El Shorbagy is the champion in Qatar for the third time

Bengaluru/Doha, November 4: World No.3 Mohamed El Shorbagy won the Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Series Qatar Classic tournament for the third time after beating Tarek Momen 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 11-7 in an all-Egyptian final.

At the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, El Shorbagy, who had previously triumhed in Doha in 2013 and 2015 proved too good for his oppoent in the 64-minute encounter.

Competing in his sixth straight final in Qatar (Four in Qatar Classic and two World Championships), the 26-year-old from Alexandria showed his championship calibre throughout the event as he swept past world No.8 Fares Dessouky, world No.4 Ali Farag and world No.1 Gregory Gaultier to reach the title-decider - where his big game experience was too much for debutant finalist Momen, the world No.7.

"I'm extremely proud of how I performed this week at this event," said El Shorbagy.

"When I saw the draw pre-event I knew it would be tough. I had to play the world No.9, the No.5, the No.1 and the No.7 to win, but playing tough opponents is the challenge that I live for. To be the best you have to beat these players.

"At the end of the day you want to challenge yourself against the best. Backing it up mentally each day was not easy - but I'm really happy. Last season I didn't play like a winner - this week I feel like I played at my best level and that was my focus coming here."

Momen, for whom it was his first-ever PSA World Tour Final banked on the positives, "It's been an incredible week for me. I didn't know what to expect coming here and making my first-ever World Series tournament final was very special. Obviously I'm disappointed to lose but think it was a good match."

Result
[3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [8] Tarek Momen (EGY) 3-1: 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 11-7 (64m)