LONDON — Egyptian duo Mostafa Asal and Nouran Gohar have captured the 2024 British Squash Open titles after they defeated their counterparts World No.1s Ali Farag and Nour el-Sherbini on a thrilling all-Egyptian finals day at the spectacular Birmingham Rep Theatre.
World No.4 Asal has won the British Open for the first time in his career following an 11-5, 2-11, 13-11, 4-11, 12-10 victory over defending champion Farag in a captivating men’s final, lasting 79 minutes.
Farag was appearing in his fifth successive British Open, final but Asal – making his first appearance in the title decider of the historic event – overturned a championship ball to secure the 15th title of his career and etch his name on the famous British Open trophy.
“It’s unbelievable, I’m almost running out of words, I’m almost crying,” Asal, 23, said.
“To win against Paul [Coll, in the semi-finals] and Ali is amazing. I was 6-2 up in the final game and then the emotions came in, and Ali came back to 9-7. It was almost going the other way, but what a relief.
“At the beginning of the season I had no structure until I went to Pontefract to work with James [Willstrop]. To play the squash that I’m winning at the moment is all credit to them.”
The differing game plans of both players were stark in the early stages of the match, with Farag trying to elongate the rallies and put some work into the legs of Asal, with the latter looking for winners whenever given the briefest window of opportunity.
It was Asal whose quality proved too hot to handle though, with ‘The Raging Bull’ stunning the packed house in Birmingham by charging through the first game by an 11-5 scoreline.
Top seed Farag reacted as champions do in the second, nailing his lines and racing into a substantial early lead. From the mid-point of the game on, instead of engaging in a physical battle with Farag, Asal decided to conserve his energy and go for broke, missing a number of attempted winners, and losing a one-sided second game in just six minutes.
Farag and Asal couldn’t be separated in the 25-minute third game that followed, with the level of squash moving up to a whole new level.
The pair traded blows back and forth, with Asal moving two game balls up at 10-8, but Farag fighting back to force a tie-break.
However, Farag couldn’t save a third game ball, with the top seed clipping a backhand volley from the middle of the court into the tin to fall 2-1 behind to the 23-year-old.
As was the case earlier in the match, Farag once again fought back into the encounter, showing some incredible defensive work to negate the power of his Egyptian compatriot.
Despite the stop-start nature of the fourth game, which included a number of traffic issues in the middle of the court, Farag kept a cool head to force a deciding game.
Yet more momentum swings continued in what proved to be an epic fifth game, with Asal moving into a 6-2 advantage, but Farag taking five straight points to retake the lead.
The top seed looked to be on the cusp of victory at 10-9 up, but Asal found a perfect dying length to force a tie-break. ‘The Raging Bull’ won the following point to move championship ball up, and at the first time of asking, sealed victory when a no-let decision was awarded in his favour.
In the women’s competitions, world Champion Gohar has won her second British Open title after beating El Sherbini by an 11-6, 17-15, 3-11, 7-11, 11-4 scoreline in what is the longest women’s British Open final on record.
At 91 minutes, the match was a high-octane affair, with El Sherbini overturning a two-game deficit as she looked to avenge last month’s PSA World Championship final defeat to Gohar.
History suggested that El Sherbini would complete the comeback having beaten Gohar in three previous British Open finals, but Gohar is playing some of the best squash of her career at present, and the 26-year-old powered through to take the fifth game, earning her fourth successive PSA title.
“It felt like a never-ending story although I was 2-0 up,” said Gohar after winning the 27th title of her career.
“El Sherbini won her first World Championships title from 2-0 down, so if anyone can come back, it is her. She played better when she was down, and I tried to prepare for that, but it was very difficult to stop,” she added according to psaworldtour.
“I feel like I can trust my physicality right now. I can go out there and play for 100 minutes, I’m injury-free, I can hit whatever shot whenever I want, so why not win every single match I can?
“I think after the World Championships, it was a major relief and there was pressure off me. [This week] it was more about enjoying myself and proving to myself that I am the best right now.”
Gohar, who was competing in her fifth consecutive final at the British Open, had ElSherbini on the back foot right from the offset, hitting with her trademark power and troubling the movement of ‘The Warrior Princess’ into the front two corners. Somewhat surprisingly, errors flowed from El Sherbini’s racket in the opening game, with the Egyptian missing her targets on numerous occasions when well-placed in the rally.
The inevitable response came back from El Sherbini after falling a game behind, raising her game and taking a 5-1 lead in the second.
However, once again, a couple of clipped drops into the tin from El Sherbini helped Gohar to draw parity and move one game ball up at 10-9.
El Sherbini saved the first game ball with a beautiful cross-court drop, before Gohar smashed a regulation backhand straight into the tin with the score 11-10 in her favour.
Four more game balls would come and go for the No.4 seed in a nail-biting tie-break before Gohar finally managed to move two games up.
World No.1 El Sherbini looked to have her house back in order early in the third, moving and hitting with improved accuracy, but a tumble after tripping on Gohar’s leg led to a contributed injury break, with the physio called on to treat El Sherbini’s left knee.
This distraction didn’t perturb ‘The Warrior Princess’ though, with the Egyptian returning to the court and firing in a number of quick-fire winners with the colder ball to reduce the deficit to 2-1.
El Sherbini forced a deciding game, but didn’t get off to the quick start that she would have wanted, with Gohar regathering her composure and tight lines down both wings.
The current World Champion took and early lead and never let El Sherbini get level again. She moved to four match balls up after 90 minutes of action, and clinched the title when a no-let decision was awarded in her favour.
