England are the first team into the final of the WSF Men’s World Team Championship after defeating old rivals France.
The two nations have met in seven previous Men’s World Team Championships, with England enjoying a 5-2 record, and at no point today did that record appear to be in danger.
In a one-sided opening match, England No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy extended his 100 percent record against his counterpart Victor Crouin.
Crouin, who perhaps went into the match feeling the effects of his 78-minute five gamer against Joel Makin in the quarter-final, struggled to deal with ElShorbagy’s ferocity on court, with ‘the Beast’ powering his side into the lead with 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 wins.
The second match, between Marwan ElShorbagy and Baptiste Masotti, was a more even affair, with ElShorbagy saving a game ball in a tense 14-12 opening game win before pushing on to victory with an 11-5 win in game two and an 11-7 in game three.
Speaking after the tie, England National Coach David Campion said: “We always have unbelievable battles with France and today was going to be no exception.
“On the day, we got it right Mohamed opened up with a brilliant performance; really solid and played exceptionally well so we’re very pleased with that.
“And then Marwan of course, that was a big pressure match for him but he handled it really well and played his best squash.
“And that’s what we set out to do, to try and find that happy balance between being really alert and assertive, and playing with authority, but not going over emotionally.
“These things can get a bit charged like that and we’re delighted that we’re in a situation where we’ll arrive at tomorrow relatively fresh with the boys playing well.”
England will play either defending champions Egypt or No.4 seeds Switzerland in the final tomorrow, with their semi-final taking place today at 18:00 (GMT+13), live on WORLDSQUASH.TV, the Olympic Channel, SQUASHTV and Sky Sport NZ (New Zealand only).
Result: WSF Men’s World Team Championship Men’s Semi-Final
[2] ENGLAND 2-0 FRANCE [3]
Mohamed ElShorbagy 3-0 Victor Crouin: 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 (31m)
Marwan ElShorbagy 3-0 Baptise Masotti: 14-12, 11-5, 11-7 (32m)
Patrick Rooney MW Auguste Dussourd
Click here to view results and draws for the 2023 WSF Men’s World Team Championship.
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