Marwan ElShorbagy eyes up squash World Championships final with brother Mohamed

Gawad had been struggling with a shin injury prior to the tournament and a ruthless performance from 24-year-old ElShorbagy ground his compatriot down in 42 minutes by an 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 scoreline.

ElShorbagy’s win lines up the tantalising prospect of the men’s final featuring siblings for the first time, with older brother Mohamed – a two-time World Championship runner-up – in semi-final action against World No.1 Gregory Gaultier – live on Eurosport Player – on the opposing side of the draw.

“I’m so happy, I can’t even describe how I’m feeling right now,” said Marwan.

“It’s my first semi-final at the World Championships and obviously it is the biggest tournament of the year. This is what we train for and I am happy with my performance today.

“Of course, I saw Karim had an injury break and I hope whatever it is, I hope it’s not too serious. I just had to keep my focus. I think I lost my concentration a little bit in the third game and he came back very well but I’m just happy and I need to focus on my game because I have a big match tomorrow coming up.”

Marwan will clash with World No.3 Ali Farag in an attempt to set up a final meeting with either Mohamed or Gaultier, after Farag – October’s U.S. Open champion – recovered from a game down to beat Colombia’s Miguel Angel Rodriguez 5-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-6.

Farag is part of a six-strong Egyptian contingent across both the men’s and women’s tournaments as two-time World Championship runner-up Raneem El Welily also moved through to the semi-finals.

El Welily, who lost out to World No.1 Nour El Sherbini in April’s World Championship final, ended eight-time winner Nicol David’s tournament, avenging her defeat to the Malaysian in the title-decider of the 2014 instalment.

She will take on French World No.3 Camille Serme for a place in the final after she cruised into the last four courtesy of a dominant 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 win over New Zealand’s Joelle King.

“I’m not thinking about winning it yet, I was just so focused on that one,” said Serme who, along with compatriot Gaultier, are the only non-Egyptians left in the tournament.

“I knew it was going to be a tough battle. Although it was 3-0, it was a hard match. Mentally and physically, the rallies were pretty quick and the pace was fast. I’m just relieved after this win.”

The semi-finals of the World Championships take place on December 16 live on Eurosport Player.

Play from the first session starts at 13:00 local time (GMT), with the second session getting under way at 17:30.

Results – Quarter-Finals – 2017 Men’s AJ Bell PSA World Championships
[4] Ali Farag (EGY) bt Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) 3-1: 5-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-6 (52m)
[6] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 (42m)

Draw – Men’s Semi-Final: To Be Played December 16
[1] Gregory Gaultier (EGY) v [3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
[4] Ali Farag (EGY) v [6] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)

Results – Quarter-Finals – 2017 Women’s AJ Bell PSA World Championships
[3] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [9] Joelle King (NZL) 3-0: 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (29m)
[2] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [6] Nicol David (MAS) 3-1: 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6 (42m)

Draw – Women’s Semi-Final: To Be Played December 16
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v [8] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
[3] Camille Serme (FRA) v [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY)