Marwan Elshorbagy Beats Greg Gaultier in Grasshopper Final for Biggest Career Title by Nathan Clarke photos PSA
April 17, 2016
- 22-year-old Egyptian Marwan ElShorbagy emerged victorious in the
finale of the 2016 Grasshopper Cup to defeat French World No.2 and 2015
tournament winner Gregory Gaultier to lift the biggest title off his
career to date and record his first ever win over the current World
Champion in the process.
In front of a capacity crowd inside
Zurich's Puls5 ElShorbagy, who had reached the final without dropping a
single game, faced off against Gaultier in a match the 33-year-old was
expected to win having won all three previous meetings between the pair
- with ElShorbagy never having taken a game from the 'French General'.
True
to form it was Gaultier who took the early impetus as he nullified the
Egyptian in the opening game, taking it 11-6, but in the second game
the match was flipped upside down as ElShorbagy upped his levels to
pressure the Frenchman and gain a foothold in proceedings. After taking
the second 13-11, ElShorbagy then found himself ahead after taking the
third 11-9.
Gaultier found himself on the defensive during
the fourth and managed to edge ahead at the business end to force a
decisive fifth game but it was ElShorbagy who commanded it, playing
relaxed, attacking squash to seal the biggest win of his life.
"This is the biggest win of my career - I'm not sure what to say - I'm just over the moon," said ElShorbagy.
"To
beat the World Champion is something I will never forget. I've been
training very hard recently and there have been a lot of people,
coaches, friends and family that have been pushing me and their support
is vital.
"I loved every single second of being here and it
was a great tournament. Squash is nothing without the crowd and they
have been excellent this week and I can’t wait to be back here next
year."
