ISM June18-web

EL GOUNA INTERNATIONAL
MARWANELSHORBAGY&RANEEMELWELILY
CLAIMELGOUNAINTERNATIONALTITLES
Marwan ElShorbagy and Raneem El Welily were crowned champions
at the 2018 El Gouna International with respective victories over Ali
Farag and Nour El Sherbini in contrasting all-Egyptian finals at the PSA
World Series tournament held in El Gouna’s marina.
World Champion El Welily came back
from a game down to defeat the World
No.1 as the Alexandria-born 29-yearold
played some spellbinding squash to
take a 2-1 lead. However, the mercurial
Egyptian required five match balls to
eventually overcome her determined
compatriot with El Sherbini fighting back
to force a tie-break. A crucial tin from the
younger Egyptian handed the initiative
back to El Welily who was eventually
able to convert and claim the title with a
memorable 5-11 11-8 11-3 14-12 victory.
“What a match that was, Nour played
fantastic and was fighting back all the
way to the end,” said El Welily. “Even at
10-5 down at the end she wasn’t letting
go all the way to 11-10. I still can’t believe
that, last time it happened I lost that
match so I’m very happy that I managed
to win it at the end.”
Marwan ElShorbagy claimed the first
World Series title of his career after
he overwhelmed Farag to complete a
comfortable 39-minute victory.
The 24-year-old had won three of their
preceding five matches on the PSA
World Tour, with all their previous
meetings coming in semi-finals,
including last year’s AJ Bell PSA World
Championships in Manchester where
ElShorbagy came through a dramatic
five-game, 75-minute thriller.
But ElShorbagy was rarely troubled
by an out-of-sorts Farag, playing an
impeccable match and outclassing
his compatriot to take an 11-8 11-5 11-4
victory to win a World Series final at
the third attempt, and join his brother
Mohamed among the list of previous El
Gouna International winners.
“To win my first ever World Series title
here in Egypt means a lot to me,” said
ElShorbagy. “Especially to win it here at
home means the world. I’m so happy, I’m
over the moon and I can’t even describe
how I feel.
“I’ve lost a few major finals before, but
coming into this one I just had to learn
from the losses I had and I had to be
more relaxed and more focused. Me and
my coach put a good game plan together
before the match.”
2018 El Gouna International
Men’s Final:
[4] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) bt
[3] Ali Farag (EGY)
3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-4
Women’s Final:
[2] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
3-1: 5-11, 11-8, 11-3, 14-12
INTERNATIONALSQUASHMAGAZINE June 2018 | 13
www.isportgroup.com/InternationalSquashMagazine