[4] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG) bt Declan James (ENG) 11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 11-8 (68m)
World No.8 Mohamed ElShorbagy advanced to the 2025 Optasia Championships quarter-finals after coming through a brilliant four-game battle with compatriot Declan James in Wimbledon.
In a match which left the packed house at the Wimbledon Club on the edge of their seats from the first to last point, it was ElShorbagy who eventually managed to take the win after 68 minutes by an 11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 11-8 scoreline.
Throughout the match, the two players went toe-to-toe, playing to an extremely high quality and pushing each other to their physical capabilities. Narrow margins separated the two in the opening game, which ElShorbagy nicked 11-9, before World No.25 James grew in the ascendancy to draw level.
The 19-minute third game that followed was of the highest quality, with both players having to dig deep into their reserves as the tempo increased to yet another level. ElShorbagy fell 9-7 down, but drew on all his years of experience to take four straight points and move to within a game of victory.
After the morale-boosting nature of the third-game victory, ElShorbagy returned to court with an aggressive mindset, stepping up on the ’T’ and volleying whenever possible. ‘The Beast’ blitzed his way into an early lead and managed to hold off a late charge from his compatriot to advance to the quarter-finals.
🎙️ "OH MY WORD" 😱
Simply incredible from @declanjames1 – the retrievals, the dive and the recoveries 👏 👏#OptasiaChampionships pic.twitter.com/M05UZVlUFW
— PSA Squash Tour (@PSASquashTour) March 27, 2025
Declan
Nothing you can do about the court conditions, it’s the same for both of us, there are a lot of stoppages, it is what it is, you’ve got to deal with that, and I’m not going to use that as any kind of an excuse.
I was up 9/7 in the 3rd, I didn’t play badly, he played very severely those 4 points, he stepped up and volleyed, he was a little bit more intense at the end of that third game, and that’s a lesson for me going back now, at the end of the game, to be more severe.
I don’t have any regrets about the game, I’ve played a lot of matches now since I came back, I’ve been playing at a good level, playing those top ten guys, I am still to beat one of them since I came back, so that’s the next step, that’s a good experience again today.
I’m disappointed I couldn’t convert my chance in the third, but it’s positive for me, I’m not going to have any regrets about the way I played, I could have won the first as well, really. So it could be a different story in that instance. I’m happy with the way I played, if I can play and keep playing at that level, and improving and being more solid. Very important, I didn’t let the 4th game go quickly, I stayed until the end physically, and started to come back at him, and it was very important: in the early part of my career, there would have been a drop off at that point in the 4th, so it’s positive I was there all the way to the end…
Mo
“It feels like home here, to be playing on this court. I’m really happy to get through my first round.
“I think Declan’s journey is very inspirational, he had his Achilles injury a year and half ago, he’s coming back to his best level, if not better. He had his Achilles injury at a tough time in his career, and a lot of players would have stopped playing at that point.
“He was 9-7 up in the third game, and it was really tough at that time. It would have been really tough mentally if he had gone 2-1 up on that court. It was really hard to get any kind of momentum to be honest. Every time I played a nice rally we then had to stop for the floor.
“Some people would use floor cleaning as part of tactics, but luckily we had a referee today who realised that we had a court that could be dangerous for both players. We all agreed that we needed the court wiping so we keep it safe, so thank you to the referee for understanding that.
“Thanks a lot to everyone for coming to watch us here. We’re playing in Poland next month for the European Championships and me and Declan will be there next month on the team together. And with me brother [Marwan ElShorbagy], Curtis [Malik] and Jonah [Bryant].
“We have a lot of great people in our sport, like Bassim [Haidar] here today. Without people like him, the event wouldn’t have happened. He has supported me and my brother for the last 12/13 years, not just that, but we had a long time without any big league matches in England, and he came and I know that Joey [Barrington] was working behind the scenes to get the league going again in England, but Bassim also supported it. It’s great for everyone in England involved, but thank you. It’s out of real love for you.
