Gohar Serves Notice in 3rd-Round World's Demolition, Quarterfinals Set by Sean Reuthe May 14, 2024
- Former World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy came back from a game down to
get the better of younger brother Marwan at the Palm Hills Club and
book his spot in the quarter-finals of the CIB PSA World Championships
taking place in Cairo, Egypt.
Mohamed and Marwan made history when they became the first brothers to
contest the final in Manchester in 2017, with Mohamed winning on that
occasion, and the 33-year-old had won 16 of their 22 matches coming
into today’s match. The pair were competing in the country of their
birth tonight, but both players were flying the English flag after
switching national allegiance in recent years.
It was Marwan, three years Mohamed’s junior, who settled first to take
the opening game, but a tenacious ElShorbagy struck back to take the
next three without reply, setting up a mouthwatering last eight battle
with New Zealand’s World No.2 Paul Coll.
“If you asked me two months ago if I wanted to play again, I would have
told you that I wanted to stop, I wanted to retire,” said ElShorbagy.
“After I beat Iker [Pajares] in El Gouna, I called Jonah [Barrington]
that night, I needed someone who has known me since I was a kid. He
really got me pumped up and I think everyone saw what I did against
Youssef Soliman the day after.
“I went over the line there, but I wanted to be aggressive again and I
used to be aggressive on court. At the European Teams I played Victor,
I was aggressive but I wasn’t over the line and that’s ‘The Beast’ that
I want to see of myself. In the past two or three years I’ve been more
of an ambassador than ‘The Beast’ and I want to be the person who never
cares about what people say on social media and who just wants to win.”
In the women’s matches - which tonight took place at the National
Museum of Egyptian Civilization - Egypt’s World No.10 Rowan Elaraby
mounted a sensational comeback from two games down as she beat
England’s World No.6 Georgina Kennedy at the seventh time of asking.
Kennedy applied plenty of pressure from the first game as she thwarted
the World No.10 whenever Elaraby tried to impose her game. Having taken
the first 11-5, Kennedy continued her positive start as she dominated
the second the same way she did in the first, driving the ball deep
into the back corners for an 11-5 victory.
Elaraby came out firing on all cylinders in the third, getting on the
ball early and finding her targets as she halved the deficit. And it
was the same again in the fourth and fifth games as the Egyptian
completed an 7-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-7 victory which will see her
take on No.2 seed Hania El Hammamy for a place in the semi-finals.
“I’m super thrilled,” Elaraby said on court afterwards.
“This is my first win against Gina and I came into this match very
nervous. I was 2-0 down and Engy [Kheirallah, Elaraby’s coach] kept
telling me I had nothing to lose, to do my best and not to leave the
court until I’ve given it 100 per cent. I’m really happy to get through
this match and beat Gina.
“This is a very special event and I want to keep pushing the top
players and keep winning these matches. I’m really grateful for this
win today and I’m looking forward to another match here on this amazing
court. I’m lucky to be competing again.”
The quarter-finals of the CIB PSA World Championships begin tomorrow
(Wednesday May 15), with the action getting underway from 19:30 (GMT+3)
at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, where four matches
will be played, and 20:00 at the Palm Hills Club, which will host two
men’s matches. All matches will be streamed live on SQUASHTV.
For more information on the PSA World Championships, visit the offical
tournament website or follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok,
YouTube and WhatsApp.
Draw - Men’s Quarter-Finals: To Be Played May 16th [1] Ali Farag (EGY) v [8] Tarek Momen (EGY) [5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [3] Diego Elias (PER) [4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) v [6] Mazen Hesham (EGY) [7] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) v [2] Paul Coll (NZL)
Draw - Women’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half): To Be Played May 15th [1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [7] Tinne Gilis (BEL) [8] Olivia Weaver (USA) v Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY)
Draw - Women’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half): To Be Played May 16th [3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [5] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) [9] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) v [2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY)
