Ramy Ashour, the only Egyptian left in the US open semis will face powerful Nick Matthew, who eliminated title holder Amr Shabana, while Raneem El-Weleily represents the Pharaohs in the women's semis
World’s No. 4, Ramy Ashour has qualified to the Semifinal of the 2012 Delaware Investments US Open, taking place in Philadelphia, after eliminating No. 6, Englishman Peter Barker 3-2 on Wednesday.
The-25-year-old needed 75 minutes to finish Barker in the final round, after losing the first and fourth, with scores 10-12, 11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 13-11.
“You try to go for nicks but sometimes it doesn’t work so you have to revert to a basic game,” Ashour was quoted as saying after the game on the tournament’s official website.
“I’m really proud of how I managed to win that. He played so well, but at times it looked as though there was something wrong with him; I think he was trying to fool me, and it broke my concentration, but to win such a match gives me a lot of confidence.
“I just didn’t want to go home, that’s the thing,” added Ramy.
Going home for Ashour would have meant that the Pharaohs, who dominated the last three editions of the tournament, wouldn’t have appeared in the semifinal as Ashour’s three compatriots made it to the quarterfinals eliminated.
Eighth-seeded Mohamed El-Shorbagy was hit by a 2-3 defeat by Englishman James Willstrop, the world No. 1, while fifth-seeded Karim Darwish was defeated 1-3 by No. 3 Gregory Gaultier of France before the title holder Amr Shabana, world’s seventh was troubled by 2-3 loss against the second seeded Englishman Nick Matthew.
Egypt is eyeing a fourth consecutive US Open triumph in 2012 competing for a share of the $115,000 prize, as Wael El-Hindi clinched the 2010 trophy while Shabana won in 2009 and 2011,
El-Weleily needs to ‘clear her head’ before facing Massaro ##
In the women’s competition of the Open, Egyptian Raneem El-Weleily, the world’s No.2 player and the youngest player to ever reach the finals of the British Open, defeated Kasey Brown of Australia 3-1 (11-8, 11-13, 12-10, 11-9) in 47 minutes to carry the Egyptian flag into the semifinal.
“I could so easily have won or lost all of those games. She [Brown] was playing well but I never think about what my opponent is doing, it’s always in my head and I sometimes think I’m fighting myself,” explained El-Weleily.
She added “It’s great to be in the semifinal, but now I need to clear my head and make sure I’m more consistent in the next match and not give away leads like I did tonight,” El-Weleily .
El-Weleily will be competing Thursday against Laura Massaro of England who smashed Madeline Perry of Australia 3-0 in 44 minutes.
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