"Being in the final after a 3/0 win will mean that I am fresh tomorrow," added El Shorbagy (le), now in the 14th PSA World Tour final of his career. After 2 straight games wins of Egypt’s 5th seed Mohamed El Shorbagy (le) and 3rd-seeded Englishman Nick Matthew in the semi-finals of the Qatar Classic to meet in today’s Qatar climax in Doha.
El Shorbagy, who made the final of the 2012 PSA World Championship on the same court almost 12 months ago, defied a 9/2 career head-to-head lead by his opponent Karim Darwish (ri) to beat the 4th seed, ranked 5 in the world, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 in 35 minutes.
In fact the score was remarkably similar to 22-year-old Elshorbagy’s win over his illustrious Egyptian team-mate – twice a Qatar Classic title winner – when the pair met in last December’s World Championship quarter-finals in Doha.
“I was really looking forward to playing the semi today. I was confident I could do it – and that was very important to me,” said El Shorbagy the world No 6.
World No 4 Matthew, fresh from his huge success in last week’s World Championship on home soil, took on giant-killer Borja Golan, the 7th-seeded Spaniard who stunned top seed Gregory Gaultier in the previous round to earn a place in his first World Series semi.
The 33-year-old Englishman maintained his straight games run in Doha by beating Golan, who boasts a career-high world No 8 ranking, 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 in 47 minutes.
“It was 3/0 – but it was tougher than the score suggests,” said Matthew afterwards.
Final:
[5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v [3] Nick Matthew (ENG)
Semi-finals:
[5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [4] Karim Darwish (EGY) 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 (35m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [7] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 (47m)
Quarter-finals:
[5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Daryl Selby (ENG) 11-9, 7-11, 11-4, 11-2 (47m)
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 (33m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [6] Amr Shabana (EGY) 12-10, 2-2 ret. (27m)
[7] Borja Golan (ESP) bt [1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 15-13 (80m)
2nd round:
Daryl Selby (ENG) bt [2] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-8, 11-5, 4-11, 9-11, 13-11 (89m)
[5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 (37m)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [8] Tarek Momen (EGY) 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10 (82m)
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 11-5 (55m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 11-6, 11-7, 13-11 (54m)
[6] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Stephen Coppinger (RSA) 11-3, 11-4, 11-5 (28m)
[7] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Tom Richards (ENG) 11-6, 11-7, 12-10 (56m)
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-9, 11-6, 11-4 (40m)
1st round:
[2] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [WC] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) 11-7, 11-9, 11-3 (27m)
Daryl Selby (ENG) bt [Q] Gregoire Marche (FRA) 11-6, 11-6, 11-3 (40m)
Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) bt [Q] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-3, 14-12, 11-8 (51m)
[5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Chris Simpson (ENG) 7-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 (67m)
[8] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [Q] Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) 11-2, 11-3, 10-3 ret. (20m)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [Q] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 8-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-7, 11-9 (59m)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 (31m)
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8 (64m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Alister Walker (BOT) 11-8, 11-7, 12-10 (42m)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [Q] Max Lee (HKG) 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 (41m)
Stephen Coppinger (RSA) bt [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 (83m)
[6] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7 (55m)
[7] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 (45m)
Tom Richards (ENG) bt [Q] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 11-2, 11-4, 10-12, 7-11, 12-10 (91m)
Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt [Q] Joe Lee (ENG) 11-3, 11-3, 11-8 (43m)
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 11-9, 11-9, 11-3 (46m)
