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Charlottesville Open QFs: Elsirty Fights Back to Win 101-Minute Thriller
Moustafa Elsirty saved two match balls en route to a dramatic comeback win on quarter-finals day at the Charlottesville Open, in a match that went past the 100-minute mark and featured multiple injury breaks.
The 22-year-old was facing compatriot Ibrahim Elkabbani in an all-Egyptian matchup, their fourth meeting on the PSA Tour, but first since 2022.
Elsirty had won the previous three, never dropping more than a game, but this was an entirely different affair, as the players went toe-to-toe in what proved to be a tense, physical encounter.
The first game alone featured five lets and three strokes, and it was Elkabbani who took it, rallying from 9-7 down to win four points in a row.
He then rallied again in game two, this time from 7-5 down to win six of the next seven points, with Elsirty lifting a forehand out on game ball.
Determined to fight his way back into the match, Elsirty raced into an 8-4 lead in game three, and soon closed out the game 11-6 when a stretching Elkabbani could only find the tin on a low forehand volley.
Both players returned to court sporting different attire, with Elsirty having swapped his florescent yellow top for a more delicate shade of green, while Elkabbani donned a sleeveless vest.
But two points into game four and Elsirty was leaving court again, this time for the first of what would be three injury breaks in the match, requiring treatment on his back after a coming together between the players.
He lost the next three point upon returning, but turned things around in dramatic fashion, winning the next nine rallies to move 9-4 up.
This time it was Elkabbani who need the physio’s attention after another collision on court, resulting in another lengthy injury break.
The No.7 seed returned to court and subsequently lost the next two points, bringing to an end a 24-minute game and sending the match into a decider.
The injury drama was not done there, though, as Elsirty accidentally caught his opponent’s leg while going through to play a backhand at 5-2, leaving Elkabbani down in pain.
The result was another break in play, this one the longest of the match so far, but when Elkabbani did return to court – his leg strapped up – he turned the game on its head, winning eight of the next 11 points to bring up two match balls.
Both would come and go, though, the second on a forehand volley that clipped the tin with the court wide open, one he would undoubtedly want back.
Another tin, this time on the backhand side, handed Elsirty his first match ball, and he would not let it pass, hitting a low backhand winner to clinch victory after 101 minutes, letting out a huge roar of emotion before celebrating baseball style, with a home run swing.
There was plenty more drama to come, too, as Karim El Hammamy and Cesar Salazar battled it out over 75 minutes in the match that followed, which ended in somewhat bizarre fashion.
The first four games swung one way and then the other, with Salazar dominating games one and three, winning them 11-4 and 11-2, and perhaps feeling he should’ve won game two as well, losing from 9-7 up.
El Hammamy also overturned a deficit in game four, winning four points on the bounce to move from 8-7 down to 11-7, but he was quickly on the back foot in the decider, losing the first three points.
That lead would be one that Salazar would never relinquish, but as the match edged closer towards its conclusion, tensions rose and so did the controversy.
Both players were airing their frustrations towards the referee, for various reasons, but at 10-5 down, El Hammamy shook Salazar’s hands and walked off, appearing to concede the match.
Those watching were left somewhat bemused as the referee also gave a conduct stroke for unsportsmanlike conduct, but the result was the same either way, with Salazar advancing to the semi-finals.
There he will face Pakistan’s Muhammad Asim Khan, who continued his impressive week with a 3-0 win over local favourite and former University of Virginia Cavalier Aly Hussein.
The 27-year-old Lahore native stunned No.2 seed Yahya Elnawasany in round two and is now into his first world events semi-final, after completing an 11-3, 11-5, 11-9 win in the final match of the day.
Top seed and defending champion Nick Wall will be the other semi-finalist, taking on Elsirty after coming from behind to beat Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue 3-1 earlier in the day.
The semi-finals of the Charlottesville Open will start at 6pm local time (11pm BST) on Friday, September 27th, streaming live on the SQUASHTV Live Streaming YouTube channel.
Results: Charlottesville Open Men’s Quarter-Finals
[1] Nick Wall (ENG) bt [6] Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) 3-1: 8-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7 (43m)
Moustafa Elsirty (EGY) bt [7] Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY) 3-2: 9-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 12-10 (101m)
[5] Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt [3] Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-2: 11-4, 9-11, 11-2, 8-11, 11-5 (75m)
Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) bt [8] Aly Hussein (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 11-5, 11-9 (40m)
