Hong Kong FC Open: ElShorbagy Beats Hesham To Claim Hong Kong FC Open Title

World No.6 Marwan ElShorbagy overcame compatriot and World No.8 Mazen Hesham to claim his first title of the 2022/23 season at the Hong Kong FC Open.

ElShorbagy was appearing in his fourth final of the season but hadn’t been able to convert in his previous three attempts, finishing runner-up in the NetSuite Open, Open De France and Grasshopper Cup. Hesham however had 100% conversion rate in finals this year as he claimed victory at the Malaysian Open, his only final appearance of the season.

ElShorbagy came through a tough five-set battle with fellow-Egyptian Youssef Soliman to reach the final and showed no signs of fatigue as he secured the opening game of the contest 11-8 to lead 1-0. Hesham responded in typical style, firing the ball in short and using his trademark deception to wrong foot ElShorbagy, he levelled 11-5.

Two tight games followed with both players desperate to claim the Bronze event title, the rallies became cagey and hard-fought. ElShorbagy is renowned for thriving in these conditions and did so once again as he went fro strength to strength to frustrate Hesham in the big points. ElShorbagy closed out the third game 11-9 before taking the fourth 11-8 to win his first title since March 2021.

Result: Hong Kong FC Open 2022 – Final

 [1] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [2] Mazen Hesham (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8 (43m)