Gaultier Gallops Into Hong Kong Final by Nathan Clarke August 30, 2014
- Gregory Gaultier, the French World No.1, took a major step towards
claiming his first ever Hong Kong tournament title following a 3-0 win
over Tarek Momen in the semi-finals of the 2014 Cathay Pacific Sun Hung
Kai Financial Hong Kong Squash Open earlier today.
The 31-year-old has
won almost every title in squash during his career but the Hong Kong
Open has remained elusive, despite the charismatic star reaching the
final on four consecutive occasions from 2007-2010, and he'll be hoping
to make it fifth-time lucky when he steps onto the glass show court for
tomorrow's (Sunday August 31) decider.
Gaultier has been in
dominant form throughout the tournament so far, progressing to the
final without dropping a single game en route, and he continued his
impressive run with a commanding 11-7, 11-2, 11-3 win over
Egyptian World No.12 Momen, to set up a final encounter with World No.3
Mohamed Elshorbagy.
"I don't think the
score really reflected the match because it was very intense and the
first game especially was really fast as Tarek was moving quickly which
I wasn't expecting as he had a tough match yesterday," said Gaultier.
"He doesn't give you
cheap shots and he has beautiful soft hands and he always makes you
play in all four corners of the court. I like playing him and I know
when I beat him it normally means I am playing quite well."
The 31-year-old star
will now look to win his second consecutive PSA World Series title
after winning the prestigious Allam British Open in May prior to the
summer-break, and despite a shorter rest period than usual, in which he
also got married, he says he's feeling confident.
"I was happy with how
I played the match. I had the same intensity in all three games and I'm
very happy with my form especially as I had a shorter summer break than
most years.
"You can't guarantee
you can win any matches at this level as we are playing against very
tough opponents every day so all I want to do is play my best tomorrow
and if I can do that, even if I lose, there will be no regrets."
Elshorbagy too will be
hoping to see his name appear on the trophy for the first time in his
career, after he secured his first ever appearance in the Hong Kong
Open final with a 3-1 victory over 2013 runner-up Borja Golan.
The 23-year-old from
Alexandria, Egypt, is looking to follow up victory in last week's
Malaysian Open and will be aiming to repeat the performance that saw
him beat Gaultier in the El Gouna International World Series event in
April.
"I'm into my first
final here and I'm very happy as this is a prestigious tournament and
as a player these are the matches you want to be playing in," said
Elshorbagy.
"Greg in the No.1 and
in great form at the moment. He's the man to beat right now so it's
definitely going to be an interesting game for sure but hopefully I can
push myself for one more big performance."
Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Squash Open 2014 - Semi-final Results: [1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Tarek Momen (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-2, 11-3 (37mins) [2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [4] Borja Golan (ESP) 3-1: 11-7, 11-5, 7-11, 11-7 (50mins)
Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Squash Open 2014 - Final: [1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY)
