Gas City Open: Nicolas and El Torkey Set up Final Rematch

Top two seeds Brice Nicolas and Kareem El Torkey set up a rematch of last week’s Lethbridge ProAm final, winning their respective semi-finals at the Gas City Open. 

El Torkey came out on top when the pair went toe-to-toe for the title in Lethbridge exactly one week ago, and they will now run it back for the trophy in Medicine Hat, just 100 miles away. 

The young Egyptian had beaten Switzerland’s Robin Gadola in the Lethbridge semi-finals to reach that final, and he repeated the trick here, sinking the Swiss player 3-1. 

Both matches finished 3-1 to El Torkey, but this week’s encounter was far closer than last, with all four games decided by less than three points. 

The final line read 11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9 and took almost 70 minutes, which could hand Nicolas an advantage going into the final. 

Not only was the Frenchman in action earlier in the day, but he only spent 40 minutes on court in his win over Finland’s Henrik Mustonen. 

The former World No.35 had recorded impressive wins over two seeded players to reach the final four, and edged in front after winning a tight first game on a tie break, 15-13. 

Crucially, though, Nicolas clinched the second 11-8 and ran away with the match from there, dropping only six points across the next two games to book his spot in the final. 

Results: Men’s Semi-Finals 

[1] Brice Nicolas (FRA) bt Henrik Mustonen (FIN) 3-1: 13-15, 11-8, 11-4, 11-2 (40m) 
[2] Kareem El Torkey (EGY) bt [4] Robin Gadola (SUI) 3-1: 11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9 (69m)