[3] Diego Elias (PER) 3-0 [8] Mohamad Zakaria (EGY) 11-9, 11-1, 11-3 (51m)
Diego at his best. Back to the level of control he had before his surgery.
He pushed Zakaria to accept very long, very very long, very very very long rallies in the opener. Length of that game, 32m…
Chapeau to Zak to come back from 9/3 down, all the way to 9/9, with absolutely ridiculously hard rallies. Zak showed his character there. But a winner give the Peruvian a game ball, and you are not going to believe it, but Zak made his only error of the game at that point, 11/9 Diego.
A bit like in Amina’s match, completely broken down, Zakaria just didn’t have the mental energy in the second, 11/1 (5m game), and in the third, down 10/1 match ball, he had a pride two good rallies, bowing finally 11/3 (8m).
🎙️ "I just tried to build a bit more pace, and I think that’s what hurt him the most" 🥵
Hear more from @diegoelias96 after his world-class display in Cairo ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/6MXTo3xuDs
— PSA Squash Tour (@PSASquashTour) May 13, 2026
Diego : “The first game was really tough. I was up 9-3 and he kept fighting and coming back. He made it really tough – I felt it in the first game.
”In the second game the ball was more dead and I could attack more.
“When I went up 9-3 in the first, I think I slowed up the pace and he was comfortable in that pace. He kept getting every ball back. After that I just tried to build a bit more pace and I think that’s what hurt him the most.
“I don’t think it matters for Mostafa having a day off. When he plays early round, it’s always 25 or 30 minutes. Whenever we play each other, we always play our best.”
