Elshorbagys Through To PSA World Champs Last 16

Egyptians Mohamed Elshorbagy and Marwan Elshorbagy remain on course for a quarter-final clash at the 2019/20 PSA Men's World Championship after the UK-based brothers claimed round three spots at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha, Qatar.

Mohamed and Marwan, ranked 2 and 10 respectively in the world, became the first brothers in history to contest the men's World Championship final when they met in the Manchester event climax in December 2017. Both players moved one step closer to a rematch after respective wins over England's Adrian Waller and Switzerland's Nicolas Mueller.

Elshorbagy senior was caused plenty of problems by world No.17 Waller, who played at a fast tempo and dominated large parts of the fixture. However, unforced errors ultimately proved to be his downfall as he failed to capitalise on leads in all three games as the top seed won 13-11, 11-9, 11-9.

"I have never seen Adrian play with such a fast pace before," said 28-year-old Elshorbagy, who plays India's Saurav Ghosal in the next round.

"After the first game, he played with such a high pace and he has never done that against me before. I told myself after the first game that he would not be able to do it all match. You can tell yourself there is no pressure, but the only solution is to try and deal with it. After all these years on tour, I cannot fail because of pressure because it is not acceptable.

"It is only the second round and there is still a long way to go for this event. The World Champion is not always the best player in the world. There is usually a surprise in this tournament. I will give it my best shot and see how it goes this week."

26-year-old Marwan faced a stern test against world No.27 Mueller and initially went a game down after his Swiss opponent built on an 8-0 lead to take control. But Elshorbagy junior had won their four previous matches and he drew on that experience to impose himself on the match from the second game onwards to complete an 5-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-6 victory.

"Nicky started the first game really well and he came out firing. It was a big test coming back from that first game because I had to find a way to get myself into the match," Marwan said.

"I had to do something, because he could have just played like that for a good three games and I would have lost the match. I am glad that I fired myself up and I found a rhythm. I found my game and I think I started to control the match from about halfway through the second game, and I played really well after that."

His opponent for a place in the last eight will be No.7 seed Mohamed Abouelghar, who snuck past Hong Kong's world No.30 Leo Au by the slimmest of margins, with two controversial stroke decisions right at the death seeing him edge an exciting 68-minute battle by an 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 4-11, 12-10 margin.

The match was an intriguing tactical affair, with Abouelghar dominating the first two games against a disinterested looking Au who struggled to get to grips with the Egyptian's shot-making talents. But Au looked like a different man as he returned to court after the game break, taking advantage of the cold conditions on court as he lobbed the ball to the back of the court time and time again, and he duly drew level.

The fifth went to a tie-break, when Au received a stroke against him after the referee adjudged the Hong Kong player to have taken Abouelghar's line after a drop, and the decision was upheld after an Au video review. That lost review proved crucial as Abouelghar was awarded another stroke at match ball in a similar situation, meaning Au was unable to query the decision as Abouelghar advanced into the next round.

"I couldn't be happier, I know we get tough calls, both me and the opponent, it's part of the game," Abouelghar said afterwards.

"I'm not really sure about the decision, but I thought I had a good pickup earlier that was called not good, so it is just part of the game. I had an injury two months ago and I had to stop playing for a month. I'm happy I'm back, my goal is just to enjoy myself, take one match at a time and hope things go well."

Also through to the next round is New Zealand's world No.5 Paul Coll, who cruised past Spain's former world No.5 Borja Golan in straight games after an immaculate performance saw him win 11-7, 11-4, 11-8.

"It has been a good tournament so far but I have got eyes on much further down the line," Coll said.

"I am just taking it match-by-match and not getting caught up in it. I am really happy today but I am also looking ahead to my next match."

He will play 2015 runner-up Omar Mosaad, who defeated home hero Syed Azlan Amjad in a comfortable 3/0 victory as the Qatari player made his return from injury after being struck with the ball in his opening round match with Spain's Iker Pajares Bernabeu.

On the day that Egypt recorded eight players through to the last 16 for the third time since 2015, Colombia's Miguel Rodriguez and Egypt's Zahed Salem were also winners after beating Scotland's Alan Clyne and World Junior Champion Mostafa Asal, respectively.