After a disappointing start to the season in Qatar, reigning World Champion Ali Farag bounced straight back to claim the second men’s Platinum title of the season at the CIB Egyptian Open, beating Tarek Momen, Mostafa Asal and Paul Coll end route to the title.
Farag continued his win streak as he sliced his way through the draw to reach the U.S Open final in the next Platinum event on the calendar, where he would face Peru’s Diego Elias. The final was brought to a shock early finish as the Egyptian was forced to withdraw due to an injury to his knee, which he carried into the Grasshopper Cup, where he was clearly not right and lost out in his opening match.
The then-World No.1 was forced to undergo a four-month absence, during which time he lost the World No.1 ranking to Asal. After a slow start upon his return, Farag burst into life last week in Birmingham as he finally captured the British Open title after three previous final defeats.
We’ve had a look at the five events that Farag has played since returning from his injury and how he has returned to form at the perfect time, with the PSA World Championships right around the corner.
Pittsburgh Open
Farag’s first match back was as No.1 seed in the Pittsburgh Open Silver event against England’s Nathan Lake. The Englishman took the opening game 11-9 but the top seed recovered well to take the next two games 11-8, before closing the match out 11-6 in the fourth.
A match with compatriot Youssef Soliman was up next for the returning Farag and having to back up a match the next day for the first time since October’s U.S Open was always going to be a difficult task, especially against someone of Soliman’s caliber. Farag found himself 2-1 down in the contest but won a crucial fourth game 11-8 to force a fifth. Soliman earned himself five match balls at 10-5 but Farag wouldn’t go away as he produced a stunning comeback to force a tiebreak. Farag couldn’t convert two match balls of his own at 12-11 and 14-13 as Soliman eventually
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