World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy won his first-ever men’s British Open, making him the second Egyptian in the past 10 years to win the competition.
Mohamed Elshorbagy, ranked number 1 in the world in squash, won the 2015 edition of the British Open sponsored by Hull City’s Egyptian owner Mr. Assam Allam. This makes Elshorbagy the second Egyptian in the past 10 years to win the men’s British Open, after world champion and former No.1 Ramy Ashour, who won it in 2013.
Ramy Ashour and Amr Shabana were ruled out before the tournament due to knee and back injuries; both were among the top candidates of winning the tournament.
However, Shorbagy’s road to the title wasn’t easy at all as he faced Englishman James Willstrop in the first round, the round of 32. Shorbagy won 3-1 in a game that lasted only 49 minutes. In the second round Shorbagy faced Spain’s greatest ever squash player, Borja Golan, who put in a great performance, but unfortunately for him Shorbagy came on top winning 3-2 in 67 minutes.
On the other hand, runner up Frenchman Gregory Gaultier had it easy as his first tough match was in the quarters as he faced a young Egyptian talent, Mazen Hesham, who had beaten fellow countryman Omar Mosaad. Gaultier beat Mazen 3-0 in 64 minutes to face Miguel Rodriguez, who had just eliminated Egyptian Tarek Momen in the quarters.
It was a tough semi-finals as Mohamed Elshorbagy was to face Englishman Nick Matthew, ranked No.2 worldwide and had won this tournament in 2012, before finishing as runner up in 2014, whilst Gaultier faced Colombian and world No.5 Rodriguez. Shorbagy beat Nick Matthew 3-1 and Gautiler won 3-0 to face each other in the final.
Mohamed Elshorbagy beat Gaultier 3-2 in an exciting final that lasted a staggering 93 minutes. Shorbagy had won the first match 11-9 before losing the second 6-11 and the third 5-11. The Egyptian put in a spectacular performance turning the table around winning the fourth match 11-8 and finishing the fifth match and the game with an 11-5 win.
