Egyptians Make History at Hong Kong Open

There will be an all-Egyptian semi-final line-up in a men's PSA World Series event for the first time in history after Mohamed Elshorbagy, his younger brother Marwan Elshorbagy, Karim Abdel Gawad and Ali Farag prevailed on quarter-finals day to reach the last four of the 2017 Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open.

The Bristol-based Elshorbagy brothers will face each other for a place in the final in what will their 10th PSA World Tour meeting after they defeated Mohamed Abouelghar and world No.1 Gregory Gaultier, respectively.

Both players won in four games to set up the latest instalment of their sibling rivalry, with underdog Marwan winning their last two matches, including an emotional victory during the Windy City Open last February.

"I miss these matches, we played four times last season and I miss being on court with him somehow," said Marwan.

"I miss going into a tournament knowing that I would play him. I still hate playing him, but I miss these moments.

"You remember these moments and he's been in fine form recently. He was in the middle of a shaky season when I beat him before but he is playing really well this season, so I'm pleased to get the opportunity to be on court with him when he's in fine form."

They will be joined in the last four by World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad and US Open winner Ali Farag. Gawad overcame fellow Egyptian Tarek Momen by a 3/1 margin, while Farag defeated English qualifier Declan James by the same scoreline to write their names into the history books.

"We know we have very good players in Egypt and we are all around the same age, from 23-26 years old," said Gawad.

"We're young and we've been competing with each other since we were kids. I'm really glad that I'm one of the players to reach the semi-finals. Hopefully we can always do great things for our sport."

History was also made in the women's event when France's world No.3 Camille Serme finally claimed her first ever win over 11-time Hong Kong champion Nicol David at her 20th attempt.

Since first meeting in the World Team Championship in 2006, Serme had never got the better of the eight-time World Champion and had only taken more than a solitary game on one occasion before their quarter-final clash. But at the Hong Kong Park Sports Centre, Serme - who lost to David in the 2012 final - attacked well and kept her composure to end her unwanted streak.

"It was a very tough game, it's always a battle with her even if she's not at the top of the rankings any more," said Serme after her fourth clash with David in Hong Kong.

"She's still a great player and I knew it was going to be hard. I can't believe I have just done it. I think I had to attack and make her work at the front of the court as much as I could.

"It would be amazing to reach the final, especially after losing in the second round at the US Open. It's very positive to beat Nicol for the first time so I could be in the semi-finals here. I wanted to do my best and I'm enjoying my squash at the moment."

Serme will face El Welily - whom she has beaten just three times in 17 meetings - after El Welily came through a five-game cracker with Kiwi Joelle King, triumphing 14-12 in a nail-biting decider.

"I have no idea how I managed to pull that one off," said El Welily.

"I had to go for the winners as much as I could because if I played basic squash she would play a winning shot, so I had to steal it before she did. All credit to her, she played a really good match."

World Champion Nour El Sherbini and world No.4 Laura Massaro will meet in the other semi-final. El Sherbini dispatched defending champion Nouran Gohar in just 27 minutes, while Massaro was made to work hard by Welsh No.1 Tesni Evans, but came through to win in four games.