Egypt’s Gawad Takes
Out World No.1 ElShorbagy to Reach Black Ball Squash Open Semi-Finals by Ellie Mawson
photos PSA
December 7, 2018
- Egypt’s former World No.1 Karim Abdel Gawad produced the shock of the
tournament after he downed current World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy to
reach the semi-finals of the CIB Black Ball Squash Open PSA Platinum
tournament in Cairo, Egypt.
The Black Ball Squash Open is the first major tournament to take place
in Egypt’s capital since the men’s 2016 PSA World Championships and
Gawad produced a sensational performance in front of his home crowd to
reach his first semi-finals at a Platinum PSA tournament since 2017.
World No.9 Gawad played some exquisite squash in the first game,
showing his quality with pinpoint accuracy to put the reigning World
Champion in serious trouble. ElShorbagy then tried to up the pace to
disrupt Gawad, but he was too strong to take the match by an 11-4,
11-9, 12-10 scoreline in 57 minutes.
“Mohamed is No.1 in the world and is the most consistent player in my
generation,” said Gawad following his huge win. “He has been winning
all of the tournaments in a row, so to win 3-0 against a tough player
like him is unbelievable.
“I just had to be very strong mentally today and push until the last
point in the match. This win means so much for me. I wanted that win so
badly, I wanted to reach the semis to improve my ranking, but more than
everything else, I wanted to prove to my coaches that the hard work we
have done in the summer is finally paying off.”
Gawad will now face compatriot and World No.4 Tarek Momen for a place
in the final after he defeated World No.10 Mohamed Abouelghar in a
high-quality battle to progress.
Cairo-born Momen took the first game, before Abouelghar made life
difficult for the World No.4 in the second to draw level with some
exceptional squash on display from both players. However, the class of
Momen – which has seen him enjoy his strongest year to date on the PSA
Tour - shone through in the end to prevail an 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5
winner and reach his fourth successive semi-final this season.
“I have to say I was surprised by the level of squash we both produced
tonight,” said 30-year-old Momen afterwards. “I think that’s probably
the highest quality we have ever produced against each other.
“Karim is going to be a tough match for sure. He’s played ridiculously
well today. I’m going to try and push myself to the limit because I
want to reach the final.”
Elsewhere at the Black Ball Sporting Club, New Zealand’s World No.7
Paul Coll enjoyed a big win over Germany’s World No.3 Simon Rösner to
reach his second semi-final at a PSA Platinum event.
Coll was slow out of the blocks, as Rösner – who endured a tough
five-game battle yesterday with France’s Gregoire Marche – took the
first game. However, the momentum completely shifted in the second as
the Kiwi mounted an impressive comeback to level the scores, before
going on to take the win by a 5-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-3 victory in 54
minutes.
“I’m just really happy that I could mentally fight through that,” said
the New Zealander. “I didn’t feel comfortable out there and my length
was patchy in the first. He’s had a great season and a long season, so
I’m just happy that I could come off today as the winner.”
Coll will now face Egypt’s World No.2 Ali Farag in the semi-finals
after he defeated India’s World No.12 Saurav Ghosal in straight-games.
The Egyptian proved too much to handle for Ghosal as he powered to an
11-6, 11-9, 11-3 victory much to the delight of a packed-out home crowd
at the Black Ball Sporting Club.
“I’m really happy with the way I played today,” said World No.2 Farag.
“We don’t get to play in front of a crowd like this often, so I want to
make the most of it. It’s really a pleasure to play in front of them,
so I hope that I can keep progressing into the later rounds of the
tournament.”
The semi-finals takes place on Saturday December 8. Matches from the
glass court will be shown live on SQUASHTV (Rest of World) and
Eurosport Player (Europe only) from 19:00 local time (UTC+2).
Results: CIB Black Ball Squash Open
Quarter-Finals
