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23-Nov, Day SEVEN, Final:
[2] Mohamed ElShorbagy
3-0 [1] Karim Darwish
11/2, 11/7, 11/8 (43m)
Two in a row for Shorbagy
Mohamed
Elshorbagy made it two big wins in a row - following his
Qatar Classic triumph last week in Doha - as he beat Karim
Darwish in straight games to add the Banque Misr Sky Open
title to his rapidly-growing collection ...
Short and sweet. Or bitter.
Depending who you were supporting.
 Tonight,
“Captain” Karim had a big support. Now in charge of Wadi
Degla, his friends and students came to support him and see
him win. But it didn’t happen.
First game was a bit like the other games Karim played on
that cold court. He seemed a bit slower than his normal
self. And only came to life in the second game, really
putting Mohamed under a lot of pressure. That second game
alone was 17m and was the turning point.
 Karim started well, 2/0, 4/2, but Mohamed, showing the signs
of tiredness as Karim gave it a big push to come back at
5/5. 6/6. Mohamed is a bit more assertive, Karim is a bit at
the back, trying to push Mohamed to the back. Still the
young man takes the lead again, 8/6, 10/7. Another winner
and he is up 2/0, 11/7.
 Still
Karim doesn’t say die. He wants this title back. He wants to
win here. For his family. And I can see it in his eyes.
Third game starts, and Karim is already on the court,
banging the wall when Mohamed comes in.
2/2. 3/3. 4/4. Mohamed, just that little point ahead, 5/4,
6/5, then the tiredness really starts to show in Karim’s
legs, and errors creep in. 10/6.
 Captain Karim’s pride is
pushing him to run on fumes. He’ll save two match balls. But
it’s Mohamed that get the match, the title… 11/8 in 12m…
Karim
is emotional, and like he did when he lost here against Wael,
just disappears for a while. To hide his emotions and tears
I know he has. And although he accepts to speak with me, I
know he just cannot. It’s just too much. It’s hard to see
your own self, 10 years ago, taking your space. It’s just
too hard….
"I had to be very focused from the very first point today as
I knew if this get very tough I could be in trouble mentally
as I could feel last night I was tired mentally ...
"But hey
I spoke to Jonah as always and he gave me his words as
always and started making me feel fresh mentally as he knew
I was fine physically.
After winning the first game I kne we would give it a big
push in the second as we both know there was no way today he
could come back from 2:0 down as physically it would have
been close to impossible after the amount of hard matches he
had ... so after the few long rallies we had in the second I
knew that was good for me and I started going short more at
the end of the second and I could feel he was struggling to
move there because I could feel he was tired.
I am just very happy I could back up after Qatar and the
worlds...Jonah told me that was a mental test for me and I
think I just got a pass after winning this.
Just want to thank Wolfgang for coming to support me during
this tournament"
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"Of course I am disappointed. I
just lost too much energy in the first rounds. And I
shouldn’t do that.
I had to be 100% fresh to win against
Mohamed who is now so sharp.
And he reminds so much of
myself when I ……
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