Ali Fathi Is Valencia Victor

Top seed Karim Ali Fathi survived a marathon all-Egyptian final of the PSA Valencia in Spain, beating unseeded Zahed Mohamed in the climax of the PSA Challenger 10 squash event in its third year at Club Olympia in Valencia.

The triumph marked the 20-year-old from Cairo's second PSA World Tour title in a row, and the eight-match run established Ali Fathi's longest winning streak on the Tour.

The favourite ended Alejandro Garbi Caro's run in the semi-finals when he beat the Spanish wild card 11-9, 11-4, 11-5.

The other semi was a non-seeded affair in which Mohamed prevailed in an 80-minute five-game battle against Frenchman Joan Lezaud.

And, despite his marathon ordeal 24 hours earlier, the 21-year-old from Alexandria twice led Ali Fathi in the final.

But Fathi, boasting a career-high world No39 ranking, forced the match into a decider and eventually secured his anticipated triumph over the world No78 Mohamed, winning 10-12, 12-10, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6 in 85 minutes.

The Valencia victory takes Ali Fathi's Tour title total to seven since January last year.