Paris Squash SF: Relentless Farag Conquers Elias In Epic 94-Minute Showdown 

World No.1 Ali Farag booked his spot in the Paris Squash final after conquering current World Champion Diego Elias in an epic 94-minute encounter at the Cirque d’Hiver Bouglione. 

In a match which will likely go down as one of the finest of the modern era, it was Farag who eventually managed to wear down Elias to take the match by a 7-11, 14-12, 6-11, 11-7, 11-4 scoreline. 

Right from the get-go the pair delivered a series of high-quality exchanges that brought the Parisian crowd into animated applause, with two-minute rallies taking place with regularity. Despite Elias clinching this brutal 27-minute opening game by an 11-7 scoreline, the physical toll it had taken on the Peruvian was evident.

However, Elias continued to dig deep into reserves as he went toe-to-toe with Farag in the second game, with Farag attempting to pick up the tempo and use the front as often as possible. An all-out tie-break would follow, but it was Farag who managed to take it, levelling the match at 1-1 as the clock ticked over the hour mark. 

Although Elias looked down and out physically as he headed for the game break, the World No.4 managed to keep his quality miraculously high upon his return to the court, managing to once again put Farag under pressure with a string of pin-point winners. 

‘The Peruvian Puma’ managed to move 2-1 up, helped somewhat by a string of uncharacteristic Farag errors in the latter phases of the third, but the top seed rallied to force a deciding game soon afterwards. 

As the fifth game got underway, Elias finally seemed to start cracking physically, with Farag roaring into a 7-2 lead. And despite the current World Champion managing to reduce the deficit with a couple of quick-fire winners, Farag wouldn’t be stopped, collapsing to floor in cramp after sealing an 11-4 victory in the fifth. 

After the match, an exhausted Farag said: “That was one of those matches that I will remember for the rest of my life. 

“Diego and I have had some unbelievable battles over the years, but we would fade away by the third, but this time around it wasn’t the case. That second game was one of the most proud games of my career. The third game has to be one of my least proud. After the second I felt like the match was already done, so I relaxed too much, hit four tins, and I had an emotional outburst. 

“I had to regroup after the third, but oh my god, what a match, now that I think of it. 

“I told myself, you can whiplash yourself as much as you want between the third and fourth, but for no longer than ten seconds, so I cam out and I started to hang in there. I knew both of us were tired. 

“At the beginning of the fifth, I could feel the cramp inn my left quad, and then there was that crazy rally at 8-4 which got me to 9-4 up, I was really seizing up and I had to hide it somehow. I’m so proud that I got through it though.”

Result:

[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [4] Diego Elias (PER) 3-2: 7-11, 14-12, 6-11, 11-7, 11-4 (94m)