Ashour To Face Gaultier In World Championship Semi

Three-time World Champion Ramy Ashour and defending champion Gregory Gaultier will clash for the 36th time since 2005 after triumphing in their quarter-final encounters in the 2016 Wadi Degla PSA Men's World Championship in Cairo.

Ashour - who lifted the sport's most illustrious title in 2008, 2012 and 2014 - dispatched fellow Egyptian Fares Dessouky in straight games to move to within one win of a fifth World Championship final.

The maverick Egyptian stormed to a one-game lead, before coming out on top of an intense tie-break by a 17-15 margin to put one foot in the semi-final. Both players traded a series of high-octane blows in the third until, with Ashour 10-8 up, an emotional Dessouky reacted to a referee decision by inexplicably conceding the match and walking off court to hand the win to Ashour.

"That was very stressful, definitely," said Ashour.

"I was relaxed but I wasn't there, I couldn't find it. He was physical, I got into his physical game and things weren't going my way in my short game. When things happen like that I find it a challenge.

"I wouldn't say I enjoy it, but I find it a challenge because life is not fun, it's supposed to be a burden. When things happen that way I accept it and I have to go through it."

Meanwhile, Gaultier booked his place in a fourth consecutive World Championship semi-final after overcoming world No.11 Tarek Momen to deny the event an all-Egyptian semi-final line-up.

The charismatic 'French General' put in a masterclass of a performance in the opening two games as he mixed up the pace well and utilised all four corners of the court to power to a 2/0 lead. The second seed surrendered three match balls in game three after a litany of errors, however, to give Momen a lifeline.

A series of high-quality rallies in the fourth lit up the Wadi Degla club as the match drew to a nail-biting finale, with Gaultier managing to reassert himself on proceedings to edge out an 11-5, 11-5, 14-16, 11-8 triumph to set up an explosive semi-final clash with Ashour - the pair's seventh meeting in the championship, with their event head-to-head shared at three-all!

"He's a really skilful player, he's very dangerous, talented and he can put the ball away at any time," said Gaultier.

"If you don't pay attention, you lose the big points, that's what happened on the game balls. I didn't play tight enough and I rushed myself. He's talented and a hard worker.

"You have to remember that at the end of the day, in any kind of country, it's two lions battling as hard as possible on the same territory. There's only one winner coming out, but today I felt it was really tough."