Defending Champions Elshorbagy and Serme Through to British Open Quarters by Sean Reuthe photos squashpics.com
March 24, 2016
- Defending champions Mohamed Elshorbagy and Camille Serme sealed their
places in the quarter-final of the 2016 Allam British Open, PSA World
Series tournament, on the fourth day of action at the prestigious event
in Hull.
Current World No.1 Elshorbagy avenged his shock
World Championship defeat to former World No.1 James Willstrop by
downing the Yorkshireman 11-6, 11-6, 8-11, 11-5 - meaning that there
will be no Englishmen in the quarter-final stage of the iconic
tournament for the first time since 1992 after Nick Matthew also exited
the event yesterday.
“I’ve been waiting for this match for four months, since the World Championship,” said Elshorbagy.
“After
he got back from his injury, the first time I saw him return to his
best was against me in the World Championship. I was really happy to
see him playing that well, it’s important for the game to have someone
like him to be playing very well. I was focused from the first point
today, I thought we played such a high-quality match for a second round
match.
“I got in my zone and I’m really happy that he played well so we pushed each other very hard.”
Serme,
meanwhile, remains on course to retain her title in the Women’s event
after a masterful performance against England’s Victoria Lust sent her
through to the last eight.
The number five seed produced an
array of sublime shots during a high-quality match as her attacking
artistry at the front of the court in particular paid dividends
throughout the 31-minute encounter.
She put Lust to the
sword in a comprehensive 11-5, 11-8, 11-3 victory to seal her spot in
the next round - where she will face Women’s World No.1 Laura Massaro,
the only English player left in the competition, in a repeat of last
year’s final.
"I am just trying to focus on today and not last year," Serme said.
"I
just try to focus match after match, and try to think about the tactic
and not the prestigious tournament. It would be be a good battle
[against Massaro], a good match. I am going to give everything I have."
Massaro came through a difficult tie against Denmark’s Line Hansen to continue her attempts to lift a second British Open crown.
The
32-year-old was made to work hard for the win and found herself
trailing her opponent in the first game before prevailing and she came
through the second in determined style after triumphing on the
tie-break. Some typically accurate hitting from the 2013 British Open
champion saw her pull away in game three and she kept her composure to
record an 11-9, 12-10, 11-5 triumph.
“It will be a good match for the crowd," said Massaro of her upcoming fixture against Serme.
"I’m
glad to be in the quarter final, it’s nice to be off in three games
with not much time to rest. I feel like I am playing well and much
better than I was this time last year. Also I don’t have an 85-minute
match in my legs like I did going into last years final so I just want
to play my best.”
An injury to Saurav Ghosal saw Marwan
Elshorbagy progress to the next round where he will take on Karim Abdel
Gawad, who reached the last eight at the iconic event for the first
time in his career by beating compatriot Fares Dessouki, while Miguel
Angel Rodriguez downed Mohamed Abouelghar to ensure he will face
Mohamed Elshorbagy for a place in the semi-final.
The other
matches in the Women’s draw saw World Junior Champion Nouran Gohar beat
Hong Kong’s Annie Au to set up a quarter-final clash with Raneem El
Welily, who saw off Sarah-Jane Perry.
Results - Second Round (Top Half) Men's 2016 Allam British Open
