"I'm not sure what's going on with me, but I'd better figure it out soon, because it's not going to do well at all," conceded Darwish to www.squashsite.com later. The 2 top seeds will contest an all-Egyptian final of the Sky Open after favourite Karim Darwish (le) and 2nd seed Mohamed El Shorbagy survived close-fought 5-game semi-finals in Cairo, Egypt.
The 32-year-old from Cairo’s opponent was 5th seed Marwan El Shorbagy, the 20-year-old former 2-time world junior champion from Alexandria – and younger brother of Mohamed. The former world No1 was stretched for 64 minutes before finally prevailing 9-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6.
In the 2nd semi-final, Mohamed El Shorbagy had to dig deep to see off 6th seed Omar Abdel Meguid. The world No35 from Giza, made the semis after upsetting No 4 seed Alister Walker. Underdog Meguid led 2/1 before his 22-year-old opponent, ranked 6 in the world, reclaimed the upper hand to close out the match 11-6, 5-11, 6-11, 11-1, 11-7 in 60 minutes.
Final:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) v [2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY)
Semi-finals:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) 9-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 (64m)
[2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [6] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) 11-6, 5-11, 6-11, 11-1, 11-7 (60m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Zahed Mohamed (EGY) 11-7, 11-3, 11-3 (31m)
[5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [Q] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) 11-6, 11-9, 11-5 (45m)
[6] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt [4] Alister Walker (BOT) 11-7, 13-11, 9-11, 11-5 (45m)
[2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [7] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) 11-3, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9 (50m)
2nd round:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 11-13, 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 (75m)
Zahed Mohamed (EGY) bt [8] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 13-11, 6-11, 11-7, 2-11, 11-9 (94m)
[5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Shaun le Roux (RSA) 11-6, 11-5, 11-3 (29m)
[Q] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) bt [3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-9, 12-10, 7-11, 6-11, 11-7 (83m)
[4] Alister Walker (BOT) bt Eddie Charlton (ENG) 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-2 (44m)
[6] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) 11-9, 12-10, 11-8 (53m)
[7] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 12-10 (60m)
[2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Joel Hinds (ENG) 11-4, 11-9, 11-7 (39m)
1st round:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [Q] Youssef Abdalla (ENG) 11-3, 11-3, 11-5 (20m)
Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt Gonzalo Miranda (ARG) 11-7, 11-8, 11-2 (21m)
Zahed Mohamed (EGY) bt Jens Schoor (GER) 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 (45m)
[8] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) 11-7, 5-11, 11-2, 9-11, 12-10 (106m)
[5] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [LL] Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR) 9-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9 (83m)
Shaun le Roux (RSA) bt [Q] Khawaja Adil Maqbool (PAK) 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 (30m)
[Q] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) bt Raphael Kandra (GER) 11-8, 11-4, 11-5 (45m)
[3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [WC] Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 11-5, 11-2, 11-5 (35m)
[4] Alister Walker (BOT) bt [Q] Mohamed El Tabaa (EGY) 11-8, 11-2, 11-5 (30m)
Eddie Charlton (ENG) bt [Q] Shehab Essam Hosny (EGY) 11-5, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8 (50m)
Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) bt Aqeel Rehman (AUT) 13-11, 11-9, 11-7 (55m)
[6] Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) bt Andrew Wagih Shoukry (EGY) 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9 (110m)
[7] Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) bt [Q] Ahmed Atef (EGY) 11-1, 11-6, 11-9 (30m)
Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) bt [Q] Ahmed Hosny (EGY) 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 (33m)
Joel Hinds (ENG) bt Nathan Lake (ENG) 11-7, 11-7, 3-0 ret. (35m)
[2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [Q] Ahmed Hussein (EGY) 11-5, 11-3, 11-3 (22m)
