In the longest three-game match either player had ever played, world No3 Karim Darwish overcame fellow Egyptian Omar Mosaad in today’s final of the Kolkata International to win the PSA World Tour International 35 title at the Calcutta Racket Club in the Indian city of Kolkata.
“The battle of 91 gruelling minutes for a straight games win was a reflection of how the two Egyptians fought for each and every point,” said an event spokesman.
“Mosaad, currently ranked 17 in the world, had lost in the Kolkata International semi-finals two years – but was not overawed playing someone ranked 14 places above him.”
Both the first two games went to tie-breaks, with Darwish coming out on top at crucial points of the games.
Frustrated by not being able to get his nose ahead of higher-ranked opponent, Mosaad buckled in the third as Darwish closed out the historic match 12-10, 12-10, 11-4.
“I am recovering from a hamstring injury and so I wanted to come here and win so that I can take a few points. It would help my ranking,” explained Darwish, after the longest recorded 3/0 match on the PSA World Tour since October 2008.
The 29-year-old from Cairo is celebrating his second PSA Tour title in a row – after winning the CIMB KL Open in Malaysia last month – and the 21st of his career.
Final:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [2] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 12-10, 12-10, 11-4 (91m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [4] Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-4 (54m)
[2] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (28m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 11-4, 11-7, 8-11, 12-10 (73m)
[4] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt [Q] Amr Khaled Khalifa (EGY) 11-8, 6-2 ret.
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [3] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 12-14, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 (55m)
[2] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Robbie Temple (ENG) 11-8, 11-6, 11-7 (37m)
1st round:
[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt [Q] Clinton Leeuw (RSA) 11-5, 11-1, 11-5 (30m)
Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt [Q] Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira (MEX) 11-9, 11-5, 11-9 (43m)
[Q] Amr Khaled Khalifa (EGY) bt [Q] Ivan Yuen (MAS) 7-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 (81m)
[4] Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Bradley Hindle (MLT) 12-10, 12-10, 11-3 (49m)
[3] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt Andrew Wagih Shoukry (EGY) 8-11, 11-2, 11-6, 2-11, 11-7 (61m)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Siddharth Suchde (IND) 11-9, 5-11, 11-5, 11-7 (42m)
Robbie Temple (ENG) bt Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) 11-9, 11-8, 11-13, 11-6 (78m)
[2] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Cesar Salazar (MEX) 11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 13-11 (52m)
Qualifying finals:
Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira (MEX) bt Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) 11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9 (46m)
Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt Marwan El Shorbagy (EGY) 11-5, 3-11, 16-14, 6-11, 11-6 (78m)
Clinton Leeuw (RSA) bt Ravi Dixit (IND) 11-6, 15-13, 11-6 (37m)
Amr Khaled Khalifa (EGY) bt Elvinn Keo (MAS) 11-3, 11-7, 11-5 (32m)
1st qualifying round:
Jorge Isaac Baltazar Ferreira (MEX) bt Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR) 12-10, 8-11, 13-11, 11-9 (48m)
Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt Rishi Tandon (IND) 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 (20m)
Marwan El Shorbagy (EGY) bt Sandeep Jangra (IND) 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 (23m)
Ivan Yuen (MAS) bt Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 (35m)
Clinton Leeuw (RSA) bt Gaurav Nandrajog (IND) 12-10, 11-3, 11-6 (35m)
Ravi Dixit (IND) bt Vrishab Kotian (IND) 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 (26m)
Elvinn Keo (MAS) bt Vivek Dinodia (IND) 11-7, 11-2, 11-1 (19m)
Amr Khaled Khalifa (EGY) bt Abhishek Pradhan (IND) 11-8, 11-5, 11-7 (21m)
