"I was ready to play against Greg tonight and the strategy that I prepared with my coach David (Palmer) paid off”, Rodriguez said (pic: Steve Line) After beating world No.6 Peter Barker in a 120-minute encounter in the 2nd round, Colombia’s Miguel Angel Rodriguez pulled off the biggest victory of his career, with a thrilling 3:2 victory over French World No.2 Greg Gaultier in the quarter-finals of the 2015 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York.
The 29-year-old had failed to take a game off Gaultier from 6 previous occasions but this time he produced an excellent performance to down 2 times British Open Champion in emotional scenes.
“I’m really happy to be in the semi-finals and I’m going to enjoy it,” said Bogota-based Rodriguez. “For me Greg is the toughest player on tour as he’s very strong and it is so difficult to win rallies against him. I was very patient, but more offensive than I was against Peter and I felt like it all worked.”
Rodriguez sets up a semi-final match against England’s World No.4 and 3 times World Champion Nick Matthew, who came back from 1 game down to beat German fellow Simon Rosner in 66 minutes 10-12, 11-4, 11-7, 11-6.
“I have played Nick a few times before on tour but I have time to recover and rest so I’ll be ready for tomorrow,” the Colombian added.
Semi-finals:
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v [4] Amr Shabana (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v [3] Nick Matthew (ENG)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [6] Borja Golan (ESP) 11-7, 11-9, 11-8 (52m)
[4] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [7] Tarek Momen (EGY) 11-6, 17-19, 11-8, 11-9 (85m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [8] Simon Rösner (GER) 10-12, 11-4, 11-7, 11-6 (66m)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 11-13, 14-12, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9 (88m)
2nd round:
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 11-3, 5-11, 15-13, 11-6 (62m)
[6] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Chris Simpson (ENG) w/o
[7] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-4, 11-8, 6-11, 12-10 (55m)
[4] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-8, 11-6, 5-11, 11-9 (60m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 7-11, 15-13, 11-6, 13-11 (94m)
[8] Simon Rösner (GER) bt Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) 11-13, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 (75m)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [5] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-6, 8-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-7 (120m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Tom Richards (ENG) 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 (43m)
1st round:
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [WC] Todd Harrity (USA) 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 (37m)
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt [Q] Campbell Grayson (NZL) 9-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-9 (59m)
Chris Simpson (ENG) bt [Q] Cesar Salazar (MEX) 11-5, 8-11, 10-12, 13-11, 11-6 (99m)
[6] Borja Golan (ESP) bt [Q] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 12-14, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 (76m)
[7] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt Adrian Waller (ENG) 11-5, 11-7, 14-12 (42m)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [Q] Alan Clyne (SCO) 11-7, 11-5, 12-10 (49m)
Cameron Pilley (AUS) bt Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 12-10, 11-13, 11-8, 12-10 (79m)
[4] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 (31m)
[3] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Daryl Selby (ENG) 12-10, 11-3, 7-11, 11-6 (70m)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [Q] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 11-3, 8-11, 11-3, 11-4 (66m)
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) bt [Q] Diego Elias (PER) 11-3, 11-7, 3-11, 11-5 (68m)
[8] Simon Rösner (GER) bt Stephen Coppinger (RSA) 10-12, 11-4, 11-7, 12-10 (87m)
[5] Peter Barker (ENG) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 (47m)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [Q] Joe Lee (ENG) 12-10, 11-4, 11-7 (51m)
[Q] Tom Richards (ENG) bt Alister Walker (BOT) 11-6, 11-6, 11-5 (37m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Max Lee (HKG) 11-1, 11-7, 11-2 (44m)
