Golan Downs Darwish In Malaysian Open Upset
by Howard Harding
13 September 2012 - Unseeded Spaniard Borja Golan celebrated an unexpected place in Friday's semi-finals of the CIMB Malaysian Open after ousting top-seeded Egyptian Karim Darwish in today's quarter-finals of the PSA World Tour International 50 squash event at the Curve Shopping Mall in Selangor.
Golan, the world No17 from Santiago de Compostela, raced to a first game lead before then surviving a close second after a tie-break. But the demands took their toll on Darwish, the world No4 making his first Tour appearance since April, and the birth of his first-born son Omar in May.
With the score standing at 11-3, 12-10, the favourite conceded the match before the third game as the result of an apparent leg injury - handing a semi-final berth to the Spaniard in his maiden appearance in the established championship.
Golan will now meet a further Egyptian Tarek Momen, the world No19 from Cairo and 2010 runner-up who put an end to home interest in the event when he beat Malaysian Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan 11-8, 11-4, 11-13, 11-4 in 40 minutes.
There will be Egyptian interest in the other semi where No2 seed Mohamed El Shorbagy takes on the Swiss number one Nicolas Mueller.
El Shorbagy, the 21-year-old world No8 from Alexandria, faced experienced Finn Olli Tuominen, the 33-year-old former world No13 from Helsinki. The young Egyptian opened up a two-game lead and looked on course for a straight-game route to the semis.
"In the third, Olli moved up the court taking as much as he could at the top of the bounce and volleying in front of the half court line - and shot off to a 7-1 lead," said event spokesman Andrew Cross. "He continued to hit winner after winner and now Shorbagy is resigned to losing this game and Olli wraps it up 11-1."
After Tuominen took the fourth to draw level, El Shorbagy reclaimed the momentum and sped to an 8-2 lead in the decider. The Finn fought back to get within a single point of his higher-ranked opponent, but El Shorbagy held his nerve to close out the match 11-8, 11-9, 1-11, 5-11, 11-8 in 55 minutes.
"Glad I got through," tweeted El Shorbagy later. "Wasn't easy at all but happy I was strong in the 5th game...1st time playing on a glass court in 4 months so wasn't easy."
It was the end of the road for brave qualifier Abdullah Al Muzayen in the other quarter-final where Mueller recovered from a game down to beat the Kuwaiti left-hander - who upset No3 seed Omar Mosaad in the earlier round - 10-12, 11-5, 11-4, 11-0 in 40 minutes.
RESULTS: PSA International 50 CIMB Malaysian Open, Selangor, Malaysia
Quarter-finals:
Borja Golan (ESP) bt [1] Karim Darwish (EGY) 11-3, 12-10 ret. (20m)
Tarek Momen (EGY) bt Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 11-8, 11-4, 11-13, 11-4 (40m)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt [Q] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) 10-12, 11-5, 11-4, 11-0 (40m)
[2] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) bt Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-8, 11-9, 1-11, 5-11, 11-8 (55m)
Semi-final line-up:
Borja Golan (ESP) v Tarek Momen (EGY)
[2] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
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