Defending Champions Perry And ElShorbagy Through To Oracle NetSuite Open Quarters, Sobhy Out from PSA Media
photos PSA
September 28, 2018
- 2017 Oracle NetSuite Open champions Sarah-Jane Perry and Mohamed
ElShorbagy began the defences of their respective titles with victories
over Egyptian Salma Hany and Frenchman Gregoire Marche on a busy second
day of action at the PSA World Tour event taking place in San
Francisco.
Victory here twelve months ago set the foundations for ElShorbagy to
dominate during the 2017/18 season, with the Egyptian going on to claim
the World Championship crown and regain the World No.1 ranking, and his
bid to begin the 2018/19 campaign in a similar vein began in style with
a comfortable 3-1 defeat of the dangerous.
After the pair traded the opening two games, ElShorbagy injected his
ferocious trademark pace and power into the play to send Marche into
all four corners of the court and make each and every rally difficult
for the Frenchman. While Marche gamely stuck with him, ElShorbagy
ultimately had to much quality at the critical moments and prevailed
11-3, 10-12, 11-3, 13-11 after just over an hour of play.
“I knew the danger of playing against him in first game of season, I
had to be sharp and I had to play well to beat him today,” said
ElShorbagy, who will now face Colombian Miguel Angel Rodriguez in the
last eight.
“I started well here last year and proved a lot of things to myself
during the season. But I have more to prove and I want to get better
every day. I know what it feels to lose the number one spot and I want
to make sure that I only lose it again when someone raises the bar over
me, not because of me losing hunger or motivation like before.”
Rodriguez secured his place to face ElShorbagy with a 3-1 win over the
maverick Mazen Hesham, while World No.4 Tarek Momen prevailed in the
match of the day, coming through a thrilling 71-minute clash, full of
outlandish winners, pulsating rallies and unbelievable court coverage,
against Indian Saurav Ghosal by a narrow 9-11, 11-6, 2-11, 11-5, 11-7
margin.
“We play a very similar game,” said Momen. “He’s a very tough opponent so I’m just very pleased to get through today
“It was my first match of the season and it’s sometimes hard to get
into the zone so I’m really happy that I was able to regroup mentally
at the end.
“Last year was the best season I’ve had on Tour. A couple of wins at
the beginning gave me some confidence and I was consistent throughout.
I’m hoping to building on that momentum this season and hopefully go
further and winning some titles.”
Momen will face 2016 World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad in the
quarter-finals, which will also see Simon Rösner of Germany and French
former World No.1 Gregory Gaultier face-off with Peru’s Diego Elias
taking on World No.2 Ali Farag.
In the women’s draw 28-year-old Perry, who claimed the biggest
title-win of her career here last year, began her title-defence with a
comprehensive straight-games win over Egyptian Salma Hany to set up a
last eight clash with second seed Joelle King of New Zealand.
World Champion Raneem El Welily will face Alison Waters of England
after both secured comfortable wins while one of the longest running
rivalries on the women’s tour will be reignited when eight-time World
Champion Nicol David and 2013 World Champion Laura Massaro of England
go head-to-head.
The pair met at the China Open earlier this month, when David secured a
3-0 win, and Massaro will be hoping to gain revenge for that after
overcoming an early one-game deficit against Australian Donna Lobban to
book her last eight berth.
“Donna is a very dangerous player who mixes it up a lot so you have to be focused against her,” said Massaro.
“I found my range better the more the match went on. She played well in
the first game and I had to adjust and mix things up tactically and it
paid off in the end.
“I’m just pleased to have come through and get the win and be into the next round.”
Speaking after her victory over Fiona Moverley, David said: “I was very
pleased with how I played today and the performance I put in.
“I took some time off at the end of last season and really felt that
hunger come back. I’ve had a good few months so far with the Asian
Games and other events so I’m excited to keep building on that through
this week and the season.”
Hong Kong’s Annie Au will go up against Camille Serme of France in the last quarter-final.
Results - 2018 Oracle NetSuite Open: Women’s Second Round
