PSA $50K Colombia Semis Report by Howard Harding 11 August 2013
- Egypt's Omar Mosaad ended local hero Miguel Angel Rodriguez's run in
the Abierto Colombiano de Squash Club El Nogal at Club El Nogal in
Bogota to set up a final of the PSA World Tour International 50 squash
event against top seed Peter Barker.
After upsetting
Egypt's title-holder Tarek Momen in the opening round, unseeded Bogota
boy Rodriguez had a fifth Colombian Open final in his sights.
But third seed Mosaad
(pictured above, right, with Rodriguez) proved to be an insurmountable
Egyptian: "The strength and consistency of the Egyptian eventually wore
out the Colombian," explained tournament spokesman Juan Carlos
Santacruz. "Strong lengths to the back hand and killer drop shots from
the back of the court gave Mosaad a 2/0 lead.
"In the third game, Mosaad's attacking precision produced successive winning rallies against a tiring Rodriguez."
The 11-8, 11-7, 11-5
victory brings up the 20th PSA Tour final appearance of world No11
Mosaad's career - but the 25-year-old from Cairo's first this year.
Mosaad was delighted
with his triumph over the Colombian number one in his home city: "I am
really happy that I won today. Everyone knows Miguel, he such a good
player, he is no19 in the PSA rankings.
"Actually before this
match, I was thinking what I was going to do in this match because he
had three advantages here - first one the altitude, the crowd, and he
is very fast," explained Mosaad.
"So I prepared myself
mentally to this match and I am really happy to win. So today I am
going to have some spa and rest and wait for my match tomorrow!"
England's Peter Barker
celebrated his first appearance in Bogota since winning his third
successive title in the event in 2007 by reaching his fourth final. The
world No7 from London defeated top-ranked Australian Cameron Pilley,
the No4 seed, 12-10, 11-5, 11-4.
World No13 Pilley led
in the opening game, but Barker's experience forced a tie-break to take
the lead. After going 2/0 down, Pilley again led briefly in the third -
but left-hander Barker raised his game to close out the match 3/0.
The win takes Barker into his second Tour final of the year - and the 22nd of his career.
RESULTS: PSA International 50 Abierto Colombiano de Squash Club El Nogal, Bogota, Colombia
