"I knew I had to play at my very best to win. My game plan was to attack him all the time especially at the front," said Borja Golan (photo: M. Roslan) Unseeded Spaniard Borja Golan celebrated an unexpected place in the semi-finals of the Malaysian Open in Selangor after ousting top-seeded Karim Darwish 11-3, 12-10 as Egyptian had to retire after the 2nd game caused by an ankle injury.
Golan will now meet a further Egyptian Tarek Momen, the world No19 from Cairo who put an end to home interest 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 No1 Nicolas Mueller. World No8 El Shorbagy survived a thrilling 5-games match (11-8, 11-9, 1-11, 5-11, 11-8) against Finn Olli Tuominen,
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.
Semi-finals:
Borja Golan (ESP) v Tarek Momen (EGY)
[2] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
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)
1st round:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [Q] Siddharth Suchde (IND) 11-3, 11-4, 11-6 (32m)
Borja Golan (ESP) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-9, 4-11, 11-6, 11-7 (73m)
Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [Q] Max Lee (HKG) 11-4, 11-8, 4-11, 13-11 (43m)
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) bt [4] Adrian Grant (ENG) 9-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-4, 13-11 (96m)
[Q] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) bt [3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 6-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-8 (39m)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 11-2, 11-5, 11-2 (25m)
Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 8-11, 11-6, 12-10, 10-12, 11-5 (74m)
[2] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) bt [Q] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 11-6, 6-1 ret. (17m)
