Men’s Group A
[4] Marwan ElShorbagy 2-1 [5] Mohamed ElShorbagy 8-11, 11-4, 11-4 (24m)
Men’s Group B
[2] Tarek Momen 2-1 [8] Gregoire Marche 13-11, 11-13, 11-7 (65m)
Women’s Group A
[6] Camille Serme (Fra) 2-0 [8] Salma Hany 11-4, 11-2 (17m)Women’s Group B
[2] Hania El Hammamy 2-0 [4] Amanda Sobhy (Usa) 11-9, 11-7 (30m)
Mohamed ElShorbagy Qualifies for semis as World No.1 Challenge Ends
World No.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy has qualified for the semi-finals but the Egyptian has seen his attempts to regain the World No.1 spot in next month’s PSA World Rankings come to an end after a 2-1 defeat to younger brother Marwan at Cairo’s Mall of Arabia.
Mohamed required just a solitary game to qualify from Group A for the knockout semi-finals but needed to win every single match throughout this event to reclaim top spot from current incumbent Ali Farag, who dispossessed him in November, 2020.
Marwan will now face an anxious wait to see the result of tomorrow’s Farag and Mostafa Asal match. If Asal wins, he will top the group and qualify along with Mohamed. A win for Farag will see Marwan join his brother in the semi-finals.
In Group B, World CIB Champion Tarek Momen got the win he needed to stay in the event as he overcame Frenchman Gregoire Marche in a nail-biting 13-11, 11-13, 11-7 victory.
Having lost to Paul Coll in his opening match, the Momenator needed to win to keep his hopes alive. The World No.3 came back from a 6-3 deficit in the third to win it 11-7, and he now sits second in Group B.
Momen’s win came after Coll had consolidated his position at the top of Group B thanks to a 2-1 win over Welshman Joel Makin. However, all four players are in with a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals ahead of what looks set to be an exciting final day of group action.
Women
In the women’s event, defending champion CIB Hania El Hammamy and New Zealand’s Joelle King have qualified from Group B following respective wins over USA’s Amanda Sobhy and England’s Sarah-Jane Perry.
El Hammamy won 11-9, 11-7 in 30 minutes, while King defeated Perry 12-10, 11-7 in 32 minutes. The victors will face off for top spot tomorrow.
Meanwhile, France’s Camille Serme kept her qualification hopes alive in Group A after she secured a quick-fire 2-0 win over No.8 seed CIB Salma Hany, who had already seen her hopes extinguished after defeats in her opening two matches.
Camille now has to wait until tomorrow to find out whether or not she will be in the last four. The World No.4 needs the already qualified CIB Nouran Gohar to defeat World No.1 Nour El Sherbini in order for the Frenchwoman to advance.
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