International Squash Magazine - Allam British Open Issue

DPD OPEN CHAMPIONS
ALIFARAG&RANEEMELWELILY
CROWNEDDPDOPENCHAMPIONS
Egypt’s World No.1’s Ali Farag and Raneem El Welily were crowned
2019 DPD Open champions with respective wins over Mohamed
ElShorbagy and Nour El Sherbini at the new DPD headquarters in
Eindhoven, Netherlands, which marked the grand opening of the title
sponsors new distribution centre.
El Welily claimed her second successive
title on the Professional Squash
Association (PSA) World Tour after
producing an incredible comeback from 2-0
down to win 10-12 9-11 11-8 11-8 11-8 against
reigning World Champion El Sherbini.
The top seed, who had been extended to
five games in all of her earlier matches,
held numerous game balls in the first
game, but El Sherbini battled back to
rattle off the points in quick succession to
eventually take the opener on a tie-break.
The three-time World Champion doubled
her advantage in the second, however her
fellow Egyptian showed incredible mental
strength to battle back in style to claim
her 21st professional title.
“The five-setters really paid off eventually,”
said 30-year-old El Welily. “To come back
from 2-0 down against Nour is almost
impossible, mentally at least, so I’m really
happy with the way I managed to push
myself mentally and physically and show
some character towards the end.”
World No.1 and World Champion Ali Farag
dominated his rival ElShorbagy to claim
the men’s title - the first meeting between
the two world’s leading players since the
final of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of
Champions in January which Farag won
to claim the World No.1 spot from his
illustrious compatriot.
The first game looked as though it would
set the tempo for the rest of the match,
with both players showcasing their ability
to send it all the way to a tense tie-break,
which ElShorbagy eventually claimed.
However, Farag came out firing in the
second and never looked back as he
controlled the rest of the match against a
below-par ElShorbagy to take an 11-13 11-6
11-4 11-4 victory.
“The first game was really tough, and it
was a tough one to lose,” said Farag.
“I’m glad I regrouped myself and Nour
[El Tayeb] gave me a very good tip after
the first. It’s always a pleasure to share
the court with someone who is one of the
greats of our sport and I’m looking forward
to many more battles in the future.
“He was No.1 when I was starting so
Mohamed is always going to be favourite.
I don’t put much pressure on myself but
obviously I’m very happy with the way I
handled things,” added the 26-year-old.
2019 DPD Open Squash,
Eindhoven
Men’s Final:
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt
[2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
11-13 11-6 11-4 11-4
Women’s Final:
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt
[2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
10-12 9-11 11-8 11-8 11-8
INTERNATIONALSQUASHMAGAZINE June 2019 | 21
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