England are through to the final of the WSF World Squash Team Championships after masterclass performances from the ElShorbagy brothers gave the five-times champion a 2-0 win over Switzerland on the outdoor glass court at Hong Kong Football Club.
England No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy has had an uneven start to his week at Hong Kong Football Club, with wins over David Baillargeon and Alex Lau either side of a chastening defeat to Iker Pajares earlier in the competition.
Today, he came up against Dimitri Steinmann, who defeated ElShorbagy comprehensively at last week’s Hong Kong Open.
To the delight of the watching England bench, ElShorbagy was at his devastating best, blasting his way into a 2-0 lead with brutal 11-2 and 11-4 wins, with Steinmann unable to keep up with ElShorbagy’s aggression.
Steinmann upped the tempo in game three as he battled to rescue the situation and found a foothold in the match with an 11-3 win, but ElShorbagy kept calm to see out the match with an 11-4 win in game four.
ElShorbagy said: “We played just last week in Hong Kong, and Dimitri is a quality player, so it was nice to get a little bit of revenge. But this week is about playing for your country and playing for your teammates, your coaching staff and everybody back home. It’s great to get another win.
“At the start of the week I was struggling a bit with my form. Individually, I was struggling, but my teammates were not and they carried me through. After my match with Spain, my team spoke with me and we got things in order again, so it’s good to win tonight against Dimitri.”
In the second match, Mohamed’s younger brother Marwan produced a perfect performance as the World No.11 saw off World No.23 Nicolas Mueller in straight games.
The opening games were close, but ElShorbagy looked to be in control throughout, playing the cold court conditions excellently to take the opening pair of games 11-9, 11-9.
After two competitive opening games, Mueller fell away in game three, with ElShorbagy closing out 11-5 to put England into the final for the sixth time in a row.
England will play Egypt in the final after the defending champions beat France 2-0.
Afterwards, Marwan ElShorbagy said: “It feels good, very good. We’re very happy. It’s been a very challenging week, but the team have done very well. We’ll look forward to the match tomorrow.
“Egypt are the defending champions, they have the best players in the world, to be honest. The pressure is on them to win the final, and I’m just going to enjoy being in the final with them.”
The finals take place tomorrow, 15 December, at Hong Kong Football Club. Play begins at 17:30 (GMT+8) with the women’s final, followed by the men’s final.
Watch the action live and free on WORLDSQUASH.TV and partner channels, including the Olympic Channel and HOY TV.
Result: 2024 WSF World Squash Team Championship – Men’s Semi-Final
[2] England 2-0 [4] Switzerland
Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 3-1: 11-2, 11-4, 3-11, 11-4 (34m)
Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 3-0: 11-9, 11-9, 11-5 (22m)
Curtis Malik (ENG) w/d Yannick Wilhelmi
Click here to view results for the 2024 WSF World Squash Team Championships.
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