Historical! A Peruvian man Diego Elias became champion of CIB PSA World Cup 2023-24in Cairo (Egypt), by defeating the local team this Saturday in the final Mostafa Asalcurrent number 3 in the PSA ranking.
Diego Elias, number 4 in the world, hit the big time in the World Cup by eliminating Ali Farag, leader of the PSA ranking, in the semis. In the grand final he met the also Egyptian Mostafa Asal, against whom he showed great performance, taking the match in straight sets, 11-6, 11-5 and the close 12-10 in a total time of 61 minutes. The ‘Puma’ had a negative record against both exponents in direct confrontations, however, he managed to shake them off to win what is so far the most important title in his career.
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Diego Elías, world champion in Egypt
No South American athlete had reached the last stage of the Squash World Cup, a fact that he left behind Diego Elias last Friday, although he went further by becoming the first champion of this continent.
In addition, he also manages to be the first non-Egyptian squash player to win the PSA World Championship since Frenchman Gregory Gaultier won in 2015.
On his way through the CIB PSA World Cup 2023-24, the Peruvian defeated the Qatari Abdulla Al-Tamimi, the Spanish Iker Pajares and the Egyptians Youssef Ibrahim, Karim Abdel Gawad (#5 in the world), Ali Farag and Mostafa Asal. It is worth noting that ‘Puma’ only lost one set in the entire competition, which occurred against Farag.
“I just can’t believe it. It has been a dream week from the beginning and I am very happy to have my entire team here and all the people who support me at home. It’s going to be huge, it’s going to be huge in Peru because of all the people who have supported me all these years. To be honest, I don’t know how I feel now, I haven’t processed it yet and I’m very happy,” declared the new world champion.
This was the point of the world title for Diego Elías | Source: PSA / Squash TV
Diego Eliaswho has already been number 1 in the PSA world ranking, took revenge for his previous participation in the World Championship, given that a year ago he was left in the quarterfinals when he was aiming to reach the dispute for the title.
This year, Elías obtains his third trophy on the squash circuit. In February he won the Motor City Open in the United States after beating the New Zealander Paul Coll. After that, in March, he consecrated himself in the Canadian Men’s Open 2024where he beat the Egyptian Mazen Hesham.
