Sat 16th Apr, Day
SIX, Semi-Finals
Semi-Finals:
[1] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) 3-1 [7]
Ali Farag (Egy)
11/5, 11/8, 5/11,
12/10 (61m)
[4] Marwan Elshorbagy (Egy) 3-0 [2] Simon Rosner (Ger)
15/13, 11/7, 11/5
(57m)
It's Europe 1 Egypt 1 in the semis
as Greg and Marwan make the final

Defending
champion and top seed Gregory Gaultier won the first of
two Europe v Egypt matches in the Grasshopper Cup semis with a
hard-fought four game win over Ali Farag that took just over the
hour to complete.
The Frenchman controlled the play in the first two games,
despite Farag's best efforts to break the pattern of play.
Gaultier took the first 11/5 and led 10/5 in the second.
A couple of errors gave Farag hope, but as Gaultier closed out
the game 11/8 Farag let out a scream which earned him a conduct
stroke and a 0-1 start in the third.
Gaultier
looked be be cruising to victory at 4-1 and 5-2 up, but more
errors and great determination from Farag saw the Egyptian pull
a game back with a run of nine unanswered points.
Farag took that momentum into the fourth, leading 4-1, but
Gaultier settled and started to control the rallies once more,
leading from the middle of the game.
Farag played a tremendous rally to save the first match ball at
10-9 but couldn't repeat the trick as Gaultier closed out the
match 12/10 to return to the final.
"I
played quite well, I was moving well which saved me," said
Gaultier.
"I was up in the third and got a bit greedy, I had to get back
to basics in the fourth and it worked.
"It was a matter of a
couple of crucial points at the end, if it had gone to fivce it
would have been very hard.
"I'll email PSA and tell them not to fine him for that conduct
stroke! He's a great player already, I told him it might be a
couple of years before he beats me, these youngsters have to
take it a bit easy on me if I'm going to play on for a few
years!"

The
second semi-final saw Simon Rosner aiming to set up a repeat
final from last year, but the second seeded German had spent a
lot more time on court than his opponent, and when Marwan
Elshorbagy edged a tough, 25-minute opening game 15/13, the
omens didn't look good for Rosner.
The start of the second and third games were close, but in both
it was the young Egyptian who pulled away, finishing them off
quickly - from 4-6 in the second and 5-all in the third to win
11/7, 11/5 in just under the hour mark.
"The
plan was to make the first games as long and hard as I could,
win or lose," said Marwan, "and it did work in my favour, it
took a lot out of him.
"I'm happy with my game this week, it's been a very good
tournament so far and I've reached the final without dropping a
game so I'll give it one last push tomorrow.
"Of course I won't start the favourite against Greg, he's a
great player, the world champion and a role model for me.
"I have to make the most of every chance I get to play him in
big matches, I'm going to try yo enjoy every single second of
it."
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photos by
Michele Bollhalder




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