El Shorbagy Makes Maiden World Series Semi In Kuwait

Mohamed El Shorbagy celebrated his first appearance in the semi-finals of a PSA World Series event - and guaranteed Egyptian interest in the final of the inaugural Kuwait PSA Cup - when he beat Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema in the quarter-finals of the eighth World Series squash championship of the year at Green Island in Kuwait City.

After the historic 'FA Cup' style quarter-final draw the previous evening, it was a day of further drama at Green Island when top seed Nick Matthew was forced to withdraw from the championship without striking a ball.

Less than 24 hours after being drawn to face No2 seed Karim Darwish in the most eye-catching quarter-final possible, the world number one and world champion from England went onto the court - still dressed in his tracksuit - to inform everyone that he had been struggling with an adductor injury that prevented him from lunging.

The 31-year-old from Sheffield had been warming up as close as ten minutes to match time, but had reluctantly concluded that it was not possible to play.

"I'm gutted to have to pull out today but you have to be able to lunge without pain to play this fantastic sport at the speed we play," tweeted the event favourite later.

There was a further shock to come when distinguished Australian Stewart Boswell, the event's 15th seed and a former world No4, calmly announced after losing a four-game quarter-final to Gregory Gaultier that this was to be his final appearance on the PSA World Tour.

The most significant on-court outcome took place in the final match of the day when 20-year-old Mohamed El Shorbagy, the No7 seed from Alexandria, battled to an 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 11-7 victory in 52 minutes over experienced left-hander Anjema to mark his World Series semi debut.

"I played good squash, probably the best I've played in the tournament," El Shorbagy told www.squashsite.com afterwards. "It was a fair match, LJ is such a gentleman. It's always a great pleasure to play him.

"This is my first ever World Series semis, and this is very special to me. And I'm so happy that my mum is here to share that moment with me, and I'm so glad she is there to support me too."

The young Egyptian will now play his senior compatriot Karim Darwish, the former world No1 who is only one match away from his second successive World Series final.

"Last time we played was in Malaysia, and he beat me yet again 3/0," continued Shorbagy. "We are very good friends, I have the utmost respect for him.

"I never took a game off him, so tomorrow, I'm really going to try and do my best, and play good squash."

It was in the opening match of the session that fifth-seeded Frenchman Gregory Gaultier recovered from a stuttering start to beat Stewart Boswell 8-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-5 in 58 minutes.

Too emotional to talk afterwards, Boswell simply handed over a hand-written letter, explaining his decision to retire.

The all-English clash which the earlier draw produced ended in the same result it has in all but one of their 16 earlier meetings when James Willstrop beat Peter Barker 11-9, 11-7, 11-7.

Third seed Willstrop stayed ahead throughout the first two games, but sixth seed Barker rallied to take a 6-3 lead in the third. However, Yorkshireman Willstrop won eight of the next nine points to run out the winner in just 36 minutes.

Willstrop will face Gaultier in the pair's fourth World Series clash this year.

Semi-final line-up:
[5] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [3] James Willstrop (ENG)
[7] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) v [2] Karim Darwish (EGY)

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