By Armstrong Vas
Doha: Defending champion Nick Matthew of England remained in the hunt for a record-breaking fourth world title as he cruised into the semi-finals of the PSA World Championship 2014 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex here yesterday.
World number two Gregory Gaultier of France and the Egyptian duo of two-time winner Ramy Ashour and world number one Mohamed El Shorbagy also advanced into the last four.
In today’s semi-finals, top seed Gaultier will take on fourth seed Ashour while three-time winner Matthew will face El Shorbagy.
Yesterday, there were no surprise winners as all the top four seeds advanced.
The match between Matthew, 34, and Shabana, 35, was expected to provide a few fireworks but it turned out to be a one-sided affair.
With seven world titles between them, and having met four times earlier in a world championship, the expectations were high.
The Englishman, however, showed he had a lot more steam left in him as he raced to a straight-game 11-3, 12-10, 11-7 win over the four-time champion —extending his win ratio to 18-13 over Shabana.
Matthew eased through the first with Shabana making too many mistakes and built a lead in the second which Shabana closed down and took a marginal lead towards the end of the game.
The Englishman took it on extra points, though, and always had the slight edge in the third as the Egyptian again suffered from unforced errors.
Matthew’s quest for a fourth title will face a severe test today when he takes on El Shorbagy. The 23-year-old from Alexandria, but now based in Bristol, breezed past unseeded Stephen Coppinger of South Africa 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 in the last quarter-final of the day.
Meanwhile, Gaultier, runner-up four times, hit form from the start against unseeded Cameron Pilley of Australia.
The 31-year-old was in control of the match from the outset against Pilley, one of the two unseeded player in the last eight.
The world number 20 could not continue with Gaultier’s impressive and dominant display and went down 11-3, 11-4, 11-5.
“Every day is a mission, I was well prepared. I knew that he played very well this week, he had created a few upsets. He did a great tournament and even if he did not win, it’s his first quarters of the worlds and I would like to congratulate him,” Gaultier said.
The current US Open champion said he was relaxed and improving after every encounter in Qatar.
“I have the feeling this week that every day, some extra is coming to my game. I am trying to only enjoy the moment, and not to put any extra pressure on myself. The lower-ranked players have nothing to fear, nothing to lose. They move freely, whereas the top guys, we are playing with fear on our shoulders. So I’m happy to get through, and I enjoyed my match,” he said after extending the head-to-head record against the Australian to 9-1.
The Aix-en-Provence man disclosed that some of his friends were here to provide vocal support for his world championship title pursuit.
“I have a wonderful team here with me, plus a few friends from my hometown surprised me yesterday and I didn’t know they were coming. So I’m certainly going to try and not disappoint them and will give more than 100 percent for sure,” he said.
Pilley said Gaultier played better squash and the difference was clearly visible on court.
“Greg was just too sharp today. I tried to play as freely as possible because I didn’t expect to arrive that far but he didn’t let me. He never gave me a chance and when he did, well, I forced it because it was so rare.
“Today, his movement was unbelievable, he surprised me with the pickups he got in my three previous matches, and they were winners. It was definitely a step up, which should be expected, as it’s the quarters of the worlds,” he added.
The Frenchman will face Ashour who completed a remarkable comeback in the second match to deny Spain’s Borja Golan.
Golan took the first two games but made a number of unforced errors in the third, which brought the Egyptian — roared on by the crowd — back into the match.
After that there was no stopping Ashour, who truly found his range in the last two games, winning it 9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6. THE PENINSULA
