Best tournament I have ever played in, says world number one
By NATHAN CLARKE
World No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy captured the 19th PSA World Tour title of his career after beating fellow Egyptian Omar Mosaad in the final of the inaugural 2016 Taeq SquashColombia M115 PSA Open in Cartagena to win the most lucrative squash tournament ever held in South America.
Mosaad started strongly after a plethora of unforced errors from his opponent enabled him to build up a lead in the opening game but Elshorbagy fought back to take the opener.
The errors from Elshorbagy reared their head again in the second to allow Mosaad to level proceedings before a rampant Elshorbagy found himself back in the ascendancy after taking the third for the loss of just three points.
Both players upped their game towards the end of the match, with the quality of squash increasing as some enthralling rallies played out in front of an enraptured crowd.
After finding himself 7-4 down after some fantastic industry from Mosaad, Elshorbagy finally pushed on to turn the tables and wrap up the win with an 11-9, 7-11, 11-3, 11-9 margin of victory to take his second PSA World Tour title of 2016 in only his third tournament of the New Year.
“I want to congratulate Omar and his team for an amazing week,” said Elshorbagy, pictured holding his trophy (right) .
“He has been having such a great season, he absolutely deserves to be where he is in the rankings right now and I look forward to more great matches with him in the future.
“This is by far the best tournament I’ve played in my life. I’ve absolutely loved it.”
$115,000 Men’s Taeq PSA Squash Colombia Open 2016, Plaza de la Aduana, Cartagena, Colombia
Final:
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) bt [2] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 7-11, 11-3, 11-9 (66m)
Pictures courtesy of PSA