Elshorbagy & Matthew To Contest Qatar Classic Climax by Howard Harding
photos courtesy Steve Cubbins
14 November 2013
- Emphatic straight games wins in today's semi-finals of the Qatar
Classic in the Qatari capital Doha will see Egypt's fifth seed Mohamed
Elshorbagy and third-seeded Englishman Nick Matthew contest the climax
of the seventh PSA World Series squash event of the year at the Khalifa
International Tennis & Squash Complex.
Elshorbagy, who made
the final of the 2012 PSA World Championship on the same court almost
12 months ago, defied a 9/2 career head-to-head lead by his opponent
Karim Darwish to beat the fourth seed, ranked five in the world, 11-7,
11-5, 11-6 in 35 minutes.
In fact the score was
remarkably similar to 22-year-old Elshorbagy's win over his illustrious
Egyptian team-mate - twice a Qatar Classic title winner - when the pair
met in last December's World Championship quarter-finals in Doha.
"I was really looking
forward to playing the semi today. I was confident I could do it - and
that was very important to me," said the world No 6 (pictured above
with Darwish).
"Being in the final
after a 3/0 win will mean that I am fresh tomorrow," added Elshorbagy,
now in the 14th PSA World Tour final of his career.
Elshorbagy made a sensational start - quickly reaching match-ball at 10-2 before Darwish mounted a fight back.
"I started getting
really nervous - thinking 'oh my god I'm going to lose this game',"
said Elshorbagy when asked what his feelings were at that point. "If I
had lost that game, I'm not sure how I would have handled it. But
luckily he made the error at 7-10.
"Today I think I played the best I've played the whole tournament."
World No 4 Matthew,
fresh from his huge success in last week's World Championship on home
soil, took on giant-killer Borja Golan, the seventh-seeded Spaniard who
stunned top seed Gregory Gaultier in the previous round to earn a place
in his first World Series semi.
The 33-year-old from
Sheffield (pictured above with Golan) maintained his straight games run
in Doha by beating Golan, who boasts a career-high world No 8 ranking,
11-8, 11-6, 11-5 in 47 minutes.
"It was 3/0 - but it
was tougher than the score suggests," said Matthew afterwards. "The
first half of each game was tough and I was pleased with how I finished
each game - I played good squash at the end."
When asked about the
pressure, coming into the event as World Champion, Matthew responded:
"I'm really proud of my efforts this week - I'm pleased with how I've
backed up.
"I could easily have come here and lost first round. But I want to go all the way."
Golan tweeted later:
"Really good week in Qatar. Today @nickmatthew was too strong for me
and he dominated well the match. Tonight flight home, see u next year
Doha!"
Matthew is celebrating the 57th PSA Tour final of his career - and his third in a row.
RESULTS: PSA World Series Qatar Classic, Doha, Qatar
