"I'm try to recover now - tomorrow will be another day. I hope to stick to my game plan again. I'v been working on my mental side and it seems to work", Greg Gaultier concluded (pic: Steve Line). France’s World No2 Gregory Gaultier (front) booked his place in the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions semi-finals for the 3rd year in a row after defeating German Simon Rosner (back) in straight games (12-10, 11-6, 11-7 in 57 minutes) at Grand Central Terminal in New York. “It’s always good to win and Simon has been improving a lot recently,” said Gaultier after his victory which takes the top seed and 2009 ToC champion 1 match away from his 3rd appearance in the final.
Gaultier will now take on Mohamed El Shorbagy, the No3 seed from Egypt who earned his place in the semis with an 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 win in 60 minutes over Daryl Selby of England. “I’m very excited to be in my first ToC semi-final. The match today was such a tough battle and Daryl played very well”, said El Shorbagy. ”
Today’s semi-finals (head to head overall):
[4] James Willstrop (ENG) v [7] Amr Shabana (EGY) – (13:19)
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) – (7:0)
Quarter-finals:
[7] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [2] Nick Matthew (ENG) 9-11, 12-10, 11-7, 2-11, 11-9 (90m)
[4] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [6] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-7, 5-11, 12-10, 11-5 (66m)
[3] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [8] Daryl Selby (ENG) 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8 (60m)
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 12-10, 11-6, 11-7 (57m)
