Egyptian
duo Mohamed ElShorbagy and Tarek Momen will compete in their maiden
Canary Wharf Classic finals after they beat compatriots Marwan
ElShorbagy and Ali Farag, respectively, on semi-finals day of the PSA
M100 tournament taking place at East Wintergarden.
World No.1 Mohamed had won 10 of his previous 12 meetings with
younger brother Marwan and had prevailed in their last three fixtures,
including last week’s Windy City Open final and the title decider of
December’s PSA Men’s World Championships.
The latest chapter of their gripping rivalry looked to be going the
way of Marwan as he played some sublime squash to twice take a one game
lead, but Mohamed came back in the fourth to level, before coming back
from 8-6 down in the fifth to claim an 8-11,
11-8, 11-13, 11-3, 11-8 victory.
“We just played last week and he definitely played better this
week,” said Mohamed, who has now reached nine finals in his last 10
tournaments.
“Playing someone with the quality of my brother twice in the same
week is definitely not easy. After I beat him last week he would have
learned so much and he wanted to do things better this time.
“I could see from the first point in the first game that he wanted
to win badly today, but I had to try and fight. There were times when he
was unstoppable and I couldn’t really cope with his pace, but I had to
keep digging in and hope he made a few errors
and I think my experience got me through in the end."
Momen will take on Mohamed for the second time in as many
tournaments after the World No.6 also prevailed in a five-game battle
against Farag.
The 30-year-old came flying out of the traps as he hit winners for
fun and made it difficult for Farag to put any points on the board.
Farag was much improved in the second and third games as he
overturned the deficit but, with the scores locked at 6-6 in the fourth,
Momen rediscovered his best squash and punished a rapidly tiring Farag
to complete an 11-5, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6 victory
and he will aim to avenge defeats to Mohamed in the Qatar Classic final
and Windy City Open semi-final in tomorrow’s title decider.
“I just tried to give it my best because I know Ali is an unbelievable opponent,” said Momen.
“What he achieved in less than three years on Tour is remarkable.
I’ve been playing for 12 years and look where he is at with only three
years of experience, so I salute him for that.
“He’s such a tough opponent to break, he’s very tough physically
and mentally, with some good racket skills as well. He has the full
package and to beat him is just unbelievable."
The final of the 2018 Canary Wharf Classic - which this year
celebrates its 15th edition - takes place at 19:30 GMT and will be shown
live on SQUASHTV (Rest of World), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and
mainstream broadcast channels around the world including
BT Sport, beIN Sports, Fox Sports Australia, Astro and more.
An exhibition match to mark the event’s 15th edition, featuring the
tournament’s co-founder and former World Champion Peter Nicol against
two-time runner-up Peter Barker, will be held at 18:00 and will be shown
live on SQUASHTV.
Results - Semi-Finals: 2018 Canary Wharf Classic
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [3] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) 3-2: 8-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-3, 11-8 (71m)
[4] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [2] Ali Farag (EGY) 3-2: 11-5, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-6 (68m)
Draw - Final: To Be Played March 9
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v [4] Tarek Momen
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