World No.1 Ali Farag and World No.2 Nouran Gohar captured the Comcast Business U.S. Open titles after defeating Diego Elias and Nour El Sherbini.
Gohar lifted her fourth U.S. Open trophy after she overcame World No.1 El Sherbini in four games before Farag delivered a faultless performance to win the title for the third time.
In what was the 10th consecutive major event final between Gohar and El Sherbini, it was No.2 seed Gohar who eventually reigned supreme at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia, fighting off an inspired comeback from the seven-time World Champion to take the match by an 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7 scoreline.
After taking two closely contested opening games with some accurate but equally aggressive squash, Gohar looked primed for a straight games victory at 10-7 up in the third. However, El Sherbini lived up to her ‘Warrior Princess’ nickname with an astonishing spell of squash, saving all three championship balls with clean winners, before clinching the subsequent tie-break.
Despite this agonising end to the third game, Gohar delivered a gutsy response, soon finding herself in a mirror position at 10-7 up in the fourth game. The World No.2 held her nerve to seal victory at the first time of asking, capturing her first title of the PSA Squash Tour season.
After the match, Gohar said: “Ten days ago, when I was in the hospital for my broken nose I didn’t even think that I would be able to do this.
“I was very annoyed with myself after the end of the third game because I thought I was playing very well. I didn’t want that small moment to cost me a big title.
“I just gave it a big fight in the fourth and made sure not to lose quick points. I told myself it was like a pressure session and to just give it my all.”
Meanwhile, in the men’s event, top seed Farag claimed an 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 victory over current World Champion Elias to win the 42nd title of his career.
World No.4 Elias had dominated Farag with a sublime straight-games performance at the Qatar Classic earlier this month, but from point one here, Farag looked to right the wrongs from that day, striking the perfect balance between defence and attack throughout the 39-minute encounter.
🎤 “That is why he is World No.1!”
A flawless performance from @AliFarag sees him win his third U.S. Open title 🏆#USOpenSquash pic.twitter.com/oAP6CJFmoh
— PSA Squash Tour (@PSASquashTour) October 27, 2024
After powering through a one-sided opening game, Farag fought back from 7-4 down in the second to double his advantage in the match.
The disappointing nature of the second-game defeat seemingly dampened Elias’ spirits, with Farag coming from 3-1 down in the third to claim victory in a flash. The four-time World Champion took ten out of the next 11 points to win his first event of the PSA Squash Tour season.
“I didn’t watch the match back from Qatar,” Farag said. “One thing that I pride myself on is putting up a fight whenever I lose, and in Qatar I didn’t think I did that, so that was very disappointing.
“It questions your hunger, it makes you doubt yourself. And this week, even against Youssef Ibrahim [in the quarter-finals] I was still doubting myself when I lost a game. That win against Youssef though gave me a lot of confidence going into the match yesterday with Mazen [Hesham] and today with Diego.”
Results: Men’s Final – U.S. Open Championships 2024
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [4] Diego Elias (PER) 3-0: 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 (39m)
Results: Women’s Final – U.S. Open Championships 2024
[2] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [1] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-7 (51m)