Farag Battles Back To Defeat ElShorbagy in Five-Game ToC Epic

World No.1 Ali Farag continued his quest for a fourth JP Morgan Tournament of Champions title with a titanic victory over long-term rival Mohamed ElShorbagy, defeating the former world No.1 from England 11-9 in a thrilling fifth game in New York City.

In front of an awe-struck packed house in the Grand Central Terminal, Farag fought back from 2/0 down, and later 8-3 down in the decider to defeat world No.9 ElShorbagy in a finish that will likely be remembered for years to come.

After four games of high-quality squash, the match hit yet higher heights as the two World Champions went toe-to-toe in an exhausting 20-minute fifth game.

ElShorbagy looked primed for one of the biggest wins of his recent years at 8-3 up, but top seed Farag had other ideas. The world No.1 began to reel in ElShorbagy with a string of lengthy rallies, with one near three-minute exchange bringing an animated crowd to their feet.

And it would be Farag who ultimately took the spoils after 72 minutes of absorbing action, engaging in a long embrace with ElShorbagy after booking his spot in the semi-finals of the Platinum-level event.

"I've got nothing but the utmost respect for Mohamed," Farag said after the match. "He is the player I've got the most respect for, and he still inspires me now. He was so smart and so tactical today. I think he deserves to give the interview more than I do today, he just fought so hard.

"I was struggling mentally today, squash-wise Mohamed was on top of everything. I'm very happy and very grateful, and I live to fight another day."

Farag will face another rival in the semi-finals, Paul Coll, after the Kiwi defeated France's Gregoire Marche in a highly entertaining three-game encounter.

Coll, who had already defeated French duo Auguste Dussourd and Victor Crouin on his way to the last eight, continued his fine progress through the draw with an 11-7, 12-10, 11-5 win.

In the women's draw, Nouran Gohar and Olivia Weaver both put in flawless displays to defeat world No.7 Amina Orfi and world No.5 Tinne Gilis, respectively, in straight games.

Current World Champion Gohar and three-time World Junior Champion Orfi had already met earlier this season in a fiercely contested quarter-final at the Qatar Classic, but this time around, Gohar took the honours in much more straightforward fashion,

The experienced Egyptian delivered a performance worthy of her World No.1 ranking, striking the perfect balance between power and precision as she recorded an 11-5, 11-2, 11-9 victory in 44 minutes of play.

After the match, Gohar said: "I woke up today feeling good and I knew that I wanted to be on court today. I felt great and wanted to be here.

"I felt I played really good squash, both tactically and technically. It's scary sometimes when it is too good to be true. I knew she was going to come out and throw everything at me. I needed to try sustain that level [from the second] and I needed to try put as much work in her legs as possible. This helped me to clinch the match in the third."

World No.4 Weaver, meanwhile, delighted the home Grand Central Terminal crowd on her way to an 11-8, 11-2, 11-4 victory over No.5 seed Tinne Gilis.

Right from point one, Weaver found her marks to devastating effect, putting Gilis under ever-increasing pressure as the match progressed and wrapping up the win after just 26 minutes of play.

Weaver will now look to record a career-first win over Gohar from her 13th attempt when the pair meet in the semi-finals.