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12 Dec 2024

Dessouky & Elshorbagy To Contest Shock Black Ball Final

25 Mar 2021

Egyptian duo Fares Dessouky and Marwan Elshorbagy will contest the final of the men's CIB PSA Black Ball Open after claiming straight games semi-final wins over World Champion Tarek Momen and world No.9 Joel Makin, respectively, at the Black Ball Sporting Club in Cairo.

The climax, starring the world No.6 and world No.8, will be the first ever PSA World Tour Platinum event not to feature a world top four-ranked player.

World No.8 Dessouky will appear in his first Platinum final after a masterclass from the 26-year-old saw him dismantle Momen, the world No.3, winning 11-8, 11-9, 11-7 to reach back-to-back finals at the Black Ball Open.

Dessouky is the defending Black Ball Open champion after December's final win over world No.1 Ali Farag when this tournament was a Gold event. He will now have the chance to get his hands on the biggest title of his career when he takes on Elshorbagy in the 2021 climax after a fine run of form which has now seen him beat the World Champion and the world No.1 at this tournament after his win over Farag in the quarters.

"Today, I was a bit exhausted," Dessouky said.

"It was a mental game and even if I lost, I was going to give it 100 per cent and I would learn from that lesson. It was not very easy, every game I was down by two and I had to come back to win the games. He is a very tough opponent.

"Tarek is very fast and very accurate, very talented, and I am really glad to be through that's for sure."

Elshorbagy and Makin came into their semi-final fixture after a pair of marathon quarter-final matchups, with the former beating world No.4 Paul Coll in 96 minutes, while Makin defeated Marwan's older brother, world No.2 Mohamed Elshorbagy, in 91 minutes.

And while Makin perhaps had the edge physically, Elshorbagy junior's tactical nous and cleverness on the court set him up for a sublime performance which saw him nullify Makin impressively en-route to a 17-15, 11-9, 11-8 victory.

Elshorbagy will now line up in his fourth Platinum final and will look to win his first Platinum title since the 2018 El Gouna International.

"I am very happy with how I backed up yesterday's match. When I woke up this morning, I just said to myself that today is more important than yesterday because it was all about backing up and it was all in the mind," Elshorbagy said.

"Fares is playing like he is the best player in the world right now. He has been fearless and relentless in the way he is playing. I admire him as a player, but I am going to try and win tomorrow. That is my aim and we both deserve to be in the final."