Qualifier Farag Takes Title At CCI In Mumbai

Egyptian qualifier Ali Farag, ranked 192 in the world, capped a sensational week of squash in the Indian city of Mumbai by defeating Pakistan's number one player Nasir Iqbal in the final of the CCI PSA International Championship at the Cricket Club of India.

Farag triumphed in the final of the PSA International 25 competition courtesy of an impressive 11-7, 7-11, 5-11, 11-1, 11-9 victory over high-flying world No53 Iqbal to round off what has been a momentous week for the 22-year-old Harvard University student from Cairo.

Having only earned his berth in the main draw courtesy of two hard-fought victories in qualification, Farag first stunned tournament favourite and world No16 Saurav Ghosal in round one before defeating Kristian Frost Olesen and Zahed Mohamed, the tournament's number eight and six seeds, to set up a title-decider with third seed Iqbal.

It was Farag who started brighter in the tournament decider but Iqbal, the 20-year-old from Peshawar, fought back to take a 2/1 lead as he looked to add to the FMC Pakistan International Circuit and Emerson Racquet Club Pro Series titles he won earlier this year.

But Farag showed his composure to force the match into a dramatic decider before prevailing by the narrowest of margins, taking the crucial fifth game 11-9 to win his first PSA World Tour title since 2012.

"It was a very tough match," said Farag, now with four PSA Tour titles to his credit.

"He came back by playing better and smarter especially in the fifth game and all I had to do was keep going."

Runner-up Iqbal added: "It was a close match and anybody could have won. As much I wanted to win the title, this tournament was very good for me."