A major staged in June, the season end fast approaching, but still plenty of voice and vigour left in the players as they bid for weekend slots in the sport’s oldest tournament.
The ElShorbagy brothers are also two of three home players left in either draw, with Joel Makin also flying the British flag. Marwan ElShorbagy willed himself on to reach the last eight, while brother Mohamed had to contend with a young gun who was more than eager to let out his own hollers.
England No.1 Marwan avenged his PSA World Championship defeat to Youssef Soliman with an emphatic win over the Egyptian to reach the quarter-final.
Three weeks ago, Soliman came back from a game down to defeat ElShorbagy in the round of 16 at the PSA World Championship, rubbing salt into the wound with a bagel (11-0) in the final game.
But here the World No.5 had his revenge. Playing a careful style of squash, ElShorbagy carefully managed a cagey encounter with the World No.9 and came close to scoring a bagel of his own when leading 8-0 in game two, before eventually recording an 11-9, 11-4, 7-11, 11-6 win.
“I was thinking about [scoring a bagel]” the Alexandria-born Englishman admitted afterwards. “But I’m very happy. Youssef has been more solid than previous seasons. He’s in the top 10 now and deserves to be.”
ElShorbagy will face two-time British Open champion Paul Coll of New Zealand after the World No.3 overcame Egyptian qualifier and University of Birmingham scholar Moustafa Elsirty in straight games.
World No.8 Mohamed – a three-time British Open champion – earned a quarter-final matchup against World No.2 and “best friend on tour” Diego Elias of Peru.
ElShorbagy, British Open champion in 2015, 2016 and 2019, overcame 17-year-old World No.16 and World Squash Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria of Egypt, while Elias eased past World No.36 Juan Vargas of Colombia.
Ahead of the match, ElShorbagy described fellow Alexandrian Zakaria as a “future superstar” of the sport, with the fifth seed adding that he’d be watching Zakaria on TV a long time after he retired.
When the pair met three weeks ago at the PSA World Championships, consensus amongst the watching fans in Chicago was that ElShorbagy had taught the junior world champion a squash lesson, with ‘the Beast’ taking out Zakaria in straight games. Today, ElShorbagy proved that was no fluke, with the Englishman showing his class in another straight games win.
This match, though, was initially a hard-fought battle before Zakaria tired late on. ElShorbagy looked strong in the early stages, asserting himself on court well to take the opener 11-5.
World Junior Champion Zakaria changed his tactics in the second game, getting himself in front of the three-time British Open champion and drawing ElShorbagy into long and physical rallies.
This proved effective, with Zakaria earning game ball at 10-9 as he looked to level. ElShorbagy hit back to force a tie break, only for Zakaria to lead again at 11-10. To the younger player’s frustration, though, ElShorbagy hung on again, forcing himself level once more before taking a mammoth 31-minute second game 13-11.
The efforts of the match, and the demoralising nature of the second game defeat, seemed to sap the fight from Zakaria, with ElShorbagy closing out 10-6 to set up the Elias clash.
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Results: GillenMarkets British Open Women’s Round Three (Bottom Half)
[3] Olivia Weaver (USA) bt [9/16] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) 3-0: 14-12, 11-9, 11-4 (37m)
[9/16] Nele Gilis-Coll (BEL) bt [9/16] Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 3-1: 12-10, 11-4, 6-11, 11-9 (61m)
[8] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt. Hana Moataz (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-5 (27m)
[2] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 3-1: 10-12, 11-3, 11-6, 11-3 (36m)
Results: GillenMarkets British Open Men’s Round Three (Bottom Half)
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Moustafa Elsirty (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 12-10, 11-3 (38m)
[6] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) bt [9/16] Youssef Soliman (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 11-4, 7-11, 11-6 (52m)
[5] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) bt [9/16] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 13-11, 11-6 (53m)
[2] Diego Elias (PER) bt. Juan Vargas (COL) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 (27m)
Draw: GillenMarkets British Open Women’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half – To be played Thursday 5 June)
[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [5] Tinne Gilis (BEL)
[9] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v [4] Amina Orfi (EGY)
Draw: GillenMarkets British Open Men’s Quarter-Finals (Top Half – To be played Thursday 5 June)
[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) v [9] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY)
[11] Victor Crouin (FRA) v [4] Joel Makin (WAL)
Draw: GillenMarkets British Open Women’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half – To be played Friday 6 June)
[3] Olivia Weaver (USA) v [10] Nele Gilis-Coll (BEL)
[8] Amanda Sobhy (USA) v [2] Nour ElSherbini (EGY)
Draw: GillenMarkets British Open Men’s Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half – To be played Friday 6 June)
[5] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) v [2] Diego Elias (PER)
[3] Paul Coll (NZL) v [6] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG)