Momen Outlasts Zakaria in 106-Minute Palm Hills Epic

World No.6 Tarek Momen booked his spot in the semi-finals of the Palm Hills Open after edging past teenage sensation Mohamad Zakaria in a marathon five-game duel at Golf Central Mall in Cairo.

In a match that pitted the 2019 World Champion and the 2024 World Junior Champion together, it was 37-year-old Momen who eventually prevailed in the gripping 106-minute duel over the 17-year-old, taking the match by an 11-8, 13-15, 11-3, 6-11, 11-8 scoreline.

The opening two games lasted a brutal 53 minutes alone, with both players engaging in long, testing rallies in the sweltering conditions in Cairo. After Momen had come on strong to take the first, it was Zakaria who bounced back to take a long tie-break, which was littered with traffic issues in the middle of the court.

Momen responded to a second-game tie-break loss with a dominant third, but Zakaria struck back in the fourth to force a deserved deciding game.

Despite trailing 8-5 in the fifth game, Momen showed superb physical endurance to reel in Zakaria - 20 years his junior - with a series of high-intensity rallies. The No.2 seed capitalised on this brief window of opportunity by taking six straight points to seal a remarkable victory and reach the last four of the Gold-level event.

After the match, Momen said: "I never expected it to go over 100 minutes for sure. What can I say. I'm 37 years old. I'm playing with a 17-year-old, someone who's 20 years younger than me, and I managed somehow to outlast him.

"Also, I just want to talk about Zakaria a little bit. I believe he is a phenomenon. You don't get a 17-year-old who plays like this every year or two. He is a one-of-a-kind player, but he has to capitalise on that by doing the right things."

Momen will play long-time rival Karim Gawad in the semi-finals after the No.3 seed defeated Swiss No.1 Dimitri Steinmann in three games.

Gawad looked in sublime form throughout the 39-minute encounter, displaying his trademark stroke play across the front areas of the court and as he recorded an 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 victory.

Meanwhile, in the women's draw, Japanese No.1 Satomi Watanabe advanced to her third Gold semi-final of the season following an impressive straight games win over No.8 seed Farida Mohamed.

The No.4 seed managed to control the attacking weapons of Mohamed with some smart use of lines and angles, taking control of the 'T' and moving through to victory after 33 minutes of play.

"Although the weather has cooled down a little bit, the ball was still quite bouncy," Watanabe said later. "Also, for both of us it was our first match on the glass, so we were kind of struggling to find a good pace, good rhythm or just a good length, but I'm just happy I managed to win today.

"I'm really pleased, and also proud that I've managed to stay in the tournament with all the good Egyptian players."

Watanabe's opponent in the last four will be world No.5 Amina Orfi, who saw her match with Salma Hany cut short after the No.7 seed withdrew from their match with illness - retiring mid-way through the third game.