Willstrop Loses, Shabana & Momen Set Up All-Egyptian Zurich Final from Tour Media April 27, 2014 -
After despatching the top two seeds in contrasting semi-finals, Amr
Shabana and Tarek Momen will contest the first all-Egyptian final of
the Grasshopper Cup, the PSA World Tour International 50 squash event
at the ezw-Unterwerk Selnau in the Swiss city of Zurich. Third seed Shabana,
the rejuvenated 34-year-old four-time World Champion from Cairo, was at
his awesome best as he defeated No2 seed Borja Golan, the World No.5
from Spain, 11-3, 13-11, 12-10 in 43 minutes. "I really felt going
into this match I was very sharp and very focused," said the
left-hander (pictured below) on the eve of his 47th PSA World Tour
final appearance. "In this phase of my career it's all about
gathering different aspects going into the match and I really felt I
was ready to play. "Movement-wise I felt
I was moving well. Of course it helped me that he had a two-hour
match yesterday that prevented him from coming out firing and I took
full advantage of that. All credit to him after the first, he
managed to shift the pattern of play, making it very uncomfortable for
me, changing the pace. "It all came down to winning the big points in the end. Luckily for me it came my way." It took almost an hour
longer to resolve the second semi – a match in which the fortunes ebbed
and flowed between the two players for a full 93 minutes. Momen, the No.6 seed
from Cairo, had never before beaten top seed James Willstrop in five
meetings with the World No.6 from England since 2009. Games and points were
traded right up to eight-all in the decider – but underdog Momen,
ranked 12 in the world, held his nerve to win 11-6, 1-11, 11-6, 8-11,
11-9. "I really surprised
myself with the way my game has matured," said Momen (pictured below
raising his arms in delight), now in his 10th Tour final. "I knew
that recently I found a way to be more patient but I haven't been
consistent with it but so far in this tournament I kept my cool and
calm and I've been very patient. "Also this helped to reduce the error count and I feel playing this way will allow me to eventually progress in the rankings." Asked whether the
vociferous crowd had played a part in his win, Momen was quick to
say: "We players really appreciate the crowd coming in every day
right from the first round – the attendance has been huge from the
beginning. "This is by far the
best crowd in the world. It's my first time playing in this
tournament and I'm planning on coming back again and again!" RESULTS: PSA International 50 Grasshopper Cup, Zurich, Switzerland Semi-finals: [6] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [1] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-6, 1-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-9 (93m) [3] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [2] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-3, 13-11, 12-10 (43m)
