Mohamed El Shorbagy and Nour El Sherbini helped Egypt make three remarkable pieces of history as they became British Open champions in very contrasting finals.
File photo of Nour El Sherbini of Egypt.
KINGSTON UPON HULL: Mohamed El Shorbagy and Nour El Sherbini
helped Egypt make three remarkable pieces of history as they became
British Open champions in very contrasting finals.
The fourth-seeded Sherbini became the first Egyptian woman to win the
94-year-old title. Shorbagy then made it the first time Egypt had won
both titles, and it was also the first time that the sport's leading
nation had provided all four finalists.Top-seeded Shorbagy's victory, completing a successful title defence, happened far more comfortably than expected, by 11-3, 11-5, 11-9 against a Ramy Ashour who was physically diminished after four very hard battles following four months away from competition.
Sherbini won a very tight battle by 11-7, 9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8 against 18-year-old Nouran Gohar, who narrowly failed to become the youngest ever women's winner.
It was evident almost immediately that Ashour was not moving
easily and quickly he was a long way down. When he went five points
down in the second game as well, it seemed as though a rout was
possible.
After 15 minutes however Ashour's body began to loosen and
allow him more flexible movements, which both improved the quality of
the rallies and gave the scoreboard a more respectable appearance.
Shorbagy drove hard, scurried energetically and made few
mistakes. Even when Ashour began working him in the third game, taking
leads of 4-2 and 5-4, Shorbagy soon showed he possessed another gear
The match ended with a little drama when Ashour dived full
length to make a remarkable retrieve, leapt up and almost earned a let
even though Shorbagy had driven the ball fiercely to a winning length.
But an appeal to the video review showed that Ashour had not quite done
enough to retrive the ball again.
"It's been a crazy season for me," said Shorbagy. "I was
telling my mother and my brother that I didn't know how I was going to
keep up with what I did last season but I've won five titles already so
this is a dream for me. I have been able to back things up mentally and I
am proud of that.
"But I want to say that Ramy is a great person and a great
player. He has achieved so much for our sport, both on and off the
court. I really hope that he can be healthy because our matches are just
something different and we have such a great rivalry."
That may yet come about in future, though this is in fact
the first time that Shorbagy has beaten Ashour in a best of five games
match on the PSA World Tour.
Ashour did not, as he might have, make an excuse of his limited
physical abilities, caused by contesting 19 games in his previous four
matches. "I should have prepared mentally better than I did today," he
claimed. "On this tour you always play extremely tough matches from
start to finish."
The women's final by contrast, was full of action and
uncertainty. In the deciding game Sherbini was warned for a collision
early on, and then frustrated by a controversial "no let" decision which
helped Gohar to reduce a three-point deficit to one at 6-7.
It was still one point, at 7-8, when Sherbini pointed out
that for the second time in the tournament Gohar's badly cut knee had
started bleeding again.
She was obliged to leave the court to have it bandaged,
bringing a nine-minute delay. On resumption Sherbini produced a
brilliant forehand counter-hit and then two more heavy, accurate
forehand drives to close out the match.
"I am very sad," Gohar said, just managing to hold back the
tears while still on court. "I was so close. It was my first final and I
didn't quite have the experience to win it."
"It's really weird to hear that I am champion," said
Sherbini, who played in the 2012 final but is still only 20. "I'm very
proud be the first Egyptian (woman) to win. It's a huge thing and
hopefully other Egyptians will make us proud."
- AFP/de
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