RESULTS: PSA Challenger 10 Avrupa Konutlari International, Istanbul, Turkey
Semi-finals:
[1] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Fabien Verseille (FRA) 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 (28m)
[3] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) bt [Q] Rasmus Nielsen (DEN) 3-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (48m)
Final:
[1] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [3] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 11-8, 8-11, 13-11, 12-10 (93m)
Mosaad Makes History In Turkey
Egypt’s Omar Mosaad claimed his place in squash history when he won the first Tour event ever to be staged in Turkey.
But the 22-year-old from Cairo was stretched for 93 minutes by Italian opponent Davide Bianchetti before winning theAvrupa Konutlari International, the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 event at Avrupa Konutlari Ataken inIstanbul.
By contrast, top seed Mosaad raced through his semi-final encounter, despatching unseeded Frenchman Fabien Verseillein straight games in just 28 minutes – while third seed Bianchetti was taken to four games before overcoming Danish qualifierRasmus Nielsen in 48 minutes.
After the first two games of the final were shared, world No16 Mosaad was extended to tie-breaks in both the following games before finally emerging triumphant 11-8, 8-11, 13-11, 12-10 in the longest match of the championship.
Mosaad was celebrating his second PSA Tour final in a row after reaching the climax of the Motor City Open in the USA in January. The win marked the sixth Tour title of his career.