[3] Diego Elias (Per) 3-2 [1] Mostafa Asal (Egy) 5-11, 11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6 (79m)
PSA reports
World No.3 Diego Elias has captured his first CIB Egyptian Open title following a high-quality five-game victory over World No.1 Mostafa Asal – becoming the first non-Egyptian to take the title since Peter Nicol in 2001 (Squash at the Pyramids History)
Elias, who lost out to Asal in the final of the Egyptian Open 12 months ago in a very contentious match, overturned the result from that day in front of the iconic Great Pyramid of Giza, toppling the two-time defending champion by an 11-5, 5-11, 6-11, 11-7, 6-11 scoreline.
Asal made a flying start, dominated the first game, and controlled the battle on the ’T’. The two-time defending champion was sharp on the volley, cutting off Elias’ attacking options to win the opening game 11-5.
Elias returned for the second game with renewed accuracy, finding the precision and ball control that had proved so effective in his semi-final win over World No. 2 Paul Coll. The cooler court conditions played into the Peruvian’s favour as he increasingly exploited the front of the court, finding greater success in disrupting the movement patterns of Asal.
An 11-5 second-game win levelled the match, before Elias carried this momentum through to an 11-6 third-game win which showcased the No.3 seed at his very best. Cairo-born Asal refused to go down without a fight in the fourth game though, feeding off the fervent home support to send the match to a deciding game. From 5-4, Asal won six of the next nine points to level the match as the clock went over the hour mark.
The Asal momentum was short-lived at the start of the fifth game, though, with Elias charging out of the blocks with a flurry of five unanswered points. Despite Asal’s best attempts to stage a comeback, the Peruvian Puma held strong to win the fifth 11-6 and clinch his 23rd PSA Tour title after 78 minutes of play.
“My tactics are working lately, so I don’t feel like I need to change my game. I just tried to play my best this week, be very focused, and it worked.” “It’s been years now that we’ve been playing each other, and we’ve played such quality matches. I don’t know how many times we’ve gone to 3-2, but it’s almost every time. I hope people are really enjoying the level of squash. And I’m super happy to get this win. “It’s tough to play in Egypt. But it’s been so many times that fans have been cheering for the other player and not for me, that I’m used to it. Anyway, I always like being back here in Egypt; everyone loves their squash, it’s great. “I know that every time I play in Egypt, most people aren’t cheering for me! But I enjoy coming back. I love being here in Egypt, people love their squash, and I’m just super happy to be here. I hope everyone enjoyed the squash this week.” 
