Egyptians Zahed Mohamed and Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry reached the final at the Maharashtra Open PSA squash tournament, defeating Mohd Ali Anwar Reda and Mahesh Mangaonkar, respectively at the Bombay Gymkhana here Friday.
Zahed beat third seed and compatriot Anwar Reda 11-9, 3-11, 11-8, 11-8. Fourth seed Sabry downed India's Mangaonkar 11-7, 11-8, 3-11, 11-3 in the second semifinal. The final takes place Saturday.
In an all Egyptian semi-final, the younger and fitter Zahed took his appointed place in the summit clash after an absorbing contest.
There was nothing to choose between the two in the first before Zahed reeled off two points in a row to take the lead.
It was all Reda in the second as Zahed made four unforced errors and Reda was moving effortlessly, driving deep into the corners and controlling the play.
A tight third game ensued with Zahed doing most of the attacking. He was creating some beautiful points but was a bit generous with his errors as well as Reda managed to stay close. An unforced error from Zahed made it 7-7 but this was followed by some dominance from Zahed as he took a crucial 2-1 lead.
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The fourth was a mirror image of the first. Very close all the way through and Zahed looked just that bit stronger in his third shirt of the night. At 9-8, Zahed should have had a contentious stroke as the crowd gasped. He wasn't to be denied as he got to matchball with a stroke. A tin from Reda had sent Zahed to the final.
It was a well deserved victory for the giant killer who had eliminated top seed Ong Beng Hee two nights ago.