After a thrilling quarter final draw, the semi-final was surely unmissable as the likes of World Champion Tarek Momen, who had been runner up in Canary Wharf classic in the last two tournaments took on World number one, Mohamed Elshorgaby from Egypt.
How They Got Here
Momen beat Peruvian, Diego Elias in a heated quarter-final affair, while Mohamed Elshorgaby had to overcome a scare from Indian champion, Saurav Ghosal.
This was the Egyptians 24th encounter on the PSA World Tour and was the blockbuster game of the night.
The match could have been the final itself, with each player taking a game, but just as Momen almost came undone the night before against Elias, it was de je vu, although this time he couldn’t recover and Elshorgaby won the match 4-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 in less than 50 minutes.
Elshorgaby praised his fellow countryman after the game: “Tarek has been in great form this season. After the final in TOC [J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions], having to play someone who feels like that is always hard.”
Other Semi-Final
The second semi-final saw Ali Farag take on Marwan Elshorbagy.
Elshorbagy was trying to make it an all family encounter in his bid to book a place in the final against his brother [Mohamed], while the world number two, Farag was looking to make it to his first Canary Wharf Classic final.
Farag crushed any hope a family final, sweeping Elshorbagy aside in the best of 5 format (3-0) with scores, 11-3, 11-4 and 11-4 – limiting his opponent to eleven points across the entire match.
With his sights firmly set on the final Farag knows that there is everything to play for:
“Even though Mohamed and I are No.1 and No.2 at the moment, we have only played twice so far this season. We have won one each and I think it is always exciting when we play against each other. He is totally different to play compared to Marwan, but it is equally as tough. It will be another test but for now, I will just enjoy the result and then focus on tomorrow.”
A dominant performance will surely have Mohamed Elshorgaby looking with caution when the Egyptians meet up in the final this Friday March 13th at 19:30 GMT
