Harvard's Ali Farag Through Qualifier to Capture $25K PSA Mumbai, India, Title by Nathan Clarke July 6, 2014
- Egyptian World No.192 Ali Farag capped a sensational week of squash
in the Indian city of Mumbai by defeating Pakistan's number one player
Nasir Iqbal in the final of the CCI PSA International Squash
Championship earlier today.
Farag triumphed in the
final of the International 25 competition courtesy of an impressive
3-2, 11-7, 7-11, 5-11, 11-1, 11-9 victory over high-flying World No.53
Iqbal to cap what has been a momentous week for the the 22-year-old
from Cairo.
Having only earned his
berth in the main draw courtesy of two hard-fought victories in
qualification, Farag first stunned tournament favourite and World No.16
Saurav Ghosal in round one before defeating Kristian Frost Olesen and
Zahed Mohamed, the tournament's number eight and six seeds, to set up a
title-decider with number three seed Iqbal.
It was Farag who
started brighter in the tournament decider but Iqbal, the 20-year-old
from Peshawar, fought back to take a 2-1 lead as he looked to add to
the FMC Pakistan International Circuit and Emerson Racquet Club Pro
Series titles he won earlier this year.
But Farag showed his
composure to force the match into a dramatic decider before prevailing
by the narrowest of margins, taking the crucial fifth game 11-9 to win
his first PSA World Tour title since 2012.
“It was a very tough match,” said Farag in the wake of victory.
“He came back by playing better and smarter especially in the fifth game and all I had to do was keep going.”
“It was a close match
and anybody could have won,” said runner-up Iqbal. “As much I wanted to
win the title, this tournament was very good for me.”
CCI PSA International Championship 2014 - Final Result:
