Marwan beats fellow Egyptian to set up Chicago semi-final with top seeded brother Mohamed
By NATHAN CLARKE in Chicago
World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy, the 24-year-old Bristol-Based Egyptian from Alexandria, will take on younger brother Marwan, the 21-year-old World No.14, for a place in the final of the 2015 Windy City Open presented by Guggenheim Partners and EquiTrust Life Insurance Company in Chicago tomorrow.
The brothers have met three times on the PSA World Tour, with Mohamed undefeated so far, but with Marwan making his debut appearance in the semi-finals of a PSA World Series event their showdown in the prestigious University Club of Chicago will be the biggest of their careers so far.
After winning January’s J.P Morgan Tournament of Champions in January, his third World Series title in six months, elder brother Mohamed will be gunning for another trophy as he aims to continue his streak of dominance on the PSA World Tour while Marwan will be hoping to secure a maiden appearance in the final of one of the sport’s biggest tournaments.
“I’m in the semi-final of a World Series event and I’m only 21-years-old, I’m very, very happy,” said Marwan in the wake of his 3-2 victory over Karim Abdel Gawad in the quarter-finals.
“Before I came out here for this tournament I was relaxing with some of my friends back home in Bristol and they said that I have nothing to lose and I just gave it my best and I’m so happy to be in the semi-finals – I’m speechless.
“Mohamed and I have never played each other in such a big match before so to compete against each other on this stage will be an amazing experience.”
A delighted Marwan Tweeted: “So happy with what I’m achieving here in Chicago.. First time ever to be in the semis of a World Series tournament! Feels amazing!! Two Shortages in the semi-finals – so proud.”
Mohamed booked his place in the final with an impressive 3-0 win over Tarek Momen, the World No.7, producing his best performance of the week so far after narrowly avoiding exits in both the first and second rounds.
“I’m so happy to have won three-nil today because the second and third games could really have gone either way,” he said.
“I had to play so well to beat Tarek and I’m happy to get through especially because I now get to play my brother in the semi-final of a world series event for the first time.
“Hopefully that will become something that happens a lot in the future but one Elshorbagy is guaranteed to be in the final and it is great for our family to have us booth reach this stage.”
The second semi-final will see long-time arch rivals Nick Matthew and Gregory Gaultier go face-to-face for the 32nd time in their PSA World Tour careers, with the Frenchman hoping he can put a halt to Matthew’s recent two match winning streak over him.
2015 Windy City Open Presented by Guggenheim Partners and EquiTrust Life Insurance Company
Results: Quarter-finals
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [6] Tarek Momen (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 14-12 (61m)
Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) bt Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 3-2: 12-10, 7-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9 (74m)
[4] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [5] Peter Barker (ENG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-5 (44m)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [8] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 14-12 (49m)
Draw: Semi-finals:
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY)
[4] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Semi-final Head to Head records from Howard Harding:
H2H_WindyCityOpenM_sf
Pictures by MARIAN KRAUS