Historic Night In Hong Kong As Massaro, David, Elshorbagy And Pilley Make Finals by Nathan Clarke
photo WSF
December 5, 2015
- A momentous night of semi-final action at the Cathay Pacific Sun Hung
Kai Financial Hong Kong Open saw all four victors celebrate momentous
moments in their careers ahead of tomorrow’s (Dec 6) finals.
In the women’s draw in-form Laura Massaro extended her recent wining
streak on the PSA World Tour to 14 matches after a stunning display saw
her defeat World No.1 Raneem El Welily and move into a third
consecutive PSA World Series tournament final, where she’ll be hoping
to add to the Delaware Investments U.S. Open and Qatar Classic crowns
she has already collected so far during the 2015/16 season.
The victory, which Massaro wrapped up in comprehensive fashion after
just 33 minutes, was even sweeter for the 32-year-old as it ensures she
will now top the World Rankings for the first time in her career come
January 1st.
“I’m really, really happy to be in another World Series final,” said
Massaro. “I’ve never made it to the final at this tournament so I’m
excited for tomorrow.
“I felt like I was in a good place before the match today and I knew
how important it was to get off to a strong start and that’s exactly
what I did. I was very pleased but I can’t get too excited with the win
because there’s still another match to go and a job to do.
On hearing the news that she will become World No.1 in January Massaro
added: “The World No.1 has been a huge mountain that I’ve been climbing
and it’s certainly come as a great early Christmas present.
“It means everything to me. I trained hard over the summer after taking
a break and the focus was all about competing and challenging for major
titles. It’s gone better than I could have expected, winning three
titles already, and I knew that if I could hit my goals of winning
titles then the rankings would take care of itself.”
Massaro will face defending champion Nicol David in the decider as the
Malaysian went one step closer to winning an unprecedented 10th
consecutive Hong Kong Open crown by ruthlessly dispatching Egypt’s
Omneya Abdel Kawy in just 24 minutes - securing a place in what will be
the 100th PSA World Tour final of her career in the process.
“It’s a real feat for any player to beat someone like Omneya 3-0 so that is a great result for me,” said David.
“I feel like I played well today and kept my focus right through to the
end. I have a good record here but that’s not in my mind. Hong Kong is
like a second home to me but I’m just happy to be playing well and
enjoying my squash.
“Laura and I always have big battles and good matches, the last few
have been very close, so hopefully tomorrow will be another good match.”
In the men’s draw defending champion Mohamed Elshorbagy emulated the
feat of Massaro by defeating compatriot Omar Mosaad to regain his place
as the World No.1 in the process.
Elshorbagy fell to a disappointing third round exit at the World
Championships last week, where Mosaad finished runner-up, which cost
him his place as World No.1 after a 13-month streak but he played with
composure and precision to halt Mosaad’s charge and return to the
summit of the World Rankings.
“I’ve been really happy with how I have played this whole week,” said
Elshorbagy. “Last year after losing the World Championship final I
reacted badly but this year it has been very different - I was very
quiet after that loss last week, which is unusual for me as I’m an
emotional person, but I just kept my head down and focused on what I
need to do here.
“I hadn’t been enjoying my squash this season. I felt like I was being
forced on court with the pressure but this week I feel like I want to
be on court again and I’m enjoying every shot and that’s the most
important thing for me.
“I came here to do two jobs; reclaim the World No.1 spot and retain the
title. One down and hopefully I will do the other tomorrow. I’m
relaxed, I’m sleeping well and I can’t wait to play one more major
final and do what I can to end the year on a high.”
Elshorbagy will face unexpected finalist Cameron Pilley in the title
decider after the hard-hitting Australian picked up from where he left
off in his quarter-final victory over World No.1 Gregory Gaultier to
defeat World No.3 Nick Matthew in just under an hour to reach his first
ever World Series Final.
A phenomenal fightback in the second game, when he surged from 10-5
down to force a tiebreak which he took 12-10 courtesy of some
thunderous winners, epitomised a career-defining performance for the
33-year-old.
“I’ve played Nick so many times and I’ve only managed to beat him twice before - he’s such a tough competitor,” said Pilley.
“But I guess I just played that little bit better today. Looking back
on the match that second game was a big moment. The difference from 1-1
and 2-0 is huge so it was maybe a turning point, but it was just a case
of not giving up.
“You get times when you hit a purple patch and are in the zone and this week seems to be going that way for me.
“It’s the biggest tournament of my career. I’m really enjoying being
out there and playing the way I want to play. I’ve cleared my mind a
bit over the last few weeks and it’s really paid off but I’m trying not
to get too excited.
“In a few weeks when I look back on it I’m sure it will be great
achievement but at the moment I’m not getting ahead of myself - there’s
another match to go and my focus is on that.”
