Canary Wharf RD2: ElShorbagy Through After Mosaad Retires

Egypt’s Marwan ElShorbagy is through to the quarter-finals of the St. James’s Place Canary Wharf Classic after Omar Mosaad had to retire through injury in their second round clash.

The World No.8 started terribly, as Mosaad roared through to take the first game, restricting his compatriot to just a couple of points in the opening salvo.

The ‘Hammer of Thor’ then had a solid start in the second, only for ElShorbagy to bounce back in the middle part of the game. A run of six straight points gave ‘the Jackal’ control as he sent the match into a decider.

The World No.8 held a 4-2 lead in the third when he caught Mosaad with the ball, with the Egyptian requiring treatment on his leg. Just three points later, Mosaad went down after accidentally standing on ElShorbagy’s foot. The turn of the ankle caused the gentle giant too much pain to continue, with ‘the Jackal’ moving through to the last eight.

“I just hope it is nothing too serious. We are in the middle of the season and I just hope that he recovers from it as fast as he can. Hopefully it is not serious, it is not the way I wanted to win. I just hope he is okay.

“To be honest, I didn’t understand what was happening but when I saw it on yet reply I could see that it did not look good. We have a physio in Derek [Ryan] here, and I know Omar is in good hands.”

Result
[7] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) bt Omar Mosaad (EGY) 2-1: 2-11, 11-6, 6-3 rtd (63m)