Matthew - Elshorbagy, Gaultier - Ashour To Clash In Worlds Semifinals by Nathan Clarke November 19, 2014
- Defending champion Nick Matthew and current World No.1 Mohamed
Elshorbagy will go head-to-head in the semi-finals of the 2014 Qatar
PSA World Championship in what is certain to be a blockbuster encounter.
Coming into the tournament in Doha, Elshorbagy, 11-years Matthew's
junior, claimed his title rival was 'past his peak' while Matthew hit
back stating Elshorbagy has only been number one for 'five minutes' and
the duo will now meet in a crucial encounter where they'll be aiming to
back up their words with victory on the court.
"I know what to expect from Mohamed tomorrow," said Matthew, who booked
his place in the last four with a resounding 3-0 win against four-time
World Champion Amr Shabana.
"He is an extremely strong player and I'll be preparing myself to deal
with that. I’m going to enjoy the way I played tonight and then I’m
going to refocus.
"I've proved that I still have the hunger to compete this week and I've
not come here to end my run at the semi-finals. I've probably not got a
million years left in these events so I'm going to try and make the
most of it."
The duo last met in the semi-finals of the Allam British Open in May,
when Matthew used his experience to get past the Bristol-based man from
Alexandra 3-2 in a brutal 104-minute encounter, but Elshorbagy expects
a different outcome tomorrow.
"Nick looked in great form in his match today and I know he wants to
break another record and become the oldest World Champion," said
Elshorbagy, conqueror of South African Stephen Coppinger in the
quarters.
"But he made a comment before the tournament that I have only been
number one for a few minutes and I think he needs to be a little bit
careful.
"He likes to stand up a lot between games and my advice to him is that
he should sit down and get that rest tomorrow because I'm going to play
at a pace that he won't be able to handle."
The winner of their crunch encounter will face either two-time World
Champion Ramy Ashour or four-time runner-up Gregory Gaultier in the
final after they cam through the encounters with Borja Golan and
Cameron Pilley, respectively, with Ashour completing a remarkable
come-from-behind triumph in his encounter.
