Doha- In an exciting opening match, World No.6 Tarek Momen came from behind to beat the defending champion and World No.4 Diego Elias 3-2: 11-8, 9-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-7 in 69 minutes to book a place in the semi-finals of QTerminals Qatar Classic 2022.
Tarek, who enjoys a 10-1 head-to-head record against Elias, had been showing signs of the form that saw him win the 2019 World Championships in Doha since the beginning of this tournament, and it was no surprise that he continued in this form on Thursday.
The Egyptian will next be up against Victor Crouin of France, who stopped Qatar’s Abdulla Al Tamimi from reaching a historical semi-final in straight sets, for a chance at another final in Doha.
“I don’t know what to say, other than I’m really proud of how I fought back—especially after the third game—because I gave it everything and then I really started to feel it. I told myself between games, ‘even if you can’t walk, you need to fight until the last point,” Tarek said after the match.
In the other matches, Mohamed ElShorbagy reached his first Qatar Classic semi-final since 2017 in a clinical performance to knock out tournament surprise package Miguel Rodriguez in straight games.
World No.17 Rodriguez produced a fantastic performance to beat World No.1 Ali Farag in round three, but was unable to consistently lay a glove on ElShorbagy, who is chasing his fourth title in Qatar.
Mohamed won 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 to book a semi-final clash against world No.3 Mostafa Asal who defeated the younger ElShorbagy, Marwan, 3-1 (11-6, 7-11, 11-4, 11-2) in the third match of the day.
Source: Qatar Olympic Committee