FOOTBALL | Page 3 NBA | Page 5 Resurgent Kuzma clicks Dutch on cusp as James’ of Euro 2020 LA Lakers qualifi cation eclipse Suns Thursday, November 14, 2019 TENNIS Rabia I 17, 1441 AH Nadal storms back GULF TIMES to keep ATP Finals title hopes alive SPORT Page 4 WORLD SQUASH Sorry, bro — Marwan stuns Mohamed to enter semis ‘Any win against my brother is always special. He is one of the best players to have ever played the game...’ By Mikhil Bhat “You want to win the title when you Doha get this far and it has to be my aim now. You don’t want to lose just before the fi nish of the tournament, so I’m defi - fter three PSA Men’s World nitely up for the next match no mat- Squash Championships ter who I’m playing tomorrow and I’m quarter-fi nals were decid- looking forward to that one.” ed in three games each, the Rosner will be up against Egyptian AElShorbagy brothers put up a fi ve- world number three Tarek Momen, who game show, which ended in a fran- has had a number on the German this tic fashion, as younger sibling Mar- year having won all three of their games, wan won only the fourth time against including the US Open quarterfi nal last former world champion and world month. The two have also met in the number two Mohamed. 2017 Qatar Classic semi-fi nal, when At the Khalifa International Ten- Momen won in straight games for a spot nis and Squash Complex yesterday, in the fi nal against compatriot Moham- Marwan, who had last beaten his elder ed ElShorbagy. brother in a Platinum event in Egypt Yesterday, Momen only took 37 min- last year, opened well by taking the fi rst utes to dispatch world number seven game 11-6. But that seemed to have Marwan ElShorbagy (R) in action against Diego Elias in straight games, the Egyp- woken up the ‘Beast of Alexandria’ and elder brother Mohamed during their last-8 tian’s seventh victory over the Peruvian he decimated the world number 10 11-2 clash yesterday. At bottom, action from the in eight matches. to restore parity. match between Simon Rosner and James “I know that Diego has been into a Marwan managed to hold his own in Willstrop. PICTURES: Jayan Orma few semifi nals before but maybe the the third yet again, going 2-1 up, but an World Championship is a little bit dif- experienced Mohamed, the 2017 world ferent. He has the experience of making champion, bounced back this time too it to the latter rounds, but maybe the and snatched the fourth 11-3 in fi ve good start that I had made the diff er- minutes. ence,” Momen said after the 3-0 (11-6, A very physical fi fth game saw the 13-11, 11-6) win. pace and intensity go up as the referee “He came back really strong in the was handed a few tricky decisions to be second game and it was very close. If made. But an 8-3 lead helped Marwan he had snatched that second game, keep up the pressure, and even though his epic two-hour battle against world “I’ve got to put that behind me now, then I don’t think he would have been Mohamed snatched a few points there- number 15 Omar Mosaad on Tues- even though I’m very happy to be in the fazed by the occasion. I managed to get after, the margin was too much to beat day, with a relatively straightforward semi-fi nals, I don’t want to stop there. a good start which helped a lot towards at the end of it all. 47-minute encounter against another “I just wanted to dominate today. the end.” Talking about his semifi - “Any win against my brother is al- Egyptian, Zahed Salem, yesterday. Yesterday (against Mosaad) I felt like nal against Rosner, he said, “I am re- ways special. He is one of the best play- “Paul has been doing so amazing this I got a bit dominated and my natu- ally looking forward to playing Simon ers to have ever played the game, so to season, and I have so much respect for ral game was taken away from me, so I again, and I am hoping for another win win against him in the biggest tourna- what he has achieved. He is going to do wanted to step up today and really take to make it to another fi nal at the World ment of the season, means a lot to me,” everything to win the World Champi- the game to Zahed.” Championships. It would be unbeliev- the 26-year-old said after the win. onships,” Marwan said. German fi fth seed Simon Rosner was able for me to make two fi nals in a row “It was a tough match. I felt that After his win over Mosaad, the New the fi rst to reach the semifi nals after he at the Worlds, so I am really looking for- every time I was playing him this sea- Zealander was asked if his body would beat former world number one James ward to it.” son, I was getting closer and closer. He hold up for the quarterfi nals after the Willstrop of England in 46 minutes. is the most experienced player in the mammoth slugfest that was his third Rosner, who had made it to the last draw. What he did in the second and round match, and world number fi ve four at the previous edition last year RESULTS (Quarterfinals) the fourth game, I had nothing to do. had been positive about it. in the US too, survived some gritty 4-Paul Coll (NZL) bt 14-Zahed Salem He was just too clever,” Marwan, who Yesterday, he proved it by going past strokeplay by Willstrop in a 25-minute (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-6 (47m) had lost to his elder brother in the 2017 Salem 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-6). fi rst game, eventually going 1-0 up after 5-Simon Rösner (GER) bt James Will- World Championships fi nal, admitted. In the process, Coll became the fi rst making good use of the fi fth game ball at strop (ENG) 3-0: 14-12, 11-6, 11-3 (46m) “It’s all mental, whenever you are New Zealander since Ross Norman in 14-12. The second and third games were 2-Tarek Momen (EGY) bt 6-Diego Elias playing against my brother. He chang- 1988 to reach the semi-fi nals of the pretty much one-way traffi c as Will- (PER) 3-0: 11-6, 13-11, 11-6 (36m) es his game like ten times during the World Championships. To put that in strop lost to the world number six for 9-Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) bt 1-Mo- match. It is just about how you adapt context, that was roughly four years be- the fourth time in the last fi ve matches, hamed ElShorbagy (EGY) 3-2: 11-6, 2-11, and respond to it. He has played against fore Coll was even born. despite holding a 13-4 head-to-head 11-6, 3-11, 11-8 (59m) so many (diff erent) generations (of “I’m very happy to be in the semifi - advantage overall. players). nals of a World Championships, it was “I knew if I could win that fi rst game, Today’s schedule (Semifinals) “I am happy to win, but it is not over something that was a minimum goal keep the intensity up and play fast 5pm: 2-Tarek Momen (EGY) vs 5-Simon yet.” going into the tournament,” said Coll, squash then I would be able to push Rosner (GER) Awaiting Marwan in today’s semifi - the top-ranked non-Egyptian, after the through and that’s exactly what hap- F/O: 4-Paul Coll (NZL) vs 9-Marwan nal will be Paul Coll, who followed up win. pened,” Rosner said after the win. ElShorbagy (EGY) BOTTOMLINE Indian wrestler Ritu Phogat ready for tilt at Mixed Martial Arts world title Reuters fying for the Olympics. which is based on the family’s story, sports business, told The Hindu news- New Delhi “It never crossed my mind,” she told became the highest-grossing Indian paper in March. Reuters by telephone from Singapore movie ever made. Before they were Phogat, who discovered MMA on where she trains. “I always wanted to famous, however, growing up in their YouTube at the age of 18, said her de- ompeting at the Olympic do something diff erent. Script my own village in Haryana was tough. cision to sign for the Asian promotion Games is the dream of most journey on the international stage. “We struggled to fi t into society,” One Championship in February was a athletes but Indian wres- “I want to win a World Champion- Ritu Phogat said. “Our family was sur- “no-brainer”. Ctler Ritu Phogat has always ship belt for India. I want to be the fi rst rounded by naysayers in those early “I see this sport growing by leaps wanted to script a diff erent destiny. in mixed martial arts to win that for my days, but we had each other for sup- and bounds in India,” she said. “My Phogat won gold at the 2016 Com- country.” port. Together we found a way to block debut will be shown live on TV and I monwealth Wrestling Championship The 25-year-old is from one of In- out all the outside noise.” hope it inspires the next generation..