SF: Paul 3-2 Mohamed

[2] Paul Coll (NZL) 3-0 [4] Mohamed Elshorbagy (ENG)Β  9-11, 9-11, 11-3, 12-10, 11-8 (82m)

My players will never, ever, EVAH stop astonishing me. Me and the rest of the crowd/SquashTV viewers that must have gone whooooooo, and awhhhhhhhhh, a few times during that match.

Today, I saw Mohamed diving. When was the last time that happened??? 15 years ago? God bless him.

First dive for Mohamed :

In front of his crowd, in front of his parents, in front of his sponsor Bassim Haidar, who has done so much for the Bagies Brothers in particular and for Squash in the UK in general, and who is one of most vivid unconditional supporters of the Brothers.

“Mohamed” he went at the end of the 4th, talking to himself, “please win that 4th, I cannot take the stress of another game”. And he really meant it. Like Basma, Mohamed’s mum, he plays the match with him, worries when he is unwell on court. For both Mohamed and Marwan. Sitting next to them during a match is an experience. It’s what makes squash such a special world.

Well, it started very well for the Shorbagy camp, when Mohamed took the first and second game 11/9 in 14m each, even if Paul came back from 9/4 to 9/9, forcing the English to dig in pretty deep to close that game.

When he returned to court, Mohamed seemed a bit uncomfortable; his back and left calf were bothering him. Paul quickly zoomed to 7/2. Mohamed asked for 3 minutes of self-inflicted injury time. Sitting in the front row, the English physio was quick on Mohamed’s back, turning down Derek Ryan’s help – PSA physio. Paul closed down that game in 6m (9m official time), 11/3.

That fourth is a classic. Mohamed is playing with his brain, and pushing Paul to the four corners, again and again, varying the pace, the height, the angles, mixing deep drives with quick attacking boasts. Paul’s legs had to be burning.

And the English takes a slight advantage, 8/6, 9/7, supported by the crowd, it’s a superb atmosphere. At that point, we have one of Paul’s “and that’s why they call me Superman” exhibition, diving not once, but twice, plus a lounge from hell, God bless him.

Double dive from Paul :

 

That game alone was 22m. And to be honest, Mohamed desperately needed to win that 4th, but it went 12/10 to Paul on his second game ball.

What we didn’t realise – although we should be used to it by now – was that even flat as a French pancake on Pancake Day (Chandeleur in French), Mohamed was still able to move Paul all around the court in the 5th. I KID YOU NOT. Paul had to dig in so much, it was surreal to see how clever, how patient, how incredibly intelligent Mohamed was – using his brain much more now than when he was much younger.

Down 7/3, he managed to claw back to 8/7, 5 points in a row. His camp started believing in the miracle, while Paul’s support three boys were pushing on the other side!

But the miracle didn’t happen as at 10/8, match ball, Mohamed asked for a let, and the video ref decided after a few long seconds that it wasn’t to be.

Harsh? Probably, but I’m not sure that Bassim’s heart would have been able to take much more….

Mohamed :Β I thought it was a very high quality match, I mean, he is such a champ to come back from 2/0 down, with all the travelling he did, and even coming back with my brother yesterday. He is a champion, you know what to expect from Paul. You know he is going to fight.

“Even if I was 6/0, 8/2 up, he put so much work into me at the end of the second game, to be honest. It was like an investment for him, whether he was whether he was going to love that game or not, it was an investment for the rest of the match.

I was perfectly aware of it, but I still fell into the mistake of trying to rush it instead of trying to do the same thing. I think that’s really the big mistake I did in that match, that end of the second, that took so much out of me, for no reason to be honest.

Other than that, I thought it was a very fair battle, quality, awful, awful decision at the end [the last point ended with a no let]. We played a very, very long match, let the players finish the match.

There was no need for that decision, as all the decisions were pretty much good, not to mention there were very few decisions! We were both going around each other, it was really very fluid, and I wouldn’t have fallen on the ground like that for no reason. It’s a disappointment to have to finish the match like that, if I’m honest with you.

Paul and I are the “old generation” now, we are too experienced players, we are both enjoying the match. You know, at the end of the day, these days, when I am able to compete at that level, I LOVE being part of those matches. I really want to win, but I don’t need to win. I won everything. So being part of a match like that, like with Ali at the ToC, with Paul here, showing that I can still compete and play at that level is great.

I would have loved obviously to get to the final in front of Bassim, Optasia main sponsor. But you know what I was really proud of? After I lost that tough 4th, I was exhausted in the 5th game, I pushed. I just kept pushing, I came back to 8/7 up.

He played the end of the games much better than I did in the 4th and 5th. He deserves to win.

It’s going to be a great final tomorrow, a big match for Asal, of course, for him to go to number one. And I hope for the event and the tournament, they have a great match, but I think that Asal is going to be very hard to beat tomorrow…

Paul :Β β€œIt was a match that I had to work my way into. It probably wasn’t my smoothest match, but I think at the back end of the second, I really found something that was missing in those last two days. Hopefully I can take that groove through to tomorrow and start quickly tomorrow.

β€œI love playing in London and the UK and I think I have had some of my best results here. I put that down to the crowd. The general English public know how to support any sport and it’s just a pleasure to be playing here.

β€œI can’t stop it. When I get in the zone and I need to get every ball back, that dive just come out. I’m proud of my fight today and like I said I felt I played well in the last three games, but when Mohamed gets a sniff he can just be so hard to play against.

β€œThat’s when he is at his most dangerous. I wish I snuck that second, but credit to him for still playing that well.”

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