Farag & Coll Set Up World No.1 Shootout In Pyramids Playoff

Ali Farag and Paul Coll, currently ranked one and two in the world, will battle it out for pole position in the next men's PSA World Rankings when they contest the final of the CIB Egyptian Open at the Great Pyramids of Giza in Cairo today.

Defending champion Farag overcame his Egyptian compatriot Mostafa Asal, while former world No.1 Coll defeated Peru's Diego Elias.

Top seed Farag produced a tactical masterclass to defeat the No.3 seed Asal in a match that was disrupted towards the end by a number of stoppages.

Asal, winner of the pair's most recent two meetings, took the first game 11-7, but Farag claimed the second with a 12-10 win to draw level, despite Asal fighting back from 10-6 down to ten-all.

Farag looked dominant in the third as his astute tactical play was rewarded with an 11-6 win.

The frustrations of Asal boiled over on a number of occasions in a bizarre fourth game, with a number of strokes awarded against him for both his movement and conduct. In a fractured contest, that stood in stark contrast to the entertainment of the opening two games, Farag booked his place in another final with an 11-8 win.

"My mum is the secret behind today's win," said Farag. "It's amazing, no matter how well you're playing or how much you've trained or how much you've achieved, it's amazing how one loss can affect your confidence.

"My mum texted me today - a mother is probably the biggest figure in anyone's career or life and when your mum sends you a message saying she believes in you, not just because she's your mum but because she knows your character, it builds a lot of confidence in you and I'm so grateful to her. All I am is because of her and my father - and I'm really grateful."

World No.2 Coll, who will be aiming to reclaim the world No.1 ranking, edged his way past Elias 3/2 in a see-saw match.

Coll eased into the lead with an 11-4 win, but Elias responded in the second game as he played more positively, hunting volleys as his 11-7 victory restored parity.

No.2 seed Coll took advantage of a number of Elias errors in the third to reclaim the lead with a comfortable 11-6 win only for the Peruvian to come back once again in the fourth to take an 11-5 win to force a decider.

Elias opened up a 5-2 lead in the fourth, but Coll fought back with an impressive run of points to go 7-5 up as Elias appeared to tire, with more mistakes proving costly for the Peruvian as Coll went on to seal the match.

"[A final] is almost a new tournament. It doesn't matter what's happened before, it's a final and everyone's going to be ready for it," Coll said.

"It's one more match, one more day. Ali and I have had a lot of finals. I think tomorrow's going to be another good battle. He's a very fair player and it's another enjoyable battle and that's what we play squash for, those clean enjoyable battles."

In the women's draw, Hania El Hammamy will rise to world No.2 in the rankings after the 22-year-old produced a sublime performance to down current No.2 and fellow Egyptian Nour El Sherbini and reach her first Egyptian Open final.

El Sherbini took the lead, with the 'Warrior Princess' converting her third game ball with a service ace to go 1/0 up with a 14-12 win, but El Hammamy charged back from 5-1 down to take game two 11-7.

In a thrilling third game, El Hammamy moved into the lead, recovering from 7-4 down to 11-9.

The world No.3 opened up a 4-1 lead in the fourth game, before El Sherbini narrowed the gap. However, El Hammamy was able to close out a huge win as she capitalised on a pair of El Sherbini errors to clinch an enthralling contest and rise to a career-best ranking.

"It was definitely a very tough match and I'm very happy to reach the final in my first major tournament of the season," El Hammamy said.

"I had an idea that I'd be reaching world No.2 possibly if I won this match. Every time I felt I was approaching winning that match I was trying to focus on the point and the rally because my focus isn't world No.2 - it's world No.1."

El Hammamy meets defending champion Nouran Gohar in the final after the world No.1 came from behind against No.4 seed Amanda Sobhy in a five-game thriller to collect her 250th tour win.

Gohar went on an incredible 11-point scoring blitz as she scythed Sobhy down 11-2 in just seven minutes in game one, but Sobhy hit back brilliantly in the second game as she clinched it 11-7.

The American continued to look strong in the third, moving Gohar around the court excellently as she took the lead with another 11-7 win.

Gohar requested a new ball for the fourth game, which seemed to prove effective as the Egyptian forced a fifth game as she pulled away from 5-5 to 11-6.

In a pulsating and free-flowing decider, Gohar reminded spectators why she spent the last six months as the world No.1, with the 24-year-old digging in to edge the match with an 11-8 victory.

"I was playing really well which actually scared me a bit, because when it goes too well it doesn't go all the way like this," said the world No.1.

"I'm proud of the way I dealt with it and if I wasn't in Egypt, I don't think I'd have been able to get back and play, so thank you to the crowd for cheering for me and giving me a big push."