As usual, it was an All-Egyptian final in both the men's and women's events at the 2019 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in the USA, reports Inas Mazhar. It wasn't the first time Egyptian squash players played each other in a world squash finals and probably won't be the last. Egyptians have been so dominating the squash courts of the world that the public has become used to it. The champions Nour Al-Sherbini and Ali Farag clinched their crowns after contrasting victories over compatriots and top seeds Mohamed Al-Shorbagi and Raneem Al-Welili in New York's Grand Central Terminal. According to the official World Squash website, Farag looked down and out in Grand Central's Vanderbilt Hall after going two games behind and 6-2 down in the third. But he showcased his fighting spirit over the course of the next two games as he began to put some serious work into the legs of Al-Shorbagi, and the 26-year-old duly came back to level the scores at 2-2. Al-Shorbagi then had an injury break before the fifth game to deal with a calf issue. The 28-year-old fought through the pain barrier to push Farag all the way, but it was the younger Egyptian who was able to close out the win to lift his first Tournament of Champions trophy and the 14th PSA title of his career. As of the beginning of March, Farag replaced Al-Shorbagi as the world No 1 after prevailing in one of the most dramatic finals ever witnessed at the Tournament of Champions. “It's been a dream of mine since a very young age to reach that No 1 spot,” said Farag afterwards. “To do it in such a fashion in front of so many greats of the game, in front of the love of my life [wife Nour Al-Tayeb], and my parents watching at home, it couldn't get any better really… It was very emotional,” Farag told World Squash. In the women's final, Al-Sherbini became the first woman to win the Tournament of Champions on three occasions after a dominant victory over world No 1 Al-Welili that saw her retain her title. The top two fellow countrywomen were meeting for the first time since Al-Welili had ended the Al- Sherbini's 31-month reign at world No 1 last month and Al-Welili – the 2015 Tournament of Champions winner – came into the match with a narrow 10-9 lead on their head-to-head record. But things went Al-Sherbini's way this time around as the 23-year-old put on a master class of attacking squash to lift her 18th career PSA title, but her first of the season. This is my lucky place. This tournament was my first ever Platinum win and now it's the first one I've won three times,” said Al-Sherbini, who won the ToC in 2016 and 2018. “It's really big to put my name on this trophy and to win this tournament, but to win it three times is something that I will never forget in my life. “We've been battling against each other for so long. The head-to-head is 10-10, so that shows how tough it's been. We've been battling in a lot of finals. Sometimes it goes my way, sometimes it goes her way. At the end of the day, the better player is going to win, and I think I was better than her today.” Both players took home just shy of $23,000 in prize money, while Al-Sherbini joins Farag in qualifying for June's PSA World Tour Finals.
