[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 3-0 [7] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 11-4, 11-1, 12-10 (56m)
PSA report
World No.1 Mostafa Asal has lifted his second PSA World Championships title after defeating Youssef Ibrahim in three games. Asal becomes just the sixth male player in history to claim back-to-back titles at the World Championships after taking down Ibrahim by an 11-4, 11-1, 12-10 scoreline.
The top seed came into the final with Ibrahim as the heavy favourite, having carved his way through the draw to the loss of just one game, and defeating 2024 champion Diego Elias in an impressive four-game win in the semi-finals.
Despite entering the final in sublime form after back-to-back upset wins over second seed Paul Coll and fourth seed Karim Gawad, Ibrahim ultimately couldn’t match Asal’s consistent quality throughout the 56-minute contest.
The pair traded lengthy rallies in the opening stages of the match, with Asal happy to extend the first game to 19 minutes despite losing just four points.
At the start of the second, Asal began taking complete control of the ‘T’, stepping up the court and punishing any loose width from Ibrahim with deadly accuracy. The top seed took a quick-fire 7-0 lead and soon doubled his advantage by an 11-1 scoreline.
Noticeable in Asal’s tactics was his ability to lock down the court and not allow Ibrahim to showcase his trademark skill with some tight lines down both wings.
Ibrahim – playing through a shoulder injury, which is set for shoulder surgery after this event – continued to battle hard despite the 2-0 deficit.
A stop-start third game, in which Asal was penalised with a conduct stroke for an excessive follow-through, saw ‘The Raging Bull’ let an 8-4 lead slip to an 8-7 advantage, before Ibrahim saved two Championship Balls from 10-8 down to force a tie-break.
However, the comeback wasn’t to be, with Asal clinching his 29th PSA Tour title after a stroke, on review, was awarded in his favour.
Asal : “I’m quite relieved to be honest. It’s never easy playing in Egypt and to defend a world title. There’s so much pressure playing in front of everyone here.
“Credit to Youssef Ibrahim. To even be playing here with his shoulder injury, he’s a superhuman being. He’s a good friend of mine and we grew up together. My uncle has been taking me and Youssef to the British Junior Open since we were really young.
“It’s so hard, I got edgy in the third game. When it’s coming close, it gets so hard. The pressure was on for sure.
“It feels amazing to be able to win a World Championship in front of your family and friends.”
