Elshorbagy overtakes Gaultier as Pilley climbs to fourth
By NATHAN CLARKE
Egypt’s Mohamed Elshorbagy has overtaken world champion Gregory Gaultier at the summit of the Men’s PSA Road to Dubai Standings after last week securing a second successive PSA World Series title at the 2015 Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open.
Elshorbagy, who last month also won the Qatar Classic crown, defeated Australia’s Cameron Pilley in the final in Hong Kong to put himself 50 points clear of Gaultier, who fell to Pilley in the quarter-final stage.
After defeating Nick Matthew to secure a place in the Hong Kong Open final, Pilley now finds himself fourth in the standings, narrowly ahead of the Englishman.
In the women’s standings, Nicol David’s triumph in Hong Kong sees her move up to second. David defeated current leader Laura Massaro in the final to halt the Englishwoman’s recent fine form and lift a 10th straight Hong Kong Open title.
Massaro still holds a lengthy lead over the Malaysian with Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy further behind in third place.
The top eight players in the standings will qualify for the season-ending PSA Dubai World Series Finals which take place in May 2016 and, with four more PSA World Series events to play for, every point is vital if they are to compete in Dubai for one of the sport’s biggest prizes.
About the PSA Dubai World Series Finals
The PSA Dubai World Series Finals is the season-ending climax to the both the men’s and women’s PSA World Series tours, featuring only the world’s best eight qualified players as they battle it out for the last title of the season.
Players compete for ‘Road To Dubai’ Ranking points at each PSA World Series Tournament in a bid to earn one of the coveted eight berths and a chance to compete in one of the sport’s most lucrative events.
The PSA Dubai World Series Finals brings eight players together in two groups of four, with players playing a round-robin best-of-three series for place in the knockout semi-finals and beyond – which are played using best-of-five format.
Picture courtesy of PSA