Shabana, Ashour To Contest $50K Vancouver PSA Final
by Howard Harding
Shabana-Momen
Mosaad-Ashour
15 January 2012 - The top two seeds Amr Shabana and Hisham Mohamed Ashour will contest an all-Egyptian final of the Comfort Inn Open in Canada after prevailing against fellow countrymen in the semi-finals of the PSA World Tour International 50 event at the Evergreen Squash Club in Vancouver.
Second seed Ashour, the 29-year-old older brother of world No4 Ramy Ashour, reached the final for the second successive year after beating younger opponent Omar Mosaad, the 23-year-old third seed, 11-9, 11-9, 13-11 in 49 minutes.
"Ashour impressed the galleries as he made his way to the Comfort Inn finals last year and in his matches in this year's event thus far, with his stunning array of deceptive shots that are made with such speed & precision his opponents and his galleries are often left staring in disbelief," said tournament organiser Paul Marley.
The second semi-final featured top seed Shabana, the winner of last week's ATCO PSA World Series Finals who is making his maiden appearance in the event - and much younger Tarek Momen, the 2009 runner-up who is making his fifth appearance at the Evergreen Squash Club.
"The stage was set for a classic battle between the young lion, rising in the ranks, competing against the mature lion who has demonstrated that he still has the skills and motivation to continue to play at the highest level and has no intention of abandoning his territory any time soon," explained Marley.
"The match started out a little slowly, with Shabana winning the first game fairly easily. But Momen seemed to gain confidence, maybe realising that he could compete with his legendary countryman, and the next three games were very competitive and very entertaining."
Shabana recovered from losing the third game to close out the match 11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9 after 44 minutes to notch up the 43rd Tour final appearance of his lengthy career.
Shabana and Ashour, who is celebrating his 11th Tour final appearance, have met seven times on the PSA Tour over the last ten years - with 32-year-old Shabana boasting a 100% success record.
RESULTS: PSA International 50 Comfort Inn Open, Vancouver, Canada
Semi-finals:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Tarek Momen (EGY) 11-6, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9 (44m)
[2] Hisham Mohamed Ashour (EGY) bt [3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-9, 11-9, 13-11 (49m)
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