World Champs Semis: Farag Through to Fourth Final

Reigning World Champion Ali Farag has reached a fourth PSA World Championship final in a row after he halted World No.3 Mostafa Asal in four games in a devastating performance at Chicago’s Union Station.

Farag is aiming to become the second Egyptian man to lift four World Championship trophies and has generally had Asal’s number in the past, winning 12 of their previous 15 matches.

Asal had no match for Farag’s accuracy in the opening two games, with the World No.4 taking a surprisingly comfortable 2-0 lead against an opponent who hasn’t looked at his best during this tournament.

Farag’s accuracy dropped off in the third game as a resurgent Asal was able to edge ahead to a 7-5 lead. The errors then came thick and fast from the 22-year-old’s racket, handing Farag two match balls.

Asal struck back as he slammed his return of serve into the nick before a no let was given against Farag soon after to set up a tie-break. Farag was unable to convert the win in three, with Asal fighting hard and playing some key winners at crucial times to halve the deficit and send the match into a fourth game.

That game was a procession, however, as Farag was at his clinical best to close out an 11-5, 11-8, 11-13, 11-2 victory, setting up a title decider against either 2017 World Champion Mohamed ElShorbagy or 2016 World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad.

“Mostafa was such a tough opponent to play against,” said Farag.

“He’s got everything in the book from attacking to defending, to good length hitting. I had to execute my game plan to perfection to give myself a chance, and I think I did that for the most part because you’re never confident in a semi-final of the World Championships. The nerves are always attached to it. But thankfully I have my team around me and Nour (El Tayeb) generously stuck around to just be supportive and to talk it through. 

“Players talk nonsense in the mornings of matches and they feel all sorts of things and it’s good to have a fellow player, a top player, in Nour guiding me through the day. 

“It means a lot because I had a clear plan on the way back from injury and it was to peak for the World Champs. I was lucky enough that it happened a tournament earlier and what a tournament for it to happen at being the the British Open. It makes it even more meaningful when you go through hardships and come back from them. So I’m extremely grateful to be where I am at the moment. 

“We’ve had some matches in the past and we talked it through, we both welcomed each other back on the tour because we were not playing for different reasons. We both said we’re Egyptians and at the end of the day, we want to raise our flag in the best way we can. I think we did that today, and hopefully we can do that many more times in the future.”

Result

[4] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 11-8, 11-13, 11-2 (55m)