French Duo Derail Egyptian Title Defence In Tournament Of Champions Semi-finals by Nathan Clarke
photos PSA
January 18, 2017
- French duo Gregory Gaultier, Men's World No.3, and Camille Serme,
Women's World No.4, derailed the challenge of 2016 tournament winners
Mohamed ElShorbagy and Nour El Sherbini to come through two dramatic
and enthralling semi-final encounters at the 2017 J.P. Morgan
Tournament of Champions today (Jan 18).
Inside Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall Gaultier, 2009
champion, prevailed 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 4-11, 11-7 in an 84-minute
encounter with 2015 and 2016 winner ElShorbagy that had the theatrics,
drama and intrigue befitting a broadway classic.
The 34-year-old strutted extravagantly around court, playing with pace,
precision and guile to take a 2-0 lead, delighting the crowd with his
theatrical celebrations before a contentious referee decision at 8-7 in
the third swung the match. The Frenchman capitulated, first mentally
and then physically - as a troublesome left glute hampered his movement
- allowing ElShorbagy to level 2-2. But a stunned crowd, silenced by
what they were witnessing, watched on as Gaultier, playing on one leg,
displayed all the traits of his 'General' moniker to regain control and
seal a dramatic victory.
"I felt my glute go during my match with Tarek (Momen) and it was sore
this morning - but after warming up today it was fine and I had no
problem in those first two games," said Gaultier.
"In the third game I could feel it tighten and then at 8-7 that
decision should have gone my way and I lost my dynamic. I could have
gone through to win 3-0 and then it was 2-2. At that point I just
wanted to shake hands - I was in a lot of pain.
"But my coaches told me just to fight for every point. I played smart
and it maybe got in his head and he got a little shaky. I was injured
all year in 2016 - so I am very determined to come back. This is a
beautiful place to play squash and you want to give your all in these
kind of locations.
"There's a lot of talk about Egyptian players dominating at the moment
but there are players from other countries here as well, and we're
showing that we are still competing and that our names deserve to be on
trophies as well."
Gaultier will face Egypt's World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad in the
title-decider after he produced a sublime performance to beat James
Willstrop in straight games while it was Gaultier's compatriot Serme
who captured attention in the Women's draw with a 3-1 defeat of World
No.1 El Sherbini.
Serme beat World No.2 Nouran Gohar yesterday and injected pace from the
off today to unsettle El Sherbini, working her favoured backhand with
relentless accuracy, to win 11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6 and secure her first
appearance in the iconic event's title-decider.
"I was so focused on the match and making sure I played as well as I
could that it hasn't really sunk in that I'm into the final yet," said
27-year-old Serme.
"I dreamt of playing this event - the venue is unbelievable - so it's
amazing to know I will be playing in the final here tomorrow with a
chance to win. I've beaten the #1 and #2 players so I have to take
confidence that I'm playing some of my best ever squash.
"I feel like there's still improvements to be made but I'm on the right
track. Tomorrow will be a different challenge again so I'll give it my
best and see what happens - it's very exciting."
Serme will face England's Laura Massaro, 2014 runner-up, in the decider ensuring a new Women's champion will be crowned.
Results - Men's Semi-finals: 2017 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) 3-2: 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 4-11, 11-7 (84m)
[2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt James Willstrop (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-6 (42m)
Draw - Final
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Results - Women's Semi-finals: 2017 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions
[5] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) 3-1: 11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6 (49m)
[4] Laura Massaro (ENG) bt [11] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 (40m)
Draw - Final
[5] Camille Serme (FRA) v [4] Laura Massaro (ENG)
