Egyptian duo Gawad and ElShorbagy battle through 5-game thrillers to set up San Francisco showdown

Published 30/09/2017 at 07:38 GMT

World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad will take on fellow Egyptian Mohamed ElShorbagy in the final of the 2017 Oracle NetSuite Open after he launched a superb comeback from two games down to beat Peru’s Diego Elias.

Gawad and ElShorbagy to clash in NetSuite Open final

Image credit: Eurosport

Elias had beaten World No.4 Matthew in the previous round and continued where he left off against the Englishman in the first two games as he outplayed Gawad with some sublime winners.

However, Gawad grew into the match as time wore on, with his relentless pressure ultimately paying off as Elias’s energy levels dipped and he came back to win three games without reply to take it 6-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 in 90 minutes.

ElShorbagy will appear in a second successive PSA World Tour final – live on Eurosport Player – after he overcame last year’s runner-up James Willstrop, also in a five-game thriller.

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Willstrop had fought back from a game down and 10-4 down in the second to go 2-1 ahead but ElShorbagy – who won the PSA Dubai World Series Finals on his last Tour outing – came back at him in the fourth to set up a nail-biting decider.

Both players had match balls as the clash headed into a tie-break but it was the man from Egypt who held his nerve to take it 11-2, 11-13, 8-11, 11-6, 14-12.

Malaysia’s eight-time World Champion Nicol David will play England’s Sarah-Jane Perry in the women’s final after a ruthless display from the World No.5 saw her ease past India’s Pallikal Karthik in just 22 minutes.

David had recovered from match ball down to beat Victoria Lust in the previous round, but she was in charge of proceedings right from the off as she glided around court and gave Pallikal Karthik no chance to launch any kind of attack, with the World No.21 failing to even amass a point in the second game.

Pallikal Karthik found her range more in the third but couldn’t do anything to break David’s spell as the former World No.1 powered to an 11-3, 11-0, 11-5 victory that will see her clash with Perry, who knocked out top seed and defending champion Laura Massaro in yesterday’s semi-final.

Live coverage from the final of the Oracle NetSuite Open begins from 19:30 local time (PDT) on Saturday September 30 and all of the action will be shown live on Eurosport Player.

Results – Semi-Finals: 2017 Men’s Oracle NetSuite Open
[2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [4] James Willstrop (ENG) 3-2: 11-2, 11-13, 8-11, 11-6, 14-12 (70m)
[1] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Diego Elias (PER) 3-2: 6-11, 4-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 (90m)

Results – Semi-Finals (Bottom Half): 2017 Women’s Oracle NetSuite Open
[2] Nicol David (MAS) bt Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) 3-0: 11-3, 11-0, 11-5 (22m)

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