LONDON: Mohamed Elshorbagy admitted he had to overcome mixed emotions to win the squash world title by beating his brother Marwan 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6 late on Sunday in the first ever final between brothers.
Mohamed had twice lost world finals by the narrowest of margins to fellow Egyptian Ramy Ashour, but he was not prepared for an even harder opponent — the younger sibling with whom he has been competing since they were both old enough to walk.
"I was in shock when Marwan won his match (on Saturday),” Mohamed admitted.
"I was lying in bed for hours thinking I have to beat my brother to win the world title. It was not a nice feeling at all."
It was a contest of sensational hitting, breath-taking movement, and obvious emotion between two men who could often guess what the other might do.
Mohamed, twice a British Open winner, led by a game and 9-7 but was pegged back, while Marwan went 6-4 up in the decider but could get no closer to the finish line.
It ended in a flurry of lets and penalty points as both men tired, with Marwan starting to miss with his short game in the last few points.
It may have been Marwan's later schedule the previous night and subsequent shorter recovery time which eventually made a difference.
The end came with a ferocious cross court forehand winner from Mohamed, after which Marwan responded by applauding Mohamed for his achievement.
Mohamed tried to soften the blow by lifting Marwan's arm as the crowd clapped, and there followed a very long hug between the brothers.
“I waited a long time for this moment and it was such a hard feeling," said Mohamed.
"It is something we must share for the rest of our lives, although maybe both of us will not enjoy it.”
“At the end we congratulated each other. It was my time today, with this title you have to be patient and it will come for him. I’ve won everything in the sport now, but I still have much more to achieve and more titles to win.”
Earlier, Raneem El-Welily ended a three-year wait for atonement having lost the 2014 final when she won the women's world title by upsetting her Egyptian compatriot Nour El-Sherbini 3-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-5.
“She was under more pressure than me today,” said El-Welily.
“I felt so different today compared to the last World Championship final. That one was a nightmare, today I was so much more relaxed.
“So much has changed since 2014. The game has changed, I have changed, the sport is different from then. We're all adapting and improving. I hope I can keep the same attitude for the remainder of the season. From this moment to the next event I don't know what will happen, but I know I don't want to stop with just this one success.”
No brotherly love for Egyptian squash star Mohamed Elshorbagy
No brotherly love for Egyptian squash star Mohamed Elshorbagy
Rampant Sabalenka sweeps past Jovic into Australian Open semifinals
MELBOURNE: Relentless top seed Aryna Sabalenka muscled past American teenager Iva Jovic and into the Australian Open semifinals Tuesday to accelerate her bid for a third Melbourne title.
The Belarusian powered home 6-3, 6-0 in blazing heat to set up a clash with either third seed Coco Gauff or 12th seed Elina Svitolina.
It booked the 27-year-old a 14th career Grand Slam semifinal and fourth in a row at the season-opening major.
Sabalenka has won twice in Melbourne, in 2023 and 2024, and seemed destined for another crown last year but was upset in the final by Madison Keys.
Keys’ title defense is over, beaten in the fourth round by Jessica Pegula.
“These teenagers have been testing me in the last couple of rounds,” said Sabalenka, who is on a 10-match win streak after victory at the lead-up Brisbane International.
“It was a tough match. Don’t look at the score, it wasn’t easy at all. She played incredible tennis. Pushed me to to one step better level. And I’m super happy with the win.”
The match was played under an open roof on Rod Laver Arena with the tournament Heat Stress Scale yet to reach the level where it could be closed.
Temperatures are forecast to hit a blistering 45C with a peak of 38C reached during the match.
Defeat brought an end to a breakthrough tournament for 18-year-old Jovic, the youngest player in the women’s top 100 and seeded 29.
She stunned seventh seed and two-time Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini and blitzed past experienced Yulia Putintseva for the loss of just one game to announce herself to the world.
But Sabalenka was a bridge too far.
The world number one safely held serve to lay down a marker, blasting an ace to set up game point and an unreturnable serve to win it.
Jovic made some early errors and sent the ball long on break point to surrender her serve and fall 2-0 behind.
Sabalenka held to pile on the pressure before Jovic fended off a break point on her next serve to get on the scoreboard.
But despite some long rallies as she got into the match and three break points as Sabalenka served for the set, the top seed’s brute force proved too much.
Sabalenka then broke her immediately to assert control of set two and Jovic was spent, with another break for 3-0 then a double fault to slump 5-0 down, signalling the end.
