Shabana Shakes Off Mosaad To Reach First El Gouna Semi

After premature exits in the previous two events, Egypt's Amr Shabana survived a testing encounter against an in-form Omar Mosaad to reach the semi-finals of the El Gouna International Open for the first time.

The four-time World Champion was forced to use all of his guile and court-craft to get past the imposing figure of compatriot Mosaad, who came into the match in the PSA World Series event bouyed by his four-game upset over Spain's world No5 Borja Golan in the previous round.

But Shabana, who has been an ever-present figure in the world top ten for over a decade, combined his experience and guile with his dazzling array of shots to ensure his place in the final four.

"It took everything I had to beat Omar today," said Shabana. "Considering it's my third match on the glass court and his first I didn't expect him to have such good timing and he made it really uncomfortable for me out there.

"I had to go back to basics and play a basic length game and it took everything I had to go through.

"I've seen him transform from a junior to a top player and he works a lot on his movement and he's very technical. He's very subtle in the way he plays for a big guy and if you're not careful he can make you look average.

"I think he has a wonderful future but today I won, so I'm happy.

"I've put in a lot of hard to work to reach the semi-final and thankfully it's paying off. We all put in a lot of hard work but it doesn't mean you are going to win so it's nice to get the rewards."

Shabana will take on defending El Gouna champion Ramy Ashour after the maverick Egyptian progressed to the semi-finals after opponent Karim Darwish was forced to retire through injury after just 16 minutes.

The second semi-final will see a third Egyptian bid for a place in the final as world No3 Mohamed Elshorbagy will look to take out the world No1 and number one seed Gregory Gaultier, after the Frenchman survived a tricky straight games' encounter with England's Daryl Selby.

"I was not feeling as accurate as I was yesterday but maybe that was because Daryl was hanging in there and giving me a tough time, even if the score doesn't reflect the match," said Gaultier.

"He was ahead in the third game and I had to come back to win. I didn't manage to put the same pressure on him and I think he relaxed and started to go for the shots and he was getting them and making it tough.

"It wasn't beautiful squash but I fight for every point even if I can't play my best so long as you win it doesn't matter.

"I still feel good physically, it was hot today and you always have to adapt to the conditions but you have to deal with these things or else you book a flight and go home."

El Gouna image courtesy of SquashSite