El Welily & Farag Share DPD Open Delight

Egyptians Ali Farag and Raneem El Welily - both ranked No.1 in the world - are the 2019 DPD Open champions after claiming respective wins over compatriots Mohamed Elshorbagy and Nour El Sherbini in the PSA World Tour Gold event in the Dutch city of Eindhoven.

The tournament was held at the brand new DPD headquarters in Eindhoven to mark the grand opening of the international company's new distribution centre.

Women's world No.1 El Welily claimed her second successive PSA title, following her win last month at the Black Ball Open on home soil, after producing an incredible comeback from 2/0 down to beat reigning World Champion El Sherbini 10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8.

El Welily, whose previous five Tour matches had also gone to five games, held numerous game balls in the first, but El Sherbini battled back to rattle off the points in quick succession, eventually taking the opener on a tie-break.

The three-time World Champion then doubled her lead in the second, with both players showing unbelievable skill on court much to the delight of the packed-out crowd. But it was El Welily who ultimately prevailed - endorsing her higher ranking and seeding to battle back and claim her 21st PSA title.

"The five-setters really paid off eventually," said 30-year-old El Welily. "To come back from 2/0 down against Nour is almost impossible, mentally at least, so I'm really happy with the way I managed to push myself mentally and physically and show some character towards the end.

"After I lost the first when I was 10-5 up, I thought I blew it up, but I just told myself it's not the end of the world just keep pushing. You need to come off court doing your best, if you mess things up sometimes you fight hard to make things right again."

Meanwhile, World Champion Farag dominated against rival and world No.1 predecessor Elshorbagy to claim the men's title.

It was the first meeting between the two players since January's JP Morgan Tournament of Champions final which Farag won to take the world No.1 spot from Elshorbagy - and Farag ensured he continued his dominance with a 3/1 triumph.

The first game looked as though it was going to set the tempo for the rest of the match, with both players showcasing their ability to send it all the way to a tense tie-break, which Elshorbagy claimed. However, Farag came out firing in the second and never looked back as he controlled the rest of the match against a below-par Elshorbagy to take an 11-13, 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 victory.

"The first game was really tough and it was a tough one to lose," said the 26-year-old Farag afterwards.

"I'm glad I regrouped myself and Nour [El Tayeb] gave me a very good tip after the first. It's always a pleasure to share the court with someone who is one of the greats of our sport and I'm looking forward to many more battles in the future.

"He was No.1 when I was starting so Mohamed is always going to be favourite. I don't put much pressure on myself but obviously I'm very happy with the way I handled things. I think I played good squash and I'm looking forward to taking that on next week in El Gouna."