Dubai World No 1 Nour El Shebrini says she is happy to stick with her ‘one match at a time’ philosophy regardless of qualifying for the semifinals of the PSA Dubai World Series Finals at the Burj Park’s indoor arena on Thursday.
Needing a win against Frenchwoman Camille Serme in his third and final Group B match yesterday and El Sherbini was at her clinical best in securing a 11-4, 11-6 victory against the world No 4 in just 20 minutes.
“It is a big relief to qualify because I really needed to win this match so I needed to focus from the beginning,” said El Sherbini, who is pursuing a degree in media management.
“After the whole season to come here and lose was something I definitely did not want to do – I knew I had to be really focused and give it everything and I’m happy that I played well.”
However, El Sherbrini insists that winning the title was not playing on her mind.
“My aim was just to qualify and see what happens next,” she said. “I’m playing much better than I did in the first match. I’m a lot more relaxed on court and not thinking too much about the outcome.
“I’m just trying to think point by point, match by match. Let’s see what happens tomorrow (Friday) and then think of the final,” El Sherbini added.
“The four of us (semifinalists) are all strong players and there are no easy matches so we will just see what happens now,”
Joining her in the knockout stage was compatriot Raneem El Welily who completed a clean sweep of her pool games in Group B with straightforward 15-13, 11-9 victory over Omneya Abdel Kawy.
Meanwhile, Cameron Pilley, famed for the hardest record squash shot of 177 mph, became the first Australian since David Palmer in 2008 to reach the last four stage of the men’s event after defeating Germany’s Simon Rösner 11-2, 11-7 in 38 minutes.
“It’s an understatement to say I’m feeling pretty good – considering that I just scraped in to get here and it’s my first World Series Finals, I am over the moon to reach the semis,” said Pilley, the worldNo 13
“I felt a little flat yesterday but Greg was as sharp as I have ever seen him and I think that helped me and gave me a wake -up call and made me realise you can’t cruise in this tournament. I changed a few things in my game and training last year and I feel like I’m playing the best squash of my career. I’m still keen, which is a big thing when you’ve been on tour as much as me, so I’m just looking forward to enjoying the match tomorrow.”
Frenchman Gregory Gaultier made it three from three with come-from-behind 7-11, 11-6, 11-1 win over 6”3’ tall Omar Mosaad, the Egyptian world No 4.
“He surprised me at the start as he was striking the ball well and covering the court much better than his first two matches. In the second I told myself I had to push myself because last time in this tournament the same thing happened. I didn’t push myself in the last pool game and wasn’t sharp in the semi-finals so I pushed myself and tried to give it 100 per cent and not give away an easy match in the end” said Gaultier.
The semi-finals will commence at 7pm on Friday, with the finals played at 7pm on Saturday.
Results
Men
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) beat [4] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 7-11, 11-8, 11-1.
[8] Cameron Pilley (AUS) beat [6] Simon Rösner (GER) 11-2, 11-7
Women
[1] Laura Massaro (ENG) beat [8] Amanda Sobhy (USA) 13-11, 11-9
[2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) beat [7] Camille Serme (FRA) 11-4, 11-6
[4] Raneem El Welily (EGY) beat [6] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) 15-13, 11-9