2017 tournament winner Gregory Gaultier and
current World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy saw their hopes of winning the
2018 El Gouna International dashed at the semi-final stage as they bowed
out at the hands of Ali Farag and
Marwan ElShorbagy, respectively.
In the fifth meeting so far this season
between Elshorbagy brothers Mohamed and Marwan, it was younger brother
Marwan, the World No.4, who ended a four-match sibling losing streak to
book his place in the tournament’s
show-piece match for the first time in his career.
Marwan beat his brother here twelve months
ago - his last victory over Mohamed before consecutive defeats in the
finals of the 2017 World Championships and 2018 Windy City Open prior to
defeat at the 2018 Canary Wharf
Classic last month - and tasted success on the banks of the Red Sea
once again as he prevailed in a testing five-game battle.
“It’s always difficult to play against my
brother - we both say it a lot but it is really the case,” said Marwan,
who won 11-6, 6-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-2.
“He’s a nightmare to beat but that’s why
he’s the World No.1. If I want to be in his place I have to come through
matches like this consistently.
“I probably could have won it in the fourth
but he played the crucial points better than me. The start of the fifth
was so important, I had to be mentally focused and I’m happy to come
through.
“I’ve been very consistent this season. It’s another final and I’ll just enjoy it.”
ElShorbagy will face World No.2 Ali Farag -
the man he beat to reach the World Championship final - in the
title-decider after he halted the run of Gaultier in a similarly
combative five-game affair.
Farag took the opening game but Gaultier
responded to increase the intensity and come through to take a 2-1 lead.
But the French General paid the price in the fourth as he began to
fatigue - with Farag pouncing to swing
the match back in his favour.
“Greg is such an experienced campaigner and knows exactly how to play to make the game suit him,” said Farag.
“He kept changing his plan and I had to try
and adapt. I was going to short too early at times but I think coming
back and taking that third game to a tie-breaker, even though I lost it,
gave me some momentum that I could
take into the fourth and fifth.
“Tomorrow against Marwan I think it will be
a great match. I admire the way he plays and we’ve had some big matches
this season so I’m preparing for another battle tomorrow.”
In the women’s event World No.1 Nour El
Sherbini will take on World No.2 Raneem El Welily in a repeat of both
the 2016 and 2017 World Championship title-deciders as part of an
all-Egyptian finals day.
El Sherbini, who prevailed when the pair
last played in El Gouna in the 2016 World Championship final, put
England’s Laura Massaro to the sword with an impressive 3-1 win while El
Welily had to dig deep into her mental
resolve to come through a thrilling encounter with Nour El Tayeb.
With both players at their spell-binding best, exchanging sublime winners with abandon, the duo traded games
to reach 2-2 before El Welily dug deep to overturn an 1-5 fifth game deficit and seal the match 11-9, 5-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9.
“It took a lot of mental strength today,” said El Welily.
“In the fourth and the fifth I was behind
but I just kept digging in. I had a feeling that she was starting to
tire in the fifth and I just tried to build on that.
“Tomorrow will be another huge battle with
Nour - if I can play as well as I did today, both in terms fo attitude
and charter, I will be happy so I hope I can bring that into tomorrow’s
match and we will see what happens.”
Results - Men’s SemiFinals: 2018 El Gouna International
[4] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) 3-2: 11-6, 6-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-2 (75m)
[3] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 3-2: 11-9, 5-11, 10-12, 11-2, 11-9 (71m)
Draw - 2018 Men’s Final:
[4] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v [3] Ali Farag (EGY)
Results - Women’s SemiFinals: 2018 El Gouna International
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bt [4] Laura Massaro (ENG) 3-1: 11-8, 8-11, 11-4, 11-6 (42m)
[2] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 3-2: 11-9, 5-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9 (63m)
Draw - 2018 Women’s Final:
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY)
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