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This is turning out to be a tournament of upsets. After the big fall of second seed James Willstrop on Tuesday, yesterday was the turn of defending Qatar Classic champion and top seed Gregory Gaultier to make his exit. |
Frenchman Gaultier, ranked second in the world, went down to Borja Golan of Spain in four bitterly-fought games (11-7, 10-12, 6-11, 13-15) in the quarter-final round of the Qatar Classic, being played at the Khalifa Tennis & Squash Complex here. It was the seventh-seeded Golan’s first win over Gaultier in six attempts.
The playing styles of Golan and Gaultier are vastly different. While volleying from the back is Gaultier’s strength, Golan prefers the mixing game, varying the pace and waiting for his opportunity. It worked perfectly against Gaultier yesterday. The more the French world No. 2 attacked, Golan tried even harder to slow down the pace. It seemed to irritate Gaultier, and as errors began creeping in, Golan gradually started asserting his dominance.
Gaultier won the first game, but errors at crucial moments cost him the second game tie-breaker. Golan stayed calm but Gaultier began losing his cool frequently. The referee had a busy time as bumps and collisions increased and appeals became more frequent. After Golan took the third game rather easily, it was an all-out war in the fourth. Both players kept appealing at the end of virtually every rally, verbal jousts happened on the court too, but the calmer of the two prevailed in the end.
So livid was Gaultier that he even forgot sportsmanship, and refused to shake hands with Golan after the latter won the ill-tempered fourth game tie-breaker 15-13 to create the biggest upset of the meet.
“You have to be tough inside the court,” said the delighted Spaniard later. “Greg is such a great player that even if I play my best I would probably lose, so I have to play every point like it was the last one, and I think I played pretty well today.”
Earlier, Egypt’s Mohamed Elshorbagy was the first to make the semi-finals when he saw off giant-slayer Daryl Selby of England 3-1 in the opening match of the day. The up-and-coming 23-year-old from Alexandria began nervously, but came into his own as the match progressed.
After scraping through the first game 11-9, he dropped the second (7-11) as errors kept multiplying against Selby’s relentless pace. But he was back to his steady self soon after and sped through the next two games in quick time (11-4, 11-2).
Selby, who had stunned world No. 3 countrymate Willstrop in a 90-minute marathon on Tuesday evening, looked a little tired and flat, particularly in the later part of the match and the agile Elshorbagy took full advantage of that.
“I knew he was full of confidence after that win over James, and I also knew he would be a little tired, physically and mentally, after that sapping match. I just played a waiting game and allowed him to play him at his pace,” Elshorbagy said.
“Yes, I made too many errors in the first two games but that was mainly because I was trying to slow down the pace. When you are tired, and somebody forces you to slow down, you feel even more tired! I think I beat him at his own pace. I never tried to impose my game, rather I beat him at his own game. But he’s been a big inspiration… to play the kind of game he plays at his age (31) is something amazing,” the world No. 6 Egyptian, who stays and trains in England, added.
Karim Abdel Gawad, who too had to overcome an energy-sapping 82-minute duel against fellow Egyptian Tarek Momen on Tuesday, failed to reproduce the magic against world No. 5 compatriot Karim Darwish, going down in straight games (6-11, 5-11, 7-11) in just 32 minutes.
The last quarter-final clash of the day ended in an anti-climax when Egypt’s Amr Shabana retired with a knee injury while trailing 10-12, 2-2 against Nick Matthew. The Englishman will take on Spain’s Golan in today’s semifinal, with the other last-four clash pitting Elshorbagy against fellow Egyptian Darwish.
Results (Quarter-finals): 5-Mohamed Elshorbagy (Egypt) bt 13-Daryl Selby (England) 3-1 (11-9, 7-11, 11-4, 11-2); 7-Borja Golan (Spain) bt 1-Gregory Gaultier (France) 4-1 (7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 15-13); 4-Karim Darwish (Egypt) bt 20-Karim Abdel Gawad (Egypt) 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-7); 3-Nick Matthew (England) bt 6-Amr Shabana (Egypt) 12-10, 2-2 (retd)
Semi-final Line-Up: 5-Mohamed Elshorbagy (Egypt) vs 4-Karim Darwish (Egypt); 7-Borja Golan (Spain) vs 3-Nick Matthew (England)