Egyptian comes through epic battle with Rosner and now faces King Greg
By Squash Mad Reporter
Tarek Momen will make his first ever appearance in the semi-finals of a PSA World Series event after coming through a thrilling 77-minute encounter against Simon Rösner in the 2014 Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Squash Open.
The Egyptian World No.12 and his German opponent, ranked just one place above him on the PSA World Tour ladder, delighted the crowd in a thrilling battle of attrition that saw both players produce some of their best squash with a combination of power, guile and sheer brilliance that had the capacity audience on the edge of their seats.
Â
With little to separate the players, Momen twice came from behind to force the match into a decider before eventually prevailing 7-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8 to book a place in the final four where he will face World No.1 Gregory Gaultier and he says all the pressure will be on the French number one seed.
Â
“It was a huge battle against Simon today,” said Momen.
Â
“I didn’t think about being in the quarter-finals with the prospect of making my first World Series semi-finals – I just wanted to take it point-by-point and the level of play from both of us just kept getting better and better.
Â
“The fifth especially game was just crazy but I really enjoyed it, it was a nice match to play in and I’m really happy to win.
Â
“I’m really excited about being in the semi-finals now. I’ve been on tour for eight years and even at this point to experience something new like that is very exciting.
Â
“Greg is the number one and the one positive to take from that is that there is no pressure on me. We played here in the quarter-finals last year and I played well then and I just want to enjoy myself on court, enjoy being in the semi-final and play my best.”
Â
The second semi-final will see number two seed Mohamed Elshorbagy continue on course to reach his first Hong Kong Open final, after getting past tricky opponent Peter Barker in their quarter-final, although the Egyptian World No.3 was forced to work hard for the victory.
Â
Barker, the World No.8, took the first game 11-9 and was proving a stubborn opponent before Elshorbagy lifted to squeeze a 3-1 win which earns him a place in the final eliminator against Spanish star Borja Golan, the 2013 Hong Kong Open runner-up, who saw off the challenge of Swiss player Nicolas Mueller 3-0.
Â
Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Squash Open 2014 – Quarter-final Results:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [7] Daryl Selby (ENG) 3-0: 11-2, 11-3, 11-8 (45mins)Â
Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [8] Simon Rösner (GER) 3-2: 7-11, 11-4, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8 (77mins)
[4] Borja Golan (ESP) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-0: 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 (39mins)
[2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [5] Peter Barker (ENG) 3-1: 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-3 (51mins)
Â
Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Squash Open 2014 – Semi-final Draw:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Tarek Momen (EGY)
[4] Borja Golan (ESP) v [2] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY)
Â
Picture by Steve Cubbins (SquashSite)