Castagnet to Meet Elshorbagy in First Tournament of Champions Semi-Final by Sean Reuthe photos squashpics.com
January 11, 2016
- French No.2 Mathieu Castagnet overcame former World No.5 Borja Golan
in a lengthy battle in the quarter-final of the 2016 Men’s J.P. Morgan
Tournament of Champions in New York’s Grand Central Terminal – reaching
the last four of a PSA World Series event for the first time in his
career.
Castagnet put in a fine performance throughout the
72-minute encounter and showcased his jaw-dropping retrieval skills and
electrifying speed on court as he rose to an 11-9, 13-11, 11-4 victory
to set up a meeting with World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy in the last four.
"I can’t believe it," a delighted Castagnet said after the match.
"I
don’t think I’m going to sleep tonight. I might need another day off to
make sure that I am in good shape for the semis! I’m trying to forget
it."
"I’m going to try to sleep and think of something else
so I can prepare for my match. It’s not finished yet - I need to
prepare for the next round and try to reach the final by beating the
World No.1."
Defending champion Elshorbagy continued his
attempts to retain the crown he won a year ago with a superb triumph
against compatriot Omar Mosaad.
The man from Alexandria,
playing the day before his 25th birthday, conceded the first game to
the older Egyptian after a high quality start to the match saw ‘The
Hammer of Thor’ Mosaad edge ahead to take the lead.
The
17-time PSA World Tour title winner responded by injecting an influx of
pace into proceedings and a barrage of attacking artistry at the front
of the court, in addition to fatigue creeping into Mosaad’s legs, saw
him overturn the one-game deficit to claim a 9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 12-10
victory in 76 minutes.
"Omar is a great guy and a great player," said Elshorbagy.
"We’re
great friends on and off court as well. I think that it showed he has
matured and he has had such great results lately. The way that he has
been backing up tournament after tournament shows that he is a world
class player right now.
"It was such a great match and Im
just happy that we were able to play such a great match in front of a
great crowd. I can’t wait already to be back here and playing in front
of everyone again."
The Women’s event saw Camille Serme join
compatriot Castagnet in the latter stages of the tournament after she
came through a hard-fought encounter with England’s Emily Whitlock in
her second round fixture.
The World No.4 took the opener in
confident fashion and overturned deficits in games two and four,
sandwiched either side of a defeat in the third, to claim an 11-6,
11-5, 8-11, 13-11 triumph.
“I think that Emily wasn’t really in the match in the first two games,” said Serme.
“Suddenly
she played better and used the height more and I got surprised. The
rallies were longer and tougher and I just had to stay in the game. In
the last one I’m happy I came back."
Serme is paired up with
Egypt’s Nour El Sherbini in a mouthwatering quarter-final tie and it
was the latter who triumphed in the duo’s most recent meeting at
November’s Qatar Classic.
Results: J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions - Men’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half)
