World No.1 Mostafa Asal continued his quest for a first Qatar Classic title in dramatic style, overcoming Aly Abou Eleinen in a contentious 91-minute affair at the Platinum-level event in Doha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asal, a beaten finalist in the last two editions of the Qatar Classic, had to see off a determined comeback from World No.13 Eleinen to win a four-game encounter which was punctuated by repeated interference issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Across the opening two games, Asal was dominant and rarely troubled by Eleinen. However, midway through the third, a conduct stroke penalising Asal seemed to change the complexion of the contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Visibly frustrated by constant traffic issues, Eleinen fired himself up to save two match balls in a monster 32-minute third game, which he eventually clinched 14-12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 26-year-old then pushed Asal deep into a fourth-game tie-break, but the top seed held his nerve when it mattered most, converting his fourth match ball to seal an 11-5, 11-4, 12-14, 12-10 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the match, an animated Asal said: \u201cYeah, I mean, it was a good game the first two games and I then don\u2019t know what to say, to be honest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI mean, it\u2019s the first time for me to be this emotional. But it [these traffic issues] just has to be an easy let and simple let. Sometimes it can be a proper squash match, and then it turns into a feast of decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou know, every time I get tripped, I could milk it every single time. And that is what some other players are doing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the other match of the evening\u2019s play, World No.9 Marwan ElShorbagy advanced to his first major semi-final since the 2024 Egyptian Open after surviving a back-and-forth five-game duel with France\u2019s Gregoire Marche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ElShorbagy, who admitted to experiencing dizziness during the 52-minute contest, surrendered a two-game lead in dramatic fashion, losing a two-minute third game before Marche brought the match level just seven minutes later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The English No.1 though, managed to steady the ship when it mattered most, getting ahead in the fifth game before closing out an 11-5, 11-9, 1-11, 3-11, 11-7 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what happened,\u201d ElShorbagy admitted after the match. \u201cAfter the first game, I felt a little bit dizzy; I didn\u2019t know why. That\u2019s why I had the bananas and the dark chocolate with me, but nothing worked. I told Haitham [Effat] that I was seeing black and I couldn\u2019t see anything at times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHaitham was able to push me and help me. I really needed him. He played a huge part in today\u2019s win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the women\u2019s draw, Nouran Gohar and Tinne Gilis\u2019 injury withdrawals before play saw World No.1 Hania El Hammamy and World No.5 Sivsangari Subramaniam receive walkovers into the semi-finals. Thursday\u2019s match with the top seed El Hamammy will be Sivasangari\u2019s first-ever appearance in a Platinum semi-final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt [8] Aly Abou Eleinen (EGY) 3-1: 11-5, 11-4, 12-14, 12-10 (91m)
[7] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) bt Gregoire Marche (FRA) 3-2: 11-5, 11-9, 1-11, 3-11, 11-7 (52m)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) W\/O [5] Nouran Gohar (EGY)
[4] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS) W\/O [8] Tinne Gilis (BEL)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
World No.1 Mostafa Asal continued his quest for a first Qatar Classic title in dramatic style, overcoming Aly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-15782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-squash"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t