Ex-Harvard Star Ali Farag is April PSA Player of the Month
by Nathan Clarke

May 1, 2015 - 23-year-old Egyptian Ali Farag has earned the recognition of being named the April 2015 PSA Player of the Month following a whirlwind four-week run in which he picked up back-to-back PSA titles on the back of unexpectedly reaching the main draw of the El Gouna International.

Having already captured the BRQTHRU Pharco Alexandria Open title by defeating number one seed and compatriot Zahed Mohamed in February's final, Cairo-born Farag, who last year completed a degree in Engineering Sciences at the prestigious Harvard University, came into April in high spirits and his performances on court reflected his soaring confidence.

He began April by impressing in qualification at the El Gouna International, first taking out Ong Beng Hee 3-0, despite being ranked 32 places below the Malaysian, and then beating number one seeded Frenchman Gregoire Marche to move into the main draws he swept the then World No.26 aside.

Although he lost to World No.1 and eventual runner-up Mohamed Elshorbagy in the opening round of the main draw, narrowly losing 11-9, 13-11, 11-5, Farag took heart from his performances and it paid dividends when he collected his second title of the year a week later at the Garavan’s Bar Paddy Whack Walsh West of Ireland Open.

Farag took out second seed Rex Hedrick in a semi-final clash before meeting James Earles in the final, where he produced an assured performance to best the Englishman to take home the title and he completed a famous Irish-double days later, stunning the seedings as he galloped to the Gillenmarkets Irish Squash Open in Dublin.

Farag was unseeded for the tournament but defeated four seeded opponents in a row to earn the title. After superb performances against Greg Lobban and Karim Ali Fathi he shocked number one seed Mazen Hesham in a 3-1 semi-final victory and then moved on to beat Frenchman Lucas Serme 3-2 in a thrilling finale.

The victory brought the Egyptian his seventh PSA World Tour title and takes him into May as one of the hottest players on tour.