Farag Foils Elshorbagy To Reach Bellevue Classic Final

Egypt's world No.8 Ali Farag upset compatriot Marwan Elshorbagy - ranked three places higher - in the semi-finals of the Pacific Market International Bellevue Squash Classic to set up a final of the inaugural PSA M100 event in Bellevue, USA, against Gregory Gaultier, the world No.2 from France.

Over $25,000 worth of prize money will be up for grabs in the final - a record amount for a squash tournament featuring a 16-man draw - with Gaultier lining up his seventh successive PSA World Tour final after defeating English rival James Willstrop 11-4, 11-5, 11-8.

Farag claimed back-to-back Tour finals for the third time in his career after coming through in four games against Elshorbagy junior.

Marwan came into the match following a major win over three-time World Champion Ramy Ashour in the previous round and had beaten Farag in their last meeting in the semi-final of February's Windy City Open. But the Egyptian underdog was in sparkling form to take the match 11-7, 11-4, 7-11, 11-5.

Gaultier and Farag met in the final of the Grasshopper Cup less than a fortnight ago, with the Frenchman winning the Swiss battle 3/0 to lift a sixth Tour title in a row.

"Marwan had a great win yesterday against probably one of the best players in the history of squash," said 25-year-old Farag.

"I'm very happy with the way I played, but I just have to give him credit for such a good tournament and such a good season. He's such an unbelievable player.

"I'm very happy to reach a second final back-to-back. It's one thing to be able to beat the top players, but to do it consistently is another and I'm very happy to be there. Hopefully I can go a step further this time."

Gaultier, the 34-year-old from France, lost his world No.1 ranking to Egypt's Karim Abdel Gawad earlier this month - but a win over Farag in the final will see him reclaim top spot in next month's World Rankings.

"I'm happy with my performances throughout the tournament," said Gaultier.

"It's a big mental exercise for me to push through with almost no recovery between tournaments because we have such a short time to go home, we only have a couple of days before we go again.

"You get your head into competition mode again and it's really tough, but that's what I train for and I spend all my time making sacrifices to play at that level."

Bellevue image courtesy of www.squashsite.co.uk