Asal to take on Coll in Qatar Classic final

Egypt’s Mostafa Asal beat compatriot Fares Dessouky 11-4, 11-6, 11-6.

World No 1 Mostafa Asal is one win away from winning a first QTerminals Qatar Classic title after downing fellow Egyptian Fares Dessouky in Friday’s semi-finals.

Dessouky was appearing in his first major semi-final since May 2021 but ran into an opponent in red-hot form with Asal winning 11-4, 11-6, 11-6 in 42 minutes.

Asal, who won the Egyptian Open title last month, has now reached his ninth successive PSA final and will take on World No 3 Paul Coll in final.

Asal had only lost once to Dessouky in his last six matches coming into the match and he continued where he left off in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza last month.

Coll hasn’t beaten Asal in their six previous matches, with their last match seeing Asal win in straight games in the semis of last season’s PSA World Championships.

“Credit to Fares, he’s a good fighter and he can beat anyone when he’s on form,” said Asal. “He could be a World No.1 easily. I know how dangerous he is, so I had to put work into him in the beginning.

“It will be a tough battle tomorrow and I know the crowd will be on my side tomorrow. It feels like home here and you see so many familiar faces and family friends.”

Coll reached his third final in Qatar after a convincing victory over England’s rising star Jonah Bryant. Coll suffered a shock defeat to World No 252 Adam Hawal in round two of the Egyptian Open last month, but the 33-year-old has bounced back in the best possible way, with an 11-5, 11-3, 11-5 win over Bryant sending him through to a 49th PSA final.

Bryant was appearing in his first Platinum semi-final after his titanic battle with Abdulla al-Tamimi was cut short yesterday due to a suspected Achilles rupture sustained by the Qatari No 1 in the decider.

It followed up a hugely impressive win over World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria in the round prior to that, but today’s match against Coll proved a step too far for the 20-year-old.

Both players train together as part of Rob Owen’s coaching stable, but Coll came out firing and dictated the tempo of the match, sapping the energy from the youngsters legs to win in three.

“I wanted to make it all about me and go out there and play my game,” said Coll.

“I had a big one last night but woke up feeling pretty good. I can’t think about that, I know how tough he is and what he possesses, I knew he was never going to give up, so I had to stay on it.

“I’m super proud of him. He’s continuously putting in work and looking for ways to improve. He has one of the best attitudes in a young guy I’ve seen for a while, I’ve got massive respect for him.”

Related Story