World No.1 Ali Farag Downs ElShorbagy To Take El Gouna International Semi-Final Spot

Top seed Ali Farag defeated former World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy in straight games in an exciting encounter to reach the 2024 El Gouna International semi-finals.

The players have played 28 times on the PSA Tour with both players winning 14 of those occasions, but the current World No.1 has won an impressive six of their last seven encounters.

In an action-packed first game, the two players were inseparable as ElShorbagy scored a number of outrageous winners, but Farag stayed in the long, arduous rallies in the Egyptian heat and remained consistent against the Englishman. The pair were neck-and-neck to 9-9, but an error from the England No.1 followed by a tight squeeze earned the top seed a 1-0 advantage.

ElShorbagy started the second game in control as he took a 4-1 lead as he continued to place his shots immaculately. After both players were simultaneously given conduct warnings for a conversation with eachother that was longer than referee Roy Gingell’s liking, Farag rallied and took the lead at 6-5.

The Egyptian heat saw constant breaks for court service, that seemed to favour the World No.7, but Farag maintained his usual consistency and double his advantage at 11-6.

Farag took command of the match in game three as ElShorbagy struggled to keep up with the No.1 seed as he had at the end of the second game and the World No.1 earned four match balls, taking the match at the first time of asking as ElShorbagy struck the tin.

“I’m very very, very happy, proud and relieved,” said Farag after the match. “Drawing Mohamed in the quarter-final is a nightmare. I had to live through it through my birthday last night and all I was thinking was on my birthday was ‘Mohamed ElShorbagy’ – what a fun birthday! As much as I love him, I want to spend my birthday with my wife and family.

“I can’t even pronounce the word stressed because of how stressed I am! I haven’t been this nervous going into a match in so long, and I don’t know why – well, I do know why, I’m up against the best of our generation. He’s hungry as ever and he’s fresh as well.

“When you play at our age in the latter tournaments maybe you can take advantage of someone being a little tired but he’s coming in fresh and hungry and coming up with different tactics.

“The first game was crucial, giving myself a boost. And Karim [Darwish] played a role in that too.”

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Result:
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [6] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-6 (42m)