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SAT 30-Aug, Day SEVEN: SEMI-FINALS
[1] Gregory Gaultier
(Fra) 3-0 Tarek Momen (Egy)
11/7, 11/2, 11/3 (37m)
[2] Mohamed
Elshorbagy (Egy) 3-1 [4] Borja Golan (Esp)
11/7, 11/5, 7/11, 11/7 (50m)
[1] Nicol David (Mas) 3-0 [8] Amanda Sobhy (Usa)
11/8, 11/4, 11/2 (27m)
Nour El Tayeb (Egy) 3-1 [2] Laura Massaro (Eng)
11/9, 10/12, 11/2, 12/10 (47m)
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Men's top seeds through to
final
 Gregory
Gaultier and Mohamed Elshorbagy will contest the Hong
Kong Open final - after all the upsets with five qualifiers
making the last sixteen, it will be the top two seeds who battle
it out for the World Series crown at Hong Kong Park Sports
Centre.
 Gaultier
eased through his match with Tarek Momen, the younger
Egyptian feeling the effects of yesterday’s marathon win after a
competitive first game.
“I tried to make the pace fast from the start,” said
Gaultier, “and that was working well for me.
“In the second and third I think he started to feel the effects
of yesterdays match., but I was still feeling fresh and I don't
think the score really reflected the match."
 Shorbagy
looked to be heading for a similar victory, but gritty Spaniard
Borja Golan fought back to take the third, and it was only
at the end of the fourth that Shorbagy managed to pull clear.
“I had to play well to
get those first two games, Borja is always a tough opponent,”
said Shorbagy.
 “He
came back strongly in the third and I had to play a better game
which I managed to do in the fourth.
“Getting to my first final in this tournament is something
you can always be proud of, and to play in front of a crowd like
this is always great.
 “Greg
is world number one and he’s the man to beat at the moment, so
there’s no pressure on me tomorrow, but it should be an
interesting match, for sure ...
“Malaysia was great preparation for me, winning it gave me great
confidence and I’m trying to take that confidence into here, so
it’s been going well so far. Getting to my first final here is
great, but we’re all here to win, not just to justify your
seeding. I would love to win it, as much as Greg, because he has
lost four finals here, so we both want our first win here.”
David to face Tayeb in tenth title bid
 The
first women’s semi-final saw nine-time champion Nicol David
through to another final in a similar manner to Gaultier - after
competing well in the first game, young American Amanda Sobhy
subsided, as so many have done, in the next two games.
 “No
doubt she played a strong first game,” said Nicol. “We were both
finding our feet and our range on the court.
“Then it was just a matter of putting the work in in the second
and third games, and hershots didn’t come in as well and she
missed a few shots she doesn’t usually, so I just had to put the
pressure on.
“I’m just going to be focusing on what I have to do. I just love
playing here. It raises my game and I always play my best
squash. I’m just going to go all out and leave it all out
there.”
 The
last match of the day provided another stunning upset for Nour
El Tayeb as the unseeded young Egyptian beat Laura Massaro for
the second time in a week, to reach a second consecutive world
series final.
 Tayeb
edged the first but Massaro did the same to level the match,
then seemed to have no answer as Tayeb took the third 11-2 and
went 7-1 up in the fourth.
The Englishwoman fought back, as she does, levelled at 9-all and
had one chance to take it to a decider, but Tayeb took the next
three points to complete the win.
 “I
have no words to describe how I feel at the moment,” said a
delighted winner.
“To beat Laura Massaro twice, and to reach two huge finals, it’s
just unbelievable.
“I’m in the best form of my life. It’s definitely the best two
weeks of my life, for sure.
"I understand if I won one match, but
to back it up for two weeks, I really don’t know how to explain
it. The furthest I was looking was the first round!"
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