Title-Holder Tarek Tears Into $50K PSA Selangor Semis by Howard Harding 13 September 2013
- Defending champion Tarek Momen produced his speediest victory in more
than a year when he despatched fellow Egyptian Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry at
the CIMB Malaysian Open today to reach the semi-finals of the PSA World
Tour International 50 squash event at the Curve Shopping Mall in
Petaling Jaya in Selangor.
Fourth seed Momen, the
world No10, was in no mood to give his Cairo colleague any room for
manoeuvre - taking just 20 minutes to remove the 19-year-old qualifier
11-3, 11-9, 11-6.
Momen (pictured above,
left, with Ga Sabry) with now faces England's Chris Simpson in a bid to
reach the final for the third time in four years.
Simpson continued his
relentless surge through the event, earning his first ever win over
India's higher-ranked Saurav Ghosal to become the only unseeded player
in the last four.
The breakthrough 6-11,
12-10, 11-9, 11-9 victory in 76 minutes came just 24 hours after a
career-first win over Karim Darwish, the top seed and a former world
number one from Egypt.
"I'm over the moon
with both of my wins," said world No25 Simpson after collecting his
thoughts in Selangor. "Yesterday's was very unexpected! I feel that I
have made some good improvements this summer, and was eager to get
stuck into Darwish - but he is a great player that has achieved so
much, and although I thought I could push him hard I wasn't necessarily
expecting to win!
"The first game was a
real shock to me, I couldn't read any of his shots. I was forced into a
lot of awkward movements. But from the end of that game onwards I felt
that I got my tactics right, managed to get into some longer rallies
and ask some questions of Karim physically.
"The second game was
crucial, and once I got that I knew I was in with a shout. It was a
shame that the match had to end as it did, and I hope Karim hasn't done
himself any lasting damage.
"Today was another
great match. Again I was being completely outplayed, and couldn't find
any way of troubling Saurav's speedy game for the first game and a
half. After this it became nip and tuck, and it was really down to who
could play the big points better. I was lucky that today that happened
to be me!
"I'm looking forward
to playing Tarek. He's an in-form player, but I have nothing to lose
and you can't help but look forward to the occasion of playing in such
a spectacular setting."
The other semi will be
the one predicted by the draw, between England's No2 seed Peter Barker
and third-seeded Spaniard Borja Golan.
Londoner Barker took
on local favourite Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan, the wild card who upset former
champion and fellow Malaysian Ong Beng Hee in the previous round.
Barker began strongly moving the ball around the court making his
opponent do a lot of work.
"Whereas Wan was able
to capitalise on the loose balls yesterday, today things just didn't
quite work for him," explained tournament spokesman Andrew Cross. "The
pressure that Barker was providing was intense and when Wan had a
chance he couldn't quite decide what shot to play. Sometimes he would
hit the ball back at himself or the tin."
Adnan got back into
the match in the third game to reduce Barker's lead. "In the fourth
Barker was back to it keeping the intensity high and the pressure on
Wan, building up a 9-0 lead before Wan got his first point much to the
delight of the crowd and himself," continued Cross. "He got another
point but Barker had soon wrapped up the match 11-8, 11-0, 7-11, 11-2."
Golan, the world No9,
recovered from a game down to beat Egypt's Karim Abdel Gawad 8-11,
11-8, 12-10, 11-5 in a 104-minute marathon.
RESULTS: PSA International 50 CIMB Malaysian Open, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
