Elias Downs Dessouky To Retain Motor City Trophy

Diego Elias became the first player in the event's 23-year history to successfully defend the Motor City Open title when he defeated Fares Dessouky of Egypt in three games in the final of the PSA World Tour Silver event at the Birmingham Athletic Club in Bloomfield Hills, Detroit.

The Peruvian takes home the $12,600 winner's purse and a Longines watch from Greenstone's Jewelers after his 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 triumph.

It was Elias's third successive appearance at the MCO - and, with the win, he tied his coach Jonathon Power and former world #1 Mohamed Elshorbagy for most victories at the MCO (two).

"I'm always feeling great in this tournament," Elias said. "I like the courts, I like the people here. They make us feel like home. I'm very happy with my performance this week."

To reach the final Elias survived some tough matches - including a semi-final war with soon-to-be world #1 Paul Coll. But he was never taken to a fifth game, going wire-to-wire as the best squash player on the Birmingham Athletic Club's challenging courts over a five-day stretch.

"It was a really good event for him. He had his full game on display," coach Power said. "He had a few tough matches and yesterday was brutally physical - Coll's a tough player."

Three-seed Elias jumped on Dessouky's mistakes early. The Egyptian smacked three shots into the tin as he quickly fell behind 7-1 in the opening game. Elias was able to withstand a push to finish him off, 11-5.

If there's a game that Dessouky would like to have back, it's the second. He opened with a 3-1 lead, but once again the #7 seed buried himself with shots into the tin. Two straight shots into the red stripe tied things up at 3-3, and, as he and Elias traded points, Dessouky's mistakes piled up. Elias won the game, 11-8.

"He's an attacking player, so I just needed to be patient and keep my lines and try to be smart," Elias said. "He gave me a few errors every game, so that helped. I knew he could maybe take one (or) two games, but if I keep being patient and hitting the lines, I thought that was a game plan to win."

The pattern continued on into the third game. Dessouky jumped out to a 6-3 lead, hit two straight shots into the tin, and then misfired on three consecutive balls to put Elias up 8-7 and all but seal his fate.

Still, the run to finals was an impressive debut for Dessouky in his first-ever MCO.

"I was injured since April. Three doctors told me to stop playing squash, but I didn't stop, I kept going," Dessouky said. "I believed in myself so much. I believed in my family, I believed in my coaches, I believe in the process in my doctors, and I'm very happy to be back and competing again."

Dessouky also earned a Longines watch from Greenstone's Jewelers in Birmingham.