[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 3-1 [3] Diego Elias (PER) 11-7, 6-11, 11-4, 11-2 (74m)
PSA report
Mostafa Asal, who last year became the first player since Jansher Khan in 1988 to lift the title without dropping a game, avenged his recent El Gouna International defeat to Diego Elias with an 11-7, 6-11, 11-4, 11-2 victory.
The blockbuster match-up certainly started off in style, with the pair both playing to a high quality from point one. The 26-minute opening game was full of probing rallies in which the pair battled for dominance on the ’T’, but it was Asal who managed to sneak ahead on the scoreboard.
From 6-6, it was Asal who won five of the next six points with some trademark kills to move 1-0 up to the delight of the packed-out home crowd in Cairo.
Elias responded in impressive style in the second game as the ‘Peruvian Puma’ began to read Asal well in the front left corner and grow in the ascendancy in this portion of the court. The crowd were treated to several more highly entertaining rallies as the players continued to move around each other well all across the court. This time, though, it was Elias who moved ahead to clinch the second game 11-6.
An increasingly scrappy, stop-start third game followed, in which the referee and video referee were brought into question on numerous occasions. Asal was handed two conduct warnings and Elias one for poor movements, with the latter also handed a conduct warning for dissent.
Elias’ constant gesticulations with the referee saw Asal charge ahead in the third game, with the short, sharp rallies with the colder ball favouring the reigning World Champion. After 63 minutes of play, Asal had brought up a 2-1 lead by an 11-4 scoreline.
Despite a change of ball at Elias’ request at the start of the fourth game, Asal only went from strength to strength as he continued to step up the court and volley at will. A visibly agitated Elias found himself 5-0 down within a flash and failed to make a dent in Asal’s lead from that point on.
After 73 minutes of play, Asal brought up his first match ball, and at the first time of asking advanced to his third straight final at the PSA World Championships.
Asal : “Playing in front of my family, friends, it’s amazing. It’s a different type of pressure when you’re playing on your home soil and it’s tough playing such a tough opponent like Diego. Especially when he’s in form.
“I was upset after the semi-finals in El Gouna; it gave me a little bit of extra motivation to push. It fired me up for today.
“When I was a kid, I was just playing football, I wasn’t playing squash. All my dreams were to just watch the legends and to grab a photo with them. I’m really happy with how it’s turned out; being World Champion and World No.1.
“There’s maybe some more motivation to break records, but I’m really happy with what I’ve achieved in squash.”
