Momen fights back to claim QSF 5 Open 2024 Title

Doha: Egypt’s World No.9 Tarek Momen claimed the QSF 5 Open 2024 title after coming from behind to defeat his compatriot Aly Abou Eleinen 3-1 in the final of the PSA Squash Tour Bronze-level event. 

Momen, whose last title came at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex when he won the QSF 3 Open 2024 in May, shrugged off a slow start to overcome Eleinen 2-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7 in just over an hour.

Eleinen, who had got the better of Momen in the previous two meetings so far this season, got off to the best possible start with his accurate squash forcing some errors from the top seed’s racket to take the first game.

However Momen started to find his range with much improved length hitting and accuracy helping him restore parity, and the former World Champion was putting plenty of work into the legs of Eleinen with the use of the cross court seeing him take a 2-1 lead.

After saving three of four game balls in the third, Eleinen requested a new ball – which had worked in his favour in his semi-final victory over Qatar’s Abdulla Al-Tamimi yesterday.

A fresh ball wouldn’t come to his aid this time, though, as Momen continued to control the rallies and dominate the middle of the court. The 36-year-old sealed the fourth game 11-7 to secure his 11th title on the PSA Squash Tour.

“After the first game I thought I was going home in 20 minutes!” Momen said afterwards. 

“He [Aly Abou Eleinen] was on fire in that first game and despite warming up for nearly 45 minutes I still felt my movement was a bit slow and you can’t be slow against someone like Aly. 

“He blew me off the court in five minutes, but thankfully from the second game I had to push myself, I knew this was a final and I wanted to win. 

“I told myself I needed to fight and it worked. I started moving well, I started going for my shots and I didn’t miss much which is the reason why we played a really good match today.”

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