PSA World Championship: ElShorbagy defeats Farag to advance into semi-finals

ElShorbagy kept his title charge intact after he avenged a semi-final defeat to Farag in front of the iconic Great Pyramid of Giza in September, coming through a feisty encounter with the World No6 to move to within one win of a third World Championship final appearance.

The tournament top seed – a runner-up to fellow Egyptian Ramy Ashour in 2012 and 2014 – took the match 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 in 45 minutes, but it wasn’t without its controversy as both players let their frustrations with each other boil over.

“It’s a physical sport, things can get tough at times, you can’t help it,” said ElShorbagy. “You have to be tough to be at the top of the rankings. Nick Matthew and Greg Gaultier are great examples of that, as is Ramy [Ashour].

“It’s just part of the sport and you have to deal with that. Other than that, we were both aggressive, but I don’t think either of us took excessive space. I felt I played in the right spirit, the way that I needed to win and I’m just glad that I played fair.”

In-form World No.3 Gawad will appear in the semi-final stage of the illustrious tournament for the first time in his career after overcoming a struggling Matthew in the pair’s quarter-final clash.

New World No3 Gawad lost out to Matthew three weeks ago at the U.S. Open but the Englishman was hampered with illness and, despite battling on, struggled to move freely, allowing Gawad to take a comfortable 11-9, 11-4, 11-9 victory in just 34 minutes to set up a mouthwatering semi-final clash with ElShorbagy.

Egypt is the first nation in the 40-year history of the iconic World Championship to have six players in the quarter-final stage with Ramy Ashour, Fares Dessouky and Tarek Momen all in last-eight action on Wednesday.

Ashour led the charge as he dispatched England’s Daryl Selby by an 11-6, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6 margin and goes up against Dessouky this evening.

Momen was forced to battle through a five-game encounter after he beat  World No.7 Marwan ElShorbagy, the younger brother of World No.1 Mohamed.

Defending champion Gaultier is the only non-Egyptian competitor left in the tournament and he faces World No11 Momen for a place in the semis.

Results – Quarter-Final: 2016 PSA Men’s World Squash Championship
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [10] Ali Farag (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 (45m)
[6] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [4] Nick Matthew (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-9 (34m)

Draw – Quarter-Final (Bottom Half): To be played November 2[15] Fares Dessouky (EGY) v [5] Ramy Ashour (EGY)
[11] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)