can keep that going.”
Massaro is joined by
Nicol David in the quarter-finals after the Malaysian World No.2
comfortably beat England's Sarah-Jane Perry, also in 31-minutes, with
World No.3 Raneem El Weily to play tomorrow.
Results- Second Round (Top Half) Men's 2016 Windy City Open [1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 18-16 (44m) [5] Simon Rösner (GER) bt Max Lee (HKG) 3-1: 11-7, 11-4, 10-12, 12-10 (61m) Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [7] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 3-2: 11-8, 11-8, 4-11, 5-11, 11-6 (73m) [4] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt Tom Richards (ENG) 3-1: 11-8, 6-11, 12-10, 12-10 (74m)
Draw - Second Round (Bottom Half) Men's 2016 Windy City Open [3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v Saurav Ghosal (IND) Daryl Selby (ENG) v [8] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) [6] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [Q] Diego Elias (PER) Borja Golan (ESP) v [2] Nick Matthew (ENG)
Results- Second Round (Top Half) Women's 2016 Windy City Open [1] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [16] Victoria Lust (ENG) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-9 (31m) [6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt [15] Emily Whitlock (ENG) 3-1: 12-10, 5-11, 11-9, 11-4 (41m) [5] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [14] Delia Arnold (MAS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-9, 11-8 (30m) [3] Nicol David (MAS) bt [11] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 (31m)
Draw - Second Round (Bottom Half) Women's 2016 Windy City Open [4] Camille Serme (FRA) v Joey Chan (HKG) [10] Joelle King (NZL) v [7] Amanda Sobhy (USA) [8] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [13] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) [9] Annie Au (HKG) v [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY)
