DUBAI, June 7, 2018 (News Wires) - The curtain comes down on the group stages of the ATCO PSA Dubai World Series Finals on Thursday at Emirates Golf Club, with four of the eight semi-final spots still up for grabs across both the men's and women's events. England's Nick Matthew and Egypt's Mohamed ElShorbagy have already qualified for the last four from Group A and compete in a dead rubber match, while Colombia's Miguel Angel Rodriguez and Tarek Momen will play each other. In Group B, Simon R?sner has earned his place in the semi-finals and he plays Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, who is unable to qualify for the knockout stages. That leaves a deciding match between Ali Farag and Karim Abdel Gawad, with the winner progressing to the semi-finals. There's a similar situation in Group A of the women's event as World No.1 Nour El Sherbini has already qualified for the semi-finals, leaving New Zealand's Joelle King and Egypt's Nour El Tayeb to battle for a place in the last four. Defending champion Laura Massaro leads the way in Group B and can earn her semis spot with victory over World No.5 Camille Serme. However, If Serme beats Massaro today and El Welily gets the better of Perry, then it will come down to the percentage of games won to decide who qualifies for the last four. "That was the turning point for me," she added. "I started to train more professionally. "I was always dreaming to be on top of my game when I was young and now achieving almost everything in the game I want to remain at the summit for as long as possible. "I have been waiting all my life for these achievements. I'm here in Dubai as one of the top eight players in the world. This season has been pretty good for me, I have won four PSA World Series events and maintained the No 1 ranking. "It has been a long and hard season but I'm still looking forward to round off the season with another success." Egypt are a powerhouse on the world circuit, with squash the second most popular sport in the North African country behind football. Compatriot Mohamed El Shorbagy is the No 1-ranked men's player and El Sherbini credits strong competition at local level for Egypt's dominance on the world stage. "We have some very good players and that works well for us as we have to raise the bar all the time," said El Sherbini, who became the world No 1 in May 2016 for the first time. "I want to stay at the top as long as I can which means a lot of hard work ahead to keep improving my game." France's Camille Serme has earned her place in the semi-finals of this year's ATCO PSA Dubai World Series Finals after a sublime 2-0 victory over England's Laura Massaro to leave the defending champion on the brink of a group stage exit. Serme was a semi-finalist at last year's tournament and was as solid as Massaro was sluggish, with the World No.5 finding her targets right from the off. For her part, Massaro was unable to rediscover the accuracy that took her to wins over World Champion Raneem El Welily and compatriot Sarah-Jane Perry and Serme blitzed to an 11-7, 11-5 victory in 22 minutes to ensure that she will compete in tomorrow's semi-finals. "I'm very happy with the way I played, I managed to relax and play my shots better than the other days," said Serme. "She's such a fighter, she loves playing here and she never gives up, so until the very last point I didn't want to give her anything. "I was a bit upset with myself after losing yesterday, then on the other side I was like ‘you still have a chance, be positive!' and it's funny because I called my coach and he was telling me what went wrong in my match yesterday but you have to focus on the positive side and refocus the next day." Massaro will now only qualify for the last four if compatriot Sarah-Jane Perry can overcome World Champion Raneem El Welily in the other match in Group B of the women's event.
