Ali Farag Flourishes In Rochester Pro-Am

Competing in his first PSA World Tour event since August last year, Egypt's Ali Farag claimed the Layer 3 Telecom & Hazlow Electronics Rochester Pro-Am title in the USA after stopping unseeded South African Clinton Leeuw in the final of the PSA Challenger 5 squash event in its eighth year at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York.

After surviving an 81-minute five-game marathon against experienced Australian Scott Arnold in the quarter-finals, the 20-year-old Harvard student made his breakthrough in the semis, overcoming Mexico's No2 seed Erik Tepos Valtierra in four games to earn his fifth appearance in a Tour final.

But Leeuw was enjoying a sensational run in his third event of the month, which began when he dismissed Pakistan's top seed Yasir Butt in the opening round.

A straight games victory over third-seeded Australian Wade Johnstone in the semi-finals took the Cape Town-born 30-year-old into the fourth Tour final of his career.

Leeuw raced to an 8-3 lead in the opening game of the final, and stemmed a fightback by the young Egyptian to nine-all before taking a one-love lead.

From six-all in the second, fourth seed Ali moved on to draw level before taking a positive lead after conceding just two points in a quick-fire eight-minute third game.

In a tight fourth, the South African briefly led in the early stages, but Farag reclaimed the lead before clinching his 9-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-8 victory after 50 minutes.

The win marks the world No 131 from Cairo's fifth PSA World Tour title.

For all the latest Tour news: www.psaworldtour.com