Finals Day : Orfi and Farag win five game finals !
Amina Orfi and Ali Farag are the 2024 VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open Champions after they both came through in five games against Hania El Hammamy and Diego Elias.
[5] Amina Orfi (Egy) 3-2 [1] Hania El Hammamy (Egy) 9-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-1, 11-9 (96m)
[1] Ali Farag (Egy) 3-2 [3] Diego Elias (Per) 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-1, 11-4 (70m)
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Farag comes back to retain the title
[1] Ali Farag (Egy) 3-1 [3] Diego Elias (Per) 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-1, 11-4 (70m)
Ali Farag staged a comeback from two games down to retain his Singapore Squash Open title, consigning Elias to his third runner-up medal in three years.
World #1 Ali Farag is the men’s VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open champion for a second year running after he came back from two games down to beat World Champion Diego Elias at the OCBC Arena earlier today.
For the first game and a half it was Elias – who had overturned a 2-0 deficit in his semi-final match with Paul Coll – who dictated the tempo of the match and slotted a range of winners to outclass the world’s best male player.
Farag finally managed to put some work into the Peruvian’s legs at the back end of the second game, and while he went on to lose it, that work proved crucial in the next three games.
The Egyptian began to weave his web as he drew Elias into his game plan. The third game went to Farag by an 11-8 scoreline and the fourth was a procession as he dropped just one point en route to drawing level.
Farag made the first two rallies of the fifth game physical, with Elias requesting an injury break so he could receive treatment from the physio on his hip. From there, Farag pulled away as Elias continued to suffer with his movement, closing out a 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-1, 11-4 victory.
That marks Farag’s 43rd PSA Squash Tour title from his 75th final.
“I’m very happy to get away with the win,” said Farag afterwards.
“I was a little lucky because Diego didn’t have much in the tank yesterday, he was absolutely cruising in the first two games, but I was lucky he got a bit tired at the end. I was telling him after the match that I’m pretty sick of him, I’ve played him five times this season and all of them have been really tough.
“I also want to congratulate the women. Amina is doing incredibly at the age of 17. Hania [the runner-up] is a dear friend and a great person before being a great player. I know she will come back stronger. Both of them are making Egyptian squash and women’s squash very proud.”
It’s back to back titles for Amina !!
[5] Amina Orfi (Egy) 3-2 [1] Hania El Hammamy (Egy) 9-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-1, 11-9 (96m)
Amina Orfi beat top seed Hania El Hammamy in a five game marathon to claim the VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open title to add to the Malaysia Cup she won last weekend – also in five games !
Egyptian teenager Amina Orfi has captured her first PSA Gold-level title at the age of just 17 after she battled past top seed and World #3 Hania El Hammamy in a dramatic title decider at the VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open.
Orfi was appearing in the biggest final of her career and was up against an opponent she had lost to in both of their previous encounters on the PSA Squash Tour. However, the reigning World Junior Champion put in a battling performance as she prevailed in five games, winning 9-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-1, 11-9. Orfi becomes the youngest player ever to win a PSA Gold event.
El Hammamy cut a composed figure in the opening game as she hit her targets and resisted a strong start from Orfi to go a game ahead. The second game was a feisty encounter though, with Orfi receiving a conduct stroke for her movement and El Hammamy being given a conduct warning for descent.
Despite that conduct stroke whittling away one of her two game balls, Orfi held her nerve to draw level, and the teenager pushed El Hammamy to her limits in a lengthy third game, ultimately being left empty-handed as El Hammamy restored her one-game advantage.
The fourth game was all Orfi though as she dominated and dropped just one point to set up a deciding fifth game.
El Hammamy refocused to take five of the first six points on offer, but it was then Orfi’s turn as she recalibrated her hard hitting to draw level at 5-5. A break in play followed as El Hammamy got treatment on her leg after grazing it on the court floor, but it did little to halt Orfi’s rhythm.
The World #10 pushed ahead in the back part of the game and then kept El Hammamy at bay to close out a win which sees her lift her sixth PSA title.
“I feel so happy that I won, I can’t believe it at all,” said Orfi afterwards.
“This is my biggest title and by biggest win so far, I’m very happy with how I played.
“The bounces were on my side and she hit a lot of unforced errors. That bought me the confidence I needed. I didn’t know when the next time that I would reach a Gold final would be, so I took it step by step, and I was motivated by Siva’s [Sivasangari Subramaniam] win in London this year. I told myself I could do the same.
“At match ball I played a reverse boast and that’s not usually something I do. I’m so happy it went well. The key to my win was the fourth game, I had to start that one well so I could think of a fifth game.
“I’m flying in a few hours, so I don’t have much time to celebrate. But I’m really looking forward to enjoying a day with my family and friends and having some Egyptian desserts.”
Marigold PSA Challenger IV
Congrats to Jemyca Aribado (Phi) and Elvinn Keo (Mas)
Finals Preview :
First up is women’s top seed Hania El Hammamy against fellow Egyptian Amina Orfi, the fifth seed. Both have World Junior Championship titles to their name, Hania in 2019 and Amina for the last three years with one more a possibility. They’ve met twice before with Hania winning both although over an hour’s play was needed both times. Both have only dropped one game on their way to the final.
The men’s final is a repeat of last year’s between top seeded Egyptian Ali Farag and Peru’s Diego Elias. Farag won last year but they’ve met six more times since then, Farag winning four but it was Elias who won the World Champs final in May. Farag leads the overall H2H 25-5, but will the wrist injury he suffered in the semi affect him, and will Elias have recovered from yesterday’s epic comeback …
