[9] Marwan Elshorbagy (ENG) 3-0 Fares Dessouky (EGY) 3-0 Scores: 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 (34m)
Next Opponent: Mohamed Elshorbagy
Strange to see in the third round a match that once was a final of the World Championships, that was in 2017 in Manchester. It will be interesting to see Mohamed’s form, with Greg Gaultier in his corner, while Marwan – who is not working with James Willstrop anymore – wil be hungry for going back to the form he had up to recently…
Mohamed will be very fresh as his opponent developed a strain at the back of his right knee at the start of the second game. But then again, so will be Marwan as the match against Fares never really developed and was over in 35m…
Marwan : “Fares is a great player, he’s one of the best players in the world. I was very focused from the start and I tried to extend the rallies and stay mentally strong. I played an aggressive type of squash, I knew if I contained him and controlled the middle I would have a better chance of winning. When Fares gets into the match it’s hard to stop him, so I’m happy with that performance.
“I’m looking forward to playing Mohamed. Mo is one of the greats, and he’s my big brother. We’ve played so many times on the PSA World Tour, and this is the third time we’ve played in the World Championships. I’m looking forward to it, and I’m sure he is as well. Hopefully, we can give everyone around the world a big match.
“Back in the day everyone would have his own space, but now we’re more mature and more relaxed. We look back at what we’ve achieved and our matches and we want to enjoy it. We spoke about the possibility of playing and we said we would kill each other and then we’ll be brothers after.
“I’m looking forward to it, and maybe I’ll have dinner with him and my mother today.”