British Open Semi-Finals: Farag Into Fourth British Open Final

Former World No.1 Ali Farag is into a fourth consecutive British Open final after defeating compatriot Mazen Hesham in a quick-fire four game battle.

Farag, who has lost in the last three British Open finals, including the last two to New Zealander Paul Coll, was aiming to make it to the finale in Birmingham for the first time. He started brilliantly, and was two games up in a flash.

Hesham was not at the races in the early stages of the contest, but he fought back valiantly in the third game. ‘The Falcon’ lost out to Farag in the semis of this event in 2022, and was trying to make sure the same would not happen again, pulling a game back to make it 2-1.

A quick start in the fourth though meant the comeback was ended before it really got going. The current World No.5 won the fourth game 11-2 to book his place in the final of the British Open once again.

“It was a tough one to navigate, especially against Mazen. We played a couple of weeks ago and he was hitting better lengths than I was and he was dominating the ‘T’ area for most of the five games,” Farag said. 

“I had to get that on point today and I tried to stand in front of him because he’s one of the most skilful on tour. If you give him any easy shot, you’re going to be wiggling and you’re going to be guessing! So I tried to take that away from him, but to be fair maybe he wasn’t at his best in the first two. I’d like to think I played well but that contributed to it. 

“I feel like he was maybe rushed into the match and he didn’t get as much time to warm-up as he’d like, and I think that affected him a little bit. I’m not taking anything away from myself, I think I prepared for the match really well and I executed the game plan. 

“I went to bed at five in the morning and woke up at noon, so seven hours sleep isn’t too bad. I then had an hour nap at 10pm, so it’s a different schedule but I manage to do it well. As much as I would like to talk about Ramadan, I’d love to talk about this amazing venue. 

“You have to pay tribute to Dr Allam for the years he hosted this event in Hull. May his soul rest in peace as he was such a great advocate for the sport along with his entire family, but we’re extremely happy to be moving to Birmingham this year in such an amazing venue in front of such a knowledgeable crowd. 

“There are a thousand people or more and we appreciate you coming down and cheering us on – not the ones who were cheering for Mazen, I didn’t appreciate that! We appreciate every single clap and oohs and ahs as they what we play for, so thank you!”

Result:
[2] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [7] Mazen Hesham (EGY) 3-1: 11-4, 11-4, 8-11, 11-2 (42m)