Announcer Andy Taylor. PSA World Champs Quarterfinals. Tarek Momen

Andy Taylor Announcer. 2019 PSA Mens World Championship. Quarterfinal. Tarek Momen — Announcer Andy Taylor | Voice of the 2019 PSA Mens World Championship | Photo: Nathan Clarke

[divider style=”solid” color=”#cccccc” opacity=”0.5″ icon=”arrow-down” icon_color=”#666666″ icon_size=”15″ placement=”up”]

[2] Tarek Momen -03- (EGY) def Diego Elias -07- (PER)

[vector_icon icon=”fas fa-check-circle”] Quarterfinal Score: 11-6, 13-11, 11-6 (37m)

Match recap from Squash Announcer Andy Taylor, Voice of the 2019 PSA Mens World Championship.

With Ali Farag’s unfortunate absence at this year’s World Championship, I was anxious to speak with two specific talents about their personal expectations here in Doha: Mohamed Elshorbagy and Tarek Momen.

Mohamed won the title 2-years-ago. Without Farag, he’s the top-seed, and confirmed my sneaking suspicion: He was enduring significant self-imposed expectation to win the title. After his Round-2 victory over Waller, Mohamed told me that he refused to shy away from the pressure he was placing on himself. He refused to lie to himself and claim there was no expectation – you know the line: “I’m just trying to play my best squash, one opponent at a time…blah, blah, blah.” All bullshit. There was none of that. Deep down, he knew the title was his to win. The pressure was justified. He simply had to accept and live with it.

Meanwhile, after Momen’s Round of 16 victory over Abdulla Al Tamimmi, I asked him the same question. Tarek’s answer was quite the opposite: “Honestly, I’m putting a ton of pressure on myself. After last year’s loss in the Final, I felt it was a missed opportunity to achieve what I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid. But…I’m just trying hard not to think about it.” Surrounded by family and friends, including his wife — World #1 Raneem El Welily — Tarek has enjoyed top-shelf advice and support all week, helping him focus tactically on what needs to be done — one opponent at a time.

It would appear the “trying not to think about it” approach is the better angle. Tonight, Mohamed Elshorbagy fell in 5-games to younger brother Marwan. Tarek Momen is back in the World Championship Semifinals for a third time.

Momen is now 7-1 versus Elias on the PSA World Tour

Announcer Corner | Player Introductions

[divider style=”solid” color=”#cccccc” opacity=”0.5″ placement=”equal”]

[2] Tarek Momen -03- (EGY)

The Finalist at last season’s PSA World Championship – in Chicago, he took-out the defending champion Mohamed Elshorbagy in 5-games to reach the title match. He was also a Semifinalist at the World Championship in 2015, where he defeated 3-time World Champ Nick Matthew to reach the Final-4. His road to today’s Quarterfinal includes wins over Raphael Kandra, Mazen Hesham – and on Monday, a tremendous come-from-behind victory over Qatar’s #1 Abdulla Al-Tamimi. He’s a 2-time Platinum Finalist, owns 6 PSA titles in all, and comes into today’s match with a career-high ranking of World #3. From Egypt, this is 2011 Arab Games Doha Gold Medalist – Tarek “The Viper” Momen.

► Over the past two seasons, Tarek Momen has reached the Semifinals at 7 of the last 8 PSA Platinum Tournaments
► In 2017, he reached his first Platinum Final here in Doha at the Qatar Classic
► Started the new season by reaching his 24th career Final at the NetSuite Open

▲ R3 — def Abdulla Al Tamimi -47- (QAT) | Score: 11-5, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4 (76m)
▲ R2 — def Mazen Hesham -19- (EGY) | Score: 11-9, 12-10, 11-5 (35m)
▲ R1 — def Raphael Kandra -25- (GER) | Score: 12-10, 10-12, 11-7, 11-4 (52m)

[post_showcase tag=”2019-PSA-Mens-World-Championship-Tarek-Momen” columns=”3″ offset=”-4″ masonry=”true” masonry_max=”3″ crop=”tb_large”]

[divider style=”solid” color=”#cccccc” opacity=”0.5″ placement=”equal”]

[6] Diego Elias -07- (PER)

With victories over Ivan Yuen, Greg Lobban and Fearless Fares Dessouky – this 22-year-old has reached the World Championship Quarterfinals for the first time. Over the Summer – at home in Peru – he captured Individual Gold at the Pan American Games. And just last month, became the first South American Semifinalist in the history of the US Open, defeating World #4 Karim Abdel Gawad to reach the Final-4. Last year on this court, he earned the biggest win of his career – upsetting Mohamed Elshorbagy in 5-games to make his Platinum Semifinal debut at the Qatar Classic. From Peru, he is the World #7 – The Peruvian Puma – Diego Elias.

► A Quarterfinal run at the World Championship is a welcome result, after falling to Mostafa Asal in his opening match at the Egyptian Open
► That match with Asal was a tough pill to swallow – Diego lost it after winning the first two games.

▲ R3 — def [13] Fares Dessouky -13- (EGY) | Score: 10-12, 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (56m)
▲ R2 — def Greg Lobban -29- (SCO) | Score: 6-11, 11-3, 11-4, 9-11, 11-4 (59m)
▲ R1 — def Ivan Yuen -44- (MAS) | Score: 11-8, 11-9, 14-12 (45m)

[post_showcase tag=”2019-PSA-Mens-World-Championship-Diego-Elias” columns=”3″ offset=”-1″ masonry=”true” masonry_max=”3″ crop=”tb_large”]

Tarek Momen def Diego Elias