#i finished the ref yesterday but got too tired to post. again

[sansthepacifist-art]

Magical au where they gotta fight monsters, hell yeah

[qatarsquash]

Quarter-Final Reports

Rosner, Coll and Momen win in three, Marwan beats Mohamed in Five

Note: we’re having issues with the main QSF site, so posting temporarily here ...

QUARTER-FINALS [5] Simon Rosner (Ger) 3-0 James Willstrop (Eng) 14-12, 11-6, 11-3 (46m) [2] Tarek Momen (Egy) 3-0 [6] Diego Elias (Per) 11-6, 13-11, 11-6 (37m) [4] Paul Coll (Nzl) 3-0 [14] Zahed Salem (Egy) 11-8, 11-9, 11-6 (47m) [9] Marwan ElShorbagy (Egy) 3-2 [1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (Egy) 11-6, 2-11, 11-6, 3-11, 11-8 (59m)

QUARTER-FINALS PHOTO GALLERY

Rosner ends Willstrop run

[5] Simon Rosner (Ger) 3-0 James Willstrop (Eng) 14-12, 11-6, 11-3 (46m)

The first game was crucial today as we thought it would be. James was able to produce the upset of the event when he took out Gawad in the previous round but would he have enough in the tank today? Well, he probably would have found the mental resources had he taken that opener I feel. As he said to me one day “Fram, squash is such a mental game it’s a joke”.

Simon knew it as well, and made it very difficult for the Gentleman from  the start. After 5m of game we were still at 1/1, and the game lasted 25m of very very HARD work and accurate squash, both twisting and turning each other – both being the tallest players on the tour I think.

Unfortunately for James, he never had a chance to take that game, it’s Simon that had all the game balls 4 of them. And the TreeChopper gets it finally 14/12, but it all came down to stroke decisions: 10 winners each, 2 errors each, with Simon having 2 strokes, James none. To be noted that the ref was overtuned twice in that game, two strokes overturned to lets.

The second, as often, James is in the game till 5/6, mid game, but then the legs are starting to hurt and three errors, crucial at that stage, and from 3/3, it’s 8/5, 11/6 with two errors on the last two points.

Simon is completely in control in the third, 4/1, 6/2 and 11/3. James bows out, with our love and respect. Nuff said.

Simon: James beat Karim who just won the Egypt Open last week, that takes some achievement. At his age, I hope I can play as well as he does, and perform at that level!

I tried to keep the intensity up from the first rally, not to give him any time on the T, taking the ball away from him on the ball. Taking the first game was huge. It's mentally such a big difference whether you're 1-0 up or down, especially when it's that long and it goes to the tie-break. I knew if I could win that first game, keep the intensity up and play fast squash then I would be able to push through and that's exactly what happened. I was able to keep the intensity up, didn't drop down and I'm glad I was able to work it out. You want to win the title when you get this far and it has to be my aim now. You don't want to lose just before the finish of the tournament, so I'm definitely up for the next match no matter who I'm playing tomorrow and I'm looking forward to that one.

Coll through to semis in three

[4] Paul Coll (Nzl) 3-0 [14] Zahed Salem (Egy) 11-8, 11-9, 11-6 (47m)

What is incredible with Paul, is that he came on court today, truly fresh as a rose. “I worked hard back at home to backup those matches” he commented at the end. And that’s exactly what he did.

He played a very solid first game, against a no pressure Zahed, improved, fit, and with the same style of play than Superman. But today, the error count makes the difference I believe. In the whole match, Paul made a single error, at the start of the third. And that must be so frustrating for the opponent, giving it all, playing some superb squash, seeing all the might be winners coming back with dividends, and never being able to force errors out of him…

First game is crucial as I said: very close the whole way, with Paul just a couple of points ahead, then 6/6, 7/7, 8/8. And three errors to finish from the Egyptian, all credit to the Kiwi, forcing those mistakes out…. 12m first game.

The second is again some stunning squash, and if Zahed didn’t start well at all, 3/0, 4/1, 7/2, 8/4 for Superman, the Egyptian produced a quality of squash that I hope he’ll be proud of. Both mentally, physically, tactically, it was perfection, and the Kiwi saw his gap melt dangerously, 7/8.

An absolute gem of a rally at 9/7, with Zahed in control and wining point in the racquet, just clipping the tin – his only error of the game. 10/7 game ball for Paul. Again, Zahed finds shots and solutions to claw back, but it’s Paul again, 15m game.

The third is dominated by Paul, too many errors from the Egyptian in particular at the start of the match, giving too much confidence to the Kiwi… a stop as Zaza bangs his head against the left wall, a few minutes at 3/2 Paul, but it’s still Paul in control, despite huge effort from the Egyptian, 9/4. Zahed got very frustrated at the end as one of his shots was called not up, while he was adamant it was good, and not happy he was at the end, 11/6, 16m – including a 5m stoppage.

Paul in his first ever world semis: in my eyes, on that court, enhancing his front game, he is definitely a contender.

PAUL: 'm very happy to be in the semi-finals of a World Champs, it was something that was a minimum goal going into the tournament. I've got to put that behind me now, even though I'm very happy to be in the semi-finals, I don't want to stop there. I've just got to regroup after this, enjoy the moment while it lasts and watch the match later.I just wanted to dominate today and I knew I had to be more explosive to the front. Yesterday I felt like I got a bit dominated and my natural game was taken away from me, so I wanted to step up today and really take the game to Zahed. He had a tough match yesterday as well, so I knew it was going to be about who could dominate today. I feel like I did that for most of the game which got me over the line. The ElShorbagy brothers both quality players, I just hope it takes about three hours and then tomorrow I'll play whoever wins.

Tarek returns to the semis

[2] Tarek Momen (Egy) 3-0 [6] Diego Elias (Per)   11-6, 13-11, 11-6 (37m)

Tarek beats Diego in three to return to the semi-finals ... A remarkable match from Tarek, who despite making a few too many errors – hold the press – displayed remarkable “sang-froid” today in front of a Diego that seemed at the end to run out of solutions.

A superb start from the Momenator in the opener, 6/2, 8/4, and despite 4 errors, he will play 9 winners and takes the game 11/6 in 9 short minutes.

Bit of the same story in the second, superb start again, 5/0, but this time, the errors give the Peruvian a life line and he levels nicely at 6/6, 7/7, taking the lead actually 9/7.

Two huge crucial rallies at that point, again, going side to side to front to back but a stroke for Tarek and a no let against Diego, we are back level at 9/9.

The Peruvian will have a game ball at 10/9, but a long volley drop shot from Tarek takes care of that, and it’s the Egyptian that will break through on his second attempt, 13/11. Despite making 5 errors, against none for the Peruvian… 9 winners for Tarek, 2 strokes, 6 winners for Diego.

A much better start for Diego in the third, close, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4, but tired errors finally creep in for the young man, and it’s 7/4, 11/6, thanks to 3 errors in the last part of the game from Diego…

Tarek ecstatic to take it in three. You bet….

Tarek: It was a really good match for me, and I had the memory of my last match, and if you want to win the event, you cannot afford to play 5 setters every match. So I was aiming to win the match first and foremost, but also, winning in three is a bonus.I was trying to get the best start as possible, and I couldn’t dreamt of having a better start in the first two matches. In the second, he came back strong at me but I’m lucky I managed to stay on tom in that one.The one day off made a big difference, and today, it felt like a normal day at the office, and I’m happy to be fresh for tomorrow!I know that Diego has been into a few semi finals before but maybe the World Championship is a little bit different. He has the experience of making it to the latter rounds, but maybe the good start that I had made the difference.He came back really strong in the second game and it was very close. If he had snatched that second game, then I don’t think he would have been phased by the occasion. I managed to get a good start which helped a lot towards the end.I was really keen on trying to get as explosive and as tight as possible. I tried to cut down on the errors as much as I could because it makes a big difference. A match could go to five games and 120 minutes or it could be over in just 40 depending on the start. I tried to learn from the few things that I have done wrong in previous matches, and today was a good day at the office for sure. I am really looking forward to playing Simon again, and I am hoping for another win to make it to another final at the World Championships. It would be unbelievable for me to make two finals in a row at the Worlds, so I am really looking forward to it.

Marwan reverses the 2017 final

[9] Marwan ElShorbagy (Egy) 3-2 [1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (Egy) 11-6, 2-11, 11-6, 3-11, 11-8 (59m)

A thought for Basma, the mum…

After the match, an Egyptian came up to me and said with a smile “you were cheering for Marwan weren’t you”. And I replied, "no I was crying for both, because I knew how painful it was for both of them". Like Mohamed stated yesterday, “we hate playing against each other, because we both dream of the world title, and one of us is about to crash the other’s dream”…

I’m going to tell you what happened out there tonight. You might think you know f.a. about squash Fram. And you’ll probably be right….

Cut to 2 years ago. When Marwan reached the final of the worlds against his brother in Manchester, Mohamed just passed a terrible time on the tour, and despite having won everything at least twice, he had never won the worlds. And being the younger brother, in Egyptian terms, he considers Mohamed as his dad. And he couldn’t, even if he had wanted it, he just couldn’t break his brother’s heart/dream.

Cut to today. It’s Marwan’s turn to have gone through an horrendous time from the British Open to January. And Mohamed cannot not feel for his little brother that he has got to protect under the Egyptian uses. Add to that that now, Mohamed has a title on his mantle piece. So today, it was OK for Marwan to walk away with the win, and acceptable for Mohamed to somehow accept it….

Not saying that Mohamed let him win but come on, 2 games were played in 5m each, 11/2, 11/3…. If that’s not a mental game, what is????

End of the psychological mumbo-jumbo, back to stats…

First game, all about Marwan, 14m with Junior at the front, no pressure. High quality squash, but a few nervous errors from Mohamed, 4, only 2 for Marwan, from 3/3 it’s 11/6 for Junior, 6 winners Marwan, 3 Mohamed.

The second is 5m, 4/0, 8/1, 11/2, thank you for coming. Mohamed being Mohamed…

Third, back to a match, 12m, from 3/3, 4/4, and again a domination from Marwan, just reading his brother’s shots and being on them before he played them. 7/4, 9/5, 11/6 again… 5 winners from Mohamed, 6 from Mohamed…

The fourth is the mirror of the 2nd, 5m, 11/3, thanks for coming again.

Superb start for Junior in the last one, 4/1, 6/2, 8/3. A good push from Mohamed, trying to motivate himself, back to 6/8, but it’s match ball for Junior 11/7. A tin, 8/10. A superb lovely winner from Mohamed, 8/10. And in three shots rally, a winner out of nowhere from Junior racquet, irretrievable. Sor’ed.

Marwan:

Any win against my brother is amazing. He is truly one of the greatest players of our sport, and it was tough. He is so clever, and the most experienced players in the draw.It was tough out there. It was five games in less than an hour but I know it was really tough mentally for me. Mohamed is one of the and one of the best players ever to play the sport.He has played against so many different generations so I knew it was going to be really tough mentally, much more than physically. At the end it was all mental, and I gave it everything I had. I put my heart into that fifth game and I am just really happy to get that result.What he did in the second and fourth, well, there was nothing I could do. Absolutely nothing. And that’s something I need to learn. I have so much experience in my corner here, in Haitham and Nick and the way they speak to me between games, it motivates me and it pushes me. I have so much experience here, so I am really lucky to have both of them here. I have played my brother a couple of times already this season, in China and in San Francisco and I was getting close. Today I just made sure I did not make the same mistakes as I did in China and San Francisco. I actually did some, but less, and I am really happy with how I responded in both the third and the fifth games. I am happy with how I played overall and I am focussed for tomorrow now.Now I’ve got to forget about this match, do my recover, and hopefully, I have two more matches to play

QUARTER-FINALS PHOTO GALLERY