“Mohamed and I have never played each other in such a big match before so to compete against each other on this stage will be amazing”, Marwan said after his quarter-finals victory over Karim Abdel Gawad (pic: PSA). World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy, the 24-year-old Egyptian, will take on younger brother Marwan, the 21-year-old World No.14, for a place in the final of the 2015 Windy City Open in Chicago.
The brothers have met 3 times on the PSA World Tour, with Mohamed undefeated so far, but with Marwan making his debut appearance in the semi-finals of a PSA World Series event, their showdown in Chicago will be the biggest so far.
Mohamed booked his place in the final with an impressive 3-0 win over Tarek Momen, the World No.7. “I had to play so well to beat Tarek and I’m happy to get through especially because I now get to play my brother in the semi-final of a World Series event for the first time”, Mohamed said.
“I’m in the semi-final of a World Series event and I’m only 21-years-old, I’m very, very happy. Before I came out here for this tournament I was relaxing with some of my friends back home in Bristol and they said that I have nothing to lose and I just gave it my best and I’m so happy to be in the semi-finals – I’m speechless.,” said Marwan in the wake of his 3-2 victory over Karim Abdel Gawad in the quarter-finals.
The 2nd semi-final will see long-time arch rivals Nick Matthew and Gregory Gaultier go face-to-face, after Matthew beat English team-mate Peter Barker in straight games, while Frenchman Gaultier was in full control to beat Egyptian Omar Mosad without dropping a game.
Semi-finals:
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [4] Nick Matthew (ENG)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [6] Tarek Momen (EGY) 11-7, 11-9, 14-12 (61m)
Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 12-10, 7-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9 (74m)
[4] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [5] Peter Barker (ENG) 11-6, 11-8, 11-5 (44m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [8] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-5, 11-6, 14-12 (49m)
