Top seeds triumph in San Francisco as ElShorbagy and El Welily lift squash trophies

World No.2 ElShorbagy lifted the trophy for a second time, after he got the better of World No.3 Momen in a deciding fifth game.

The pair were meeting for the 21st time on the PSA World Tour, and it was Momen who got the better start, but ‘The Beast’ was able to fight back quickly to gain the momentum in the first game, taking it 11-6 in just nine minutes.

The tournament’s No.1 seed also had an advantage in the second game at 6-3, but ‘The Viper’ won seven of the next eight points to sit pretty at 10-7. However, ElShorbagy was able to save all three game balls to push it into a tie-break.

‘The Beast’ then saved another game ball, but Momen would eventually get over the line to win it 13-11 to tie the match. The third game was a reverse of the second, with the World No.3 having to save several game balls. ElShorbagy, though, was able to take over the line 11-9 to go 2-1 up in the match.

Momen had control throughout the fourth game, in his quest to send it into a decider. He won it 11-7, but he was unable to keep his levels of performance up in the final game, as ElShorbagy proved too much, winning the match in 70 minutes, and claiming his second Oracle NetSuite Open title, following his 2017 victory.

“The way Tarek has been playing, the consistency he has had is unbelievable. I think the way the match went. It was cat-and-mouse. We both kept doing different things and luckily I won the first game so I had the advantage,” ElShorbagy said.

“Matches like this, when they go to a fifth, anything can happen. Whoever has the better start in the fifth usually pulls through. Luckily, I had that better start today.”

In the women’s final, World No.1 El Welily cruised to victory as she defeated compatriot El Tayeb in straight games to avenge her China Open final defeat from three weeks previous.

She needed just 23 minutes to complete the victory, her 13th over El Tayeb on the PSA World Tour, although the World No.5 did seem to be carrying some sort of shoulder issue throughout the match.

In winning the title, the World No.1 took revenge for losing in the final in San Francisco last year, and also on El Tayeb after missing out on the China Open title earlier this month, but the new champion did not think about that prior to this clash.

“I definitely felt good out there today! I just was trying to play all the way to the end and not to give any loose shots or give any cheap points. I wanted to try as hard as I could and I think that was what kept me going through to the end,” El Welily explained.

The PSA World Tour moves across the United States to Philadelphia for the US Open, which takes place from 5-12 October. You can watch all the action on Eurosport Player.

Result – Men’s Final: Oracle NetSuite Open
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [2] Tarek Momen (EGY) 3-2: 11-5, 11-13, 11-9, 7-11, 11-4 (70m)

Result – Women’s Final: Oracle NetSuite Open
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-5 (23m)