Egyptian
Mohamed Elshorbagy, the 22-year-old World No.3 from Alexandria,
picked up his ninth career title after defeating Hong Kong's Max Lee
in the final of the CIMB Malaysian Open 2014 earlier today.
Having recorded impressive 3-0 wins over Kuwait's Abdullah Al
Muzayen, local hope Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan and compatriot Tarek Momen
on his way to the final, Elshorbagy maintained his perfect record in
the tournament, taking just 34-minutes to complete an 11-6, 11-7,
11-9 victory over the World No.25.
The win, his first ever title triumph at the Malaysian Open, sees
Elshorbagy begin his season in formidable fashion as he travels to
next week's Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Squash
Open 2014, the first PSA World Series event of the 2014/15 season.
Elshorbagy is seeded second for that event, with World No.1 Gregory
Gaultier favourite for the crown, but having with a win to his name
the rising young star will be hopeful of landing one of the sport's
most prestigious titles
Elshorbagy
Favourite For Malaysian Open Crown
#PSAWorldTour
Egyptian
Mohamed Elshorbagy (right), the World No.3, will be aiming to claim
his ninth PSA World Tour title when the CIMB Malaysian Open, a PSA
International 50 event, gets underway in Kuala Lumpur on August 20.
The 23-year-old powerhouse, who has leapt up the rankings over the
last year, tops the seeding for the 2014 staging of the event which
has been a staple on the PSA World Tour circuit since 2008.
Elshorbagy's stiffest competition is likely to come from second seed
and World No.7 Borja Golan of Spain while the Egyptian duo of World
No.12 Tarek Momen and World No.18 Karim Abdel Gawad will be hoping
to upset the favourites and steal glory for themselves.
"I am excited to start my season with the Malaysian Open," said
Elshorbagy.
"I love going back to Malaysia, I have played there many times and
it has always been such an enjoyable experience and I am sure it
will be the same this year as the Malaysian federation and CIMB do
an amazing job and we have to be thankful to them.
"It is very important to have a good start to the season as that
builds up confidence for the rest of the year.
"I am normally a slow starter so my team thought playing Malaysia
would be the perfect start for me and I am really looking forward to
being back on court for the big battles again.
"I am taking the tournament as preparation for the season - I am not
expecting to be at my peak - so I am going to just go there and
enjoy myself and give it my best shot."
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