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Victor Bolorunduro
Doha
The batttle for the 2017 Qatar Classic finale will be an all-Egyptian final after Mohamed ElShorbagy and Tarek Momen emerged the last-men standing at the end of the semi-final game at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha on Thursday.
While ElShorbagy overcame world No. 1 Gregory Gaultier in straight games in a repeat of their 2015 final in Doha, it took just 40 minutes for to book his place in his first ever World Series final after getting the better of 'giant slayer' Simon Rosner of Germany , who defeated the defending champion Karim Abdel Gawad in the second round, 30 (11/9, 11/5, 11/7.
With his semi-final victory, two-time winner and last year's finalist ElShorbagy, who is in pole position to make history as the first three-time champion in Doha, has now reached a remarkable fourth Qatar Classic final in a row.
The 26-year-old world No.3 won 3:0 14/12, 11/9, 11/1 in 55 minutes to end the Frenchman's 30-match unbeaten run over a best-of-five games format to set up the final clash.
Encounters between the two squash greats have always been keenly contested with Gaultier having an 11-9 edge in their last 20 fixtures, with the icing on the cake being the classic semi-final clash at this year's JP Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York which went the way of the Frenchman after five long games.
Playing against the top-most player in the world was expected to be gruelling, particularly if the opponent was playing less than 24 hours after surviving a 93 minutes match against one of the fiercest player in the world. But for ElShorbagy, any sign of fatigue was quickly dispelled during the first game as the Egyptian attacked Gaultier with relentless intensity to the bewilderment of his opponent.
Gaultier's highlight of the game was overturning two game balls and holding a game ball of his own during the tiebreak in the first game.
The little resistance was not enough from the 34-year-old Frenchman, a three-time finalists and 2011 champion, as ElShorbagy came back at him to seal a one-game advantage at the third attempt. ElShorbagy came out firing in game two, moving ahead to a 3-0 lead, only to see Gaultier push the Bristol-based Egyptian hard, before a simple tin at game ball down from Gaultier handed ElShorbagy the second game.
From thereon, the Egyptian dominated to snatch the third game in an amazing 11/1.
Speaking after the clash, ElShorbagy said,"I'm really happy to be back in the final here, it's where I won my first ever World Series and to be back in my fourth consecutive final is an honour."
He added that the last season was tough and that he has overcome a lot of challenges if he wants to come back to his World No.1 position again.
For Momen and Rosner, the sixth encounter between the pair ensured that their head-to-head record is even with the latest victory from the Egyptian.
The German offered some resistance in the first game before Momen took it 11-9.
The Egyptian continued to pile pressure on the German No.1 as he made a number of unforced errors which Momen did not hesitate to take advantage of with his accurate shot selection and quick movement on court to double his lead and then cruise to a remarkable win from there.
"I was on court and I didn't think I would get this emotional. I have been waiting for this moment for so long but I'm not done here so I don't know why I'm crying it's not over!
"I'm really happy, I can't believe I'm in my first World Series final it's amazing. I've been doubting myself a lot the past few years but I always thought that I shouldn't be written off and I thought I always had the qualities to be here," said the 29-year-old Momen after the match.
