World No.3 Diego Elias produced a sensational display to battle back from 6-1 down in the fifth game and bring World No.1 Mostafa Asal’s 27-match winning run to an end on a thrilling semi-finals night at the El Gouna International Squash Open 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elias will be joined in the final of the Platinum-level event by 18-year-old Mohamad Zakaria, who became the youngest men’s major finalist of the 21st<\/sup> century after defeating Youssef Ibrahim at the stunning El Gouna Conference and Culture Center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A week on from his five-game defeat to Asal in the final of the Optasia Championships, 2024 World Champion Elias reversed the scoreline from that day with a sublime 11-6, 2-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The high-quality match saw Elias come from 2-1 down to force a deciding game, and later recover from a dead leg early in the fifth, to reel in a five-point deficit and sit at 8-7 down in the fifth game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A pivotal rally followed in which top seed Asal was penalised for a stroke and an additional conduct stroke for an accumulation of movement offences, which suddenly saw Elias sit 9-8 up, a position which he then converted to the win after 93 minutes of incredible play. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “I’m very happy to be in my first final in El Gouna,” Elias said after the match. “I got a dead leg in the fifth, but it was just for a few rallies, then it started feeling better. I was moving well today and I’m just happy that I could fight back and win the match. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “I’m just really glad I could beat Mostafa, he’s been playing some great squash. He won so many matches in a row and I knew that he could be tired today.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two-time World Junior Champion Zakaria, meanwhile, became the first male teenager since Ramy Ashour at the 2006 Hong Kong Open to reach a major final after claiming his third successive seeding upset of the Platinum-level event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Zakaria backed up his statement victories over No.5 seed Joel Makin and No.3 seed Karim Gawad with a mature 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7 victory over World No.7 Ibrahim to continue his career-best run by the Red Sea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “I can’t put it into words, I’m so happy,” Zakaria said after the match. “I knew I worked hard and I know I believe it \u2013 the crowd here are amazing and they gave me a big push.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I’m going to have a really hard one with Diego and I hope I can win the tournament for Egypt.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, in the women’s event, top seed Hania El Hammamy and No.2 seed Nour ElSherbini set up a straight shootout for the World No.1 ranking position in Saturday’s final. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Current World No.1 El Hammamy continued her quest for a second El Gouna International title after dispatching World No.3 Orfi with a near-faultless straight games performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The 2022 El Gouna champion advanced to her sixth major final of the season after overcoming the 18-year-old by an 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 scoreline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I’m really happy. I just wanted to come here and show her why I was World No.1 and the levels she has to produce to be at the top of the tree,” El Hammamy said after the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “She’s very eager to come to the top, but she will have to earn the win against me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “I’ve worked on some things on court, and I knew that if I produced those things, I could come on court and win the match comfortably.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n World No.2 and former champion ElSherbini, meanwhile, advanced to her third El Gouna International final after her opponent, World No.4 Olivia Weaver, was forced to withdraw from their contest mid-way through the second game with an adductor injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SEMI-FINAL RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Men’s: <\/strong>[4] Diego Elias (PER) bt [1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 3-2: 11-6, 2-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8 (93m); mohamad Zakaria (EGY) bt [6] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 3-1: 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7 (66m)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women’s: <\/strong>[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt [3] Amina Orfi (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 (66m); [2] Nour ElSherbini (EGY) bt [4] Olivia Weaver (USA) 3-0: 11-2, 7-3 ret. 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