Mohamed Saves Eight Match Balls To Make China Open Final

Egyptian duo Farida Mohamed and Mohamed Abouelghar upset the odds at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center as Mohamed recorded one of squash's greatest ever comebacks to beat Malaysia's Sivasangari Subramaniam, whilst unseeded Abouelghar took down Malaysian No.3 seed Eain Yow Ng in the China Open semi-finals.

They will face Malaysia's Rachel Arnold and England's Mohamed ElShorbagy in the finals of the PSA Squash Tour Silver event after Arnold overcame compatriot Aira Azman to reach the biggest final of her career and ElShorbagy beat Iker Pajares to move within touching distance of a 50th PSA Tour title.

No.3 seed Mohamed had made a dreadful start to her semi-final and looked all but beaten when No.2 seed Sivasangari took the first two games and then earned eight match balls at 10-2 in game three.

Opting to throw caution to the wind, Mohamed hit a flurry of winners. As the points began to stack up, Sivasangari appeared rattled and, incredibly, the Egyptian was able to score the ten consecutive points needed to take the game 12-10.

Mohamed followed this up with an 11-8 win in the fourth game to force an unlikely fifth, before what had been an epic contest was brought to a sad ending.

At 9-8 up, Sivasangari was accidentally caught by Mohamed's racket and required a lengthy injury break after receiving a deep cut near her left eye.

Returning to court with the scores now at 9-9, the Malaysian was clearly still suffering from the effects of the contact and, in a flat conclusion, Mohamed quickly picked up the last two points she needed to complete the win.

A visibly upset Mohamed said afterwards: "I definitely didn't mean it; it's one of the worst endings I've ever had. I'm definitely not happy with the win, although I had to fight very very hard to come back from 0/2 and 2-10, but the ending made it so bad."

Mohamed's opponent in the final will be Sivasangari's international teammate Arnold.

The No.6 seed, who upset Egyptian top seed Rowan Elaraby in the quarter-finals, made short work of No.8 seed Azman, taking the first match of the semi-finals 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 to reach a Silver-level PSA Squash Tour final for the first time.

"I'm really happy; this is my biggest final so far!" Arnold reflected.

The men's final, meanwhile, will pit Abouelghar against ElShorbagy for the ninth time in their careers.

2018 China Open champion Abouelghar, who had once risen as high as world No.7 but has struggled with injuries in recent seasons, has looked rejuvenated in Shanghai this week, recording a sublime 3/0 win over No.2 seed Marwan ElShorbagy, Mohamed's brother, in the quarter-finals.

Currently ranked 49 in the world, the Egyptian again looked near his best as he reached his first final since the 2018-19 PSA World Tour Finals by dispatching Ng 3/1.

Abouelghar was sharp from the opening rally, perhaps a reflection of his comfortable 27-minute win the night prior, and quickly moved into a commanding lead with an 11-7 win in game one and an 11-8 in game two.

Ng fired back 11-6 in game three, but any hopes of a comeback similar to Mohamed's were swiftly dashed by the experienced Egyptian, who kept calm to take game four 11-6.

"Last time we played was five years ago, when I was the top player and he was the underdog," Abouelghar said afterwards.

"Now, things have changed a little and I'm fighting my way back up the rankings while he's established himself as a top player."

Top seed ElShorbagy, meanwhile, proved far too strong for No.7 seed Pajares, with the defending China Open champion on top throughout in an 11-7, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3 win.

When asked about the chance to win a 50th PSA title, the world No.9 said: "Number 50 is such a lucky number for me. I was world No.1 for 50 months and I've been searching for that 50th title for a while now. It would be great to win it here in Shanghai and why not go all the way tomorrow and in front of such a great crowd!"