Mohamed/Ali: Passion, Intensity, Revenge and Eruption....
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (Egy) 3-0 [10] Ali Farag (Egy) 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 (45m)
This was never going to be an easy match.
A few weeks ago, in Al-Ahram semis, Mohamed was very upset about two shots that were called good during the second game between him and Ali. Mohamed felt at the time – and confirmed it again today in his MC interview after the match – that the game was changed by those two shots.
Add to that the crowd that was supporting Ali so loudly Mohamed told them in Arabic, “calm down, I’m Egyptian too”. Imagine how painful those two factors must have been when Mohamed world number 1, lost at home, in front of the Pyramids.
Despite Ali’s private and public apology the next day on the social network after he watched the SquashTV tape and realised that yes, his shots were not up, it must have stung, very deeply....
Today, I hadn’t seen Mohamed that focused, aggressive and wanting to “punish” his opponent since his second match against Amazing Mazen three years ago in El Gouna! Maybe against James in the British.. Naaaa, that was a cold determination. This one was… from deep, deep inside, in a dark, dark place.
Tonight, the match was not on the court. It was not tactics, or technique. It was in the head. It was in their heads.
I could see Mohamed wanted to get into Ali’s brain, to get under his skin, to mess up his thoughts, and even played at his pace and made sure he was punishing him at every shot at his own game. I could see his closed fist after nearly every shot, to his brother, to his mum, his face with that anger, determination and passion that comes normally at the last points of a match. Mohamed had that intensity throughout the match.
He did what in his mind, he had to do to “avenge his honour”. And he undeniably proved on the court he was the Boss, that he was the Top Dog, at home, when it really mattered. That he could lose in “smaller events”, but that when it really REALLY mattered, that was another kettle of fish.
And then, at 9/7 in the third… Rewind.
First game, both are nervous, but it’s a close game, nothing between them from 2/2 to 8/8. A very long rally there, where Mohamed picks up the pace, they both retrieve and attack, it’s a beautiful squash, and Mohamed, intense, sharp, determined takes the first game, 11/8, 14m, having made 3 unforced errors, Ali two, on the same shot, attacking boast.
The fist pump, the aggression, the pace, the head game was getting to Ali, who just can’t play his game. Mohamed is outplaying him on every level, 7/1, 10/4, a fourth tin for Ali in that game and it’s 11/5 in 10m for the World number 1.
The third, well, “un sursaut d’orgueil” for Ali, a surge of pride for the Harvard Man, who finally, finally is finding a way to refocus on his squash, gets his head in the match, and plays superb squash. Now we have a match, finally. Not a point between them from the start to 7/7.
A volley drop shot and a superb flick, Mohamed is 2 points away from the semi, 9/7. And a backhand lob from Ali that seems to go out of the court – I myself mumbled ‘ball is out’ to realise I spoke too quickly, and it seemed it stayed in, but I’m on the other side of the court, I cannot say for sure.
The ref calls the ball in, and Mohamed goes wild. He is absolutely adamant the ball is out. Ali, who thinks his ball is good, is asking people in the front row. Yes, it’s good they tell him. So Ali goes to serve. Mohamed, extremely unhappy, probably feels it’s Al-Ahram all over again.
All his frustration, anger, his humiliation come out like a volcano and he tells Ali in Arabic that he is a thief, he repeats it twice. The Ref doesn’t hear what is going on – he confirmed that to me afterwards and cannot take action. But the people around the court hear it and ask the ref – aren’t you hearing what he is saying?
Mohamed and Ali keep talking in Arabic, the Ref finally gets them to play on. It goes very quickly. Don’t ask me what shots were played, I am still trying to make sense of what just happened, but two shots later, it’s Mohamed 11/9, in 17 m last game.
Mohamed
I had to be aggressive on court. Last time we played, I was not happy with the way happen on court. I was nice all game, and in the second, at 8/6 he took two double bounce in a row. And it changed the whole match. Instead of being 2/0 up, we went 1/1. And still, I didn’t take a double bounce.
Today, he took the point at 9/7, he took the point, when he knew the ball was out. And I was not happy about that. But today, I gave my heart out; I’m happy with that. But that’s ok. He is still young, I admire the way he plays and I think we played a good match today.
It was tough, but the last two times were in Al Ahram and Detroit which weren't World Series of World Championship events, so it's a different story. When you play these smaller events, these players try to improve their rankings. For me, I'm already there in the rankings, I want to win titles, it's the World Series events that I play for and try to win.
If I win the small events, it's a bonus, if I don't I just learn from it. In the last match he was the better player, I raise my hands to that and I won't give myself any excuses.
Even though I don't peak for the smaller events, it's still in the back of my mind. In the first game, I was very nervous and I felt that he was very nervous as well.
Winning the first game gave me a huge advantage. I think if he had won the first game it would have given him a huge advantage as well. I'm just really happy I'm into the semis, especially in Egypt and I'm looking forward to my next match, I'll enjoy it and I'll focus.
I worked on a few things and after I did that I felt I got a bit better, I felt sharp and I'm really happy I got the semis because it was a big match for mentally today.
It's a physical sport, things can get tough at times, you can't help it. You have to be tough to be at the top of the rankings. Nick Matthew and Greg Gaultier are great examples of that, as is Ramy . They're great players and you have to be tough to be like them.
It's just part of the sport and you have to deal with that. Other than that, we were both aggressive, but I don't think either of us took excessive space. I felt I played in the right spirit, the way that I needed to win and I'm just glad that I played fair.
It would mean a lot to reach the final. I've got to the final twice before, the first time I was 21-years-old, I was the number eight seed so it wasn't expected. It was a big learning experience for me, I was very disappointed with the loss because I was just one point away.
At the same time, I lost to Ramy. I haven't lost many finals in my life but I lost two to Ramy. I wouldn't got back in my life and regret them because Ramy is one of the greatest players we've ever had in the sport. I don't think I lost to someone who I shouldn't have lost to. I'm going to give everything to be in the final for a third time and hopefully it's third time lucky.
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