Mohamed and Marwan ElShorbagy both won their second round matches to set up a sibling showdown at the World Championships. The all-English affair will be a repeat of the 2017 world title decider.
Mohamed, the winner seven years ago, progressed after his round two match with India’s Ramit Tandon at the Palm Hills Club was cut short due to a calf injury.
Meanwhile, Marwan put in an assured performance to beat World No.17 Fares Dessouky in straight games. It will be their 23rd meeting on the PSA Tour, with Mohamed winning 16 of their previous matches to Marwan’s six. The pair have both switched allegiance from Egypt to England in recent years.
Following victory over Fares Dessouky today, @maelshorbagy will face his brother @MoElshorbagy in round 3 🔥
"We are going to give the fans and everyone watching around the world a big match!" 🤩#PSAWorldChamps pic.twitter.com/LkcvHulnk2
— PSA World Championships (@PSAWorldChamps) May 12, 2024
“I’m looking forward to it, Mo is one of the greats and he’s my big brother,” said ElShorbagy, who at 30 is three years Mohamed’s junior.
“We’ve played so many times on the PSA World Tour and this is the third time we’ve played in the World Championships. I’m looking forward to it, I’m sure he is as well, and hopefully we can give everyone around the world a big match.
“We’re more mature now and more relaxed. We look back at what we’ve achieved and our matches and we want to enjoy it. We spoke about the possibility of playing and we said we would kill each other and then we’ll be brothers after. I’m looking forward to it and maybe I’ll have dinner with him and my mother today.”
In the women’s event, World No.2 Nouran Gohar continued her title challenge but had to dig in to beat fellow Egyptian Hana Moataz by a 3-1 scoreline.
Gohar has reached the final of the last three World Championships – coming unstuck against World No.1 Nour El Sherbini every time – and found herself pegged back by World No.31 Moataz after taking the first game.
The 26-year-old regrouped though and closed out an 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 11-2 win to set up a last 16 clash with USA’s No.12 seed Sabrina Sobhy.
“Hana has been in pretty good form recently and beating players above her,” said Gohar.
“I knew it was going to be tough out there and I’m glad I’ve had a match like this to make me sharper for the rest of the tournament. I was very happy with the way I came back after the second and executed my plan. There’s some stuff to get better at but overall I’m happy with my performance today.
“We [Gohar’s coaching team] didn’t talk much about the score as this can happen, and every tournament I’ve played I’ve lost one or two games like this and it’s all about how to finish the game in a good way. I just need to keep taking the momentum into the next matches and I know I can better at that.”
Results – Men’s Second Round (Bottom Half): 2023-24 CIB PSA World Championships
[4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-0: 11-2, 11-3, 11-4 (23m)
[10] Joel Makin (WAL) bt Curtis Malik (ENG) 3-0: 13-11, 11-5, 11-7 (54m)
[12] Youssef Soliman (EGY) bt Yahya Elnawasany (EGY) 3-0: 11-2, 11-7, 11-5 (35m)
[6] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bt Lucas Serme (FRA) 11-8, 12-10, 11-8 (35m)
[7] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Ramit Tandon (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 4-3 retired (18m)
[9] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Fares Dessouky (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (34m)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) 3-0: 11-1, 11-5, 11-9 (36m)
[2] Paul Coll (NZL) bt Leonel Cardenas (MEX) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 (40m
Draw – Men’s Third Round (Top Half): To Be Played May 13th
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) v Leandro Romiglio (ARG)
[11] Victor Crouin (FRA) v [8] Tarek Momen (EGY)
[5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)
[16] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) v [3] Diego Elias (PER)
Draw – Men’s Third Round (Bottom Half): To Be Played May 14th
[4] Mostafa Asal (EGY) v [10] Joel Makin (WAL)
[12] Youssef Soliman (EGY) v [6] Mazen Hesham (EGY)
[7] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) v [9] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v [2] Paul Coll (NZL)
Results – Women’s Second Round (Bottom Half): 2023-24 CIB PSA World Championships
[3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt Hana Moataz (EGY) 3-1: 11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 11-2 (42m)
[12] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt Kenzy Ayman (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-1 (23m)
[13] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt Marie Stephan (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-2, 11-3 (21m)
[5] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt Mariam Metwally (EGY) 3-0: 13-11, 11-4, 11-2 (26m)
[6] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bt Aira Azman (MAS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-6 (25m)
[9] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) bt Malak Khafagy (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (23m)
[14] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) bt Caroline Fouts (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (24m)
[2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Melissa Alves (FRA) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-7 (29m)
Draw – Women’s Third Round (Top Half): To Be Played May 13th
[1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) v [11] Amina Orfi (EGY)
[15] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v [7] Tinne Gilis (BEL)
[8] Olivia Weaver (USA) v [10] Salma Hany (EGY)
Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) v v[4] Nele Gilis (BEL)
Draw – Women’s Third Round (Bottom Half): To Be Played May 14th
[3] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [12] Sabrina Sobhy (USA)
[13] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) v [5] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
[6] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) v [9] Rowan Elaraby (EGY)
[14] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) v [2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY)