QF: It’s 3/0 for Asal against Leonel

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 [1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) 3-0 Leonel Cardenas (MEX)  11-5, 11-6, 11-9 (54m)

PSA report

World No.1 Mostafa Asal stretched his winning run on the PSA Squash Tour to 27 straight wins after defeating Leonel Cardenas in straight games.

Asal looked in sublime form as he booked his spot in the semi-finals of the Platinum event by an 11-5, 11-6, 11-9 scoreline.

The top seed delivered a perfectly controlled performance on the stunning all-glass court by the Red Sea, matching patience with aggressive stroke play.

Asal moved Cardenas around the court smartly, controlling the ’T’ for large portions and pinning the World No.15 behind him.

Despite Cardenas by no means playing poorly, he never demonstrated enough attacking artillery to trouble ‘The Raging Bull’ on a consistent basis, with Asal moving through two comfortable opening games 11-5, 11-6.

Asal came off the boil midway through the third as he let a 7-3 lead slip to 7-7 on the scoreboard. However, the Egyptian squashed any glimmer of a comeback for Cardenas, moving through to victory after 54 minutes of play.

Asal : “Sometimes when you are leading 2-0 up, in the third, you can not play your best when you’re seeing the finish line. This is what I’ve ben struggling with this event, and I think it is done. But is isn’t.

“Leonel continued playing until the very last point, so I’m very happy to get through in three in the end.

“I’m enjoying my squash right now. Sometimes you are feeling that you aren’t hungry anymore, you’ve achieved a lot in a season, but it’s just about the mentality. It’s you versus you. Every day you need to be consistent – the players like Joel, Diego and Paul are all coming back and this challenge coming through.”