Asal Makes First Platinum Final After Elias Exit At US Open

Egypt's world No.10 Mostafa Asal will line up in a PSA World Tour Platinum final for the first time in his career after coming through a brutal five-game thriller against Peru's Diego Elias in the semi-finals of the US Open presented by Truist at the new Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia.

Asal has already established himself as one of the sport's finest players after winning his first major PSA title in July's CIB PSA World Tour Finals, and the 20-year-old will have the chance to add the US Open trophy to his collection after beating world No.8 Elias in an 11-7, 11-8, 3-11, 2-11, 12-10 scoreline.

It looked as if Elias would have the distinction of becoming the first Peruvian Platinum finalist after he battled back from two games down to level. Asal looked physically spent - but the Egyptian summoned whatever strength he had left to fight back from 7-2 behind and then two match balls down to seal his place in the title decider.

"This is a wonderful place to play and a wonderful court," said Asal afterwards.

"I'm thankful I came through today and played this amazing match, it's been a pleasure to play in front of the US crowd. I came into this tournament with a bit of an injury in my shoulder, and I've been trying to fix it in since San Francisco.

"I'm going to recover now and play some FIFA to relax a little bit. I have confidence that I can win the tournament tomorrow. I did before at the World Tour Finals!"

Asal will take on higher-ranked compatriot Tarek Momen in the final after the world No.4 defeated Welshman Joel Makin to reach his first US Open final.

Makin caused one of the tournament's biggest upsets when he overcame defending champion Ali Farag in the quarter finals, but was unable to get the better of Momen, who battled to an 11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8 victory. Both Momen and Asal will now aim to win their first Platinum titles, while Momen will look to avenge his defeat to Asal at the Oracle NetSuite Open a fortnight ago.

"He's unreal, he never gives up, it's one of the best qualities he has, and I don't think anyone on tour has this quality, the way he fights despite being extremely tired and fatigued is just unreal," said Momen.

"The way he was fighting kept me going, I was thinking 'Look at what he's doing, look how hard he's pushing, you need to push hard as well'. I think he just lifted me up today... I'm really proud with how I fought today, the fourth and fifth games were super tough."

The women's title decider will see world No.6 Hania El Hammamy line up in her first US Open final opposite the defending champion Nouran Gohar following respective wins against world No.1 Nour El Sherbini and USA's Olivia Fiechter.

El Hammamy found herself a game down after a strong start from three-time finalist El Sherbini. However, El Hammamy stepped it up in the second game and punished El Sherbini as the match went on, eventually emerging victorious courtesy of an 8-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-7 triumph.

"It would mean a lot [to win the U.S. Open title]," El Hammamy said.

"I've never reached anything in this tournament, I used to lose in the first or second round. I'm loving the new venue, it's amazing, I'm loving the court, the atmosphere, and the crowd is amazing."

Gohar ended US hopes at the tournament after overcoming the country's No.3 player Olivia Fiechter 11-5, 11-2, 11-3.

Fiechter was appearing in her maiden Platinum semi-final after causing a major shock against compatriot and world No.3 Amanda Sobhy in the third round. But she was put to the sword in a dominant Gohar display, leaving the Egyptian with the chance of capturing back-to-back US Open titles.

"I have great memories of two years ago, it was amazing," Gohar said.

"Having the crowd today, even if most of the time they were cheering against me, I love it. I love having a great crowd watching and enjoying the game. It makes me feel really happy, and I really appreciate what I'm doing on court."