TTI Milwaukee Hong Kong Squash Open 2023: Farag Cruises Into Last Four

Top seed Ali Farag cruised into the semi finals in Hong Kong with a resounding victory over his Egyptian compatriot Mazen Hesham.

Farag, who’s twice been a runner up in Hong Kong, won 3-0: 11-3, 12-10, 11-7 in 35 minutes against Hesham on what was their 16th meeting on the PSA World Tour.

The World No.1’s route to the last eight had been unblemished following straight set victories against Shahjahan Khan and Patrick Rooney in the previous two rounds, and Farag continued that streak for a semi final berth.

Farag came firing out of the blocks and was reading Hesham well every time the World No.7 looked to find a way through the reigning World Champion.

But after losing the first game, Hesham was much improved in the second with some excellent winners around the court and had four game balls in a bid to level things up. However Hesham squandered all four opportunities as Farag dominated the tee before he had game ball in the tiebreak, converting successfully first time.

Hesham cut a frustrated figure on court at the end of the second game and required treatment from the physio. It was another bright start from Hesham in the third as he looked to get a foothold back in the contest at 8-6 up. But Farag surged back once more to have three match balls, taking the opportunity at the first attempt.

Farag will face reigning champion Mostafa Asal in the semi final tomorrow.

“I don’t think Mazen [Hesham] was firing on all cylinders but I took full advantage of it and played well,” he said.

“In the second I don’t think I did much wrong up until 9-3 down – he was just firing in winner after winner. I just wanted to give it a big push as the worst thing you can do when it’s 1-1 against Mazen and the first two games aren’t physical enough.

“I wanted to put in a big burst and fortunately it went my way. He started to feel something, not sure if it was his leg, but credit to him he came back strong in the third. But I was happy to close it out in three.

“The plan was to do it at 7-3 down [to extend the rallies], but I couldn’t do it until I was 9-3 down. He won one point at 6-9 and I wanted to put as much work into his legs as possible and into his head as well so I could capitalise on that. I was relieved to see it go my way.”

Result
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [6] Mazen Hesham (EGY) 3-0: 11-3, 12-10, 11-7 (35m)