Squash |Mohamed Elshorbagy made a remarkable double recovery, reviving hopes of keeping both the world number one ranking and the British Open title after recovering to reach the semi-finals on Friday.
The top-seeded titleholder from Alexandria was within two points of defeat against Ali Farag, one of his fiercest compatriot rivals, at 5-9 in the fourth game of a contentious encounter.But despite suffering a cut eye, a bout of rage, and a stern warning from the referee, Elshorbagy struggled his way to a 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-5 win.
Farag had beaten Elshorbagy in an another controversial encounter in front of the Giza pyramids six months ago, and again moved brilliantly, dropping the ball in short with great accuracy, and using his tactical subtlety to deny his formidable opponent chances to attack.
But the crucial last two points kept receding from him. “At 5-9 I thought I was going down and I looked at my mother,” said Elshorbagy. “And when I saw her it was like ‘don’t go down like this.’ So I just fought.”He also retrieved diligently, contained Farag’s front court threat better, and began to attack more effectively once he got into the fifth game. AFP