Joelle King celebrates winning the Hong Kong Open
Today will see the winner of the Everbright Sun Hung Kai Hong Kong Squash Open men's and women's tournaments crowned with both finals taking place today.
Coverage will be LIVE on SQUASHTV (Rest of World), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and multiple broadcasters around the world.
You can also follow the live scores from the day's play, as well as finding results and reaction from players here.
Up first is the women's final which will see New Zealand's World No.7 Joelle King face soon-to-be World No.1 Raneem El Welily.
The two players last faced each other in the semi-finals of the 2018 Windy City Open, where King scored a surprise victory and the Kiwi will be hoping to replicate that feat again as she searches for her first PSA Platinum title.
El Welily meanwhile has been in dominant form this season, clinching the U.S. Open and the China Squash Open titles. However, after finishing runner-up at last year's tournament in Hong Kong, the Egyptian will be keen to go one step further this year.
They are followed on court by Egyptians Mohamed ElShorbagy and Ali Farag – who have become familiar rivals in finals over the past few seasons.
This will be their sixth meeting in a PSA final, with Farag getting the better of World No.1 ElShorbagy the last time they played in the Oracle NetSuite Open final.
However, ElShorbagy is the defending champion in Hong Kong – defeating Farag in last year's final and will be looking to put his name on the trophy for a fourth time.
Today's action will start at 16:00 local time (UTC +8) and we will have reaction and results here.
Schedule
16:00 [5] Joelle King (NZL) v [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY)
(follow) [1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v [2] Ali Farag (EGY)
King Crowned Women's Champion
New Zealand’s World No.7 Joelle King defeated soon-to-be World No.1 Raneem El Welily in a thrilling final to be crowned the women’s Hong Kong Open champion.
The win marks the Kiwi’s first Platinum PSA title and also means that she has automatically qualified for the season-ending PSA World Tour finals.
The number five seed got off to a flying start to take the first game, with El Welily looking sluggish in the beginning as she struggled to back up her epic five-game battle with compatriot Nouran Gohar yesterday.
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Huge rally!
Magnificent squash from @Joelle_King & @RaneemElWelily in their @HKsquash title decider 🇭🇰
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9:45 AM - Nov 25, 2018
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30-year-old King – who has beaten reigning World Champion El Welily in their last two meetings – continued to dominate and proved she was back to playing her best squash as she doubled her lead by taking the second, 12-10.
The third game saw El Welily push to get herself back into the match as she threw everything at King, however, the Kiwi managed to keep her composure, despite failing to convert five championship balls, with El Welily always finding a way back.
Eventually on her sixth championship ball, King was able to convert to claim her first major title – becoming the first Kiwi PSA Platinum winner since 2003 when Carol Owens won the Tournament of Champions.
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All hail the king! 👑@Joelle_King has won her first ever Platinum PSA title after beating @RaneemElWelily in the @HKsquash Open final 👏
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10:03 AM - Nov 25, 2018
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“I just kept thinking that it’s the last match of the tournament – just leave it all out there,” said the 30-year-old.
“Raneem is such a tough competitor and she showed in the third why she is No.1. She just kept coming back at me and never let it go until the end.
“I guess if you’ve beaten a player before then it gives you a bit of confidence, but every day is a new day and she’s not No.1 for no reason, so I knew she was never going to let it go. I’m just extremely happy to win my first platinum event ever.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but to be on a stage like this, with such great fans means a lot.
“I just want to go on from here and keep playing good squash.”
Result:
[5] Joelle King (NZL) bt [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 12-10, 19-17 (48m)
ElShorbagy Retains Hong Kong Open Title
World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy successfully retained his Hong Kong Open title after defeating compatriot and World No.2 Ali Farag in straight-games in a repeat of last year’s final.
The two players have met a total of 13 times on the PSA World Tour previously, with five of those coming in finals. Farag claimed the last win, which was in the final of the Oracle NetSuite Open final earlier this season, however, he was unable to prevent an unstoppable ElShorbagy in Hong Kong.
The ‘Beast of Alexandria’ has been in spellbinding form all week, only dropping one game throughout the tournament, and today proved no different as he powered to victory against 2018 Qatar Classic champion Farag to claim his fourth Hong Kong Open title.
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2018 - 🏆
2017 - 🏆
2015 - 🏆
2014 - 🏆@MoElshorbagy loves it here in Hong Kong - he's beaten @AliFarag to win his fourth @HKsquash title 👊#BeastMode
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11:00 AM - Nov 25, 2018
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“I’m really pleased to be able to come here and play my best squash,” said the World No.1.
“It’s always great when it all comes together. I’m really proud of my performance but not to take anything away from Ali, I have nothing but respect for him. He came to the Tour later than all of us, he came up the rankings very fast. Very few people can do what he did and he’s coming after me but I’m trying to hold him a little bit.
“We’ve played twice already this season, he beat me once and now I’ve beaten him. I’m sure we will have many more battles and compete in more finals.”
Result:
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [2] Ali Farag (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-7 (39m)
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