Rodriguez defeats world No.1 Ali Farag

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November 27,2024
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06-September-2022

Rodriguez defeats world No.1 Ali Farag

Doha-Colombia's Miguel Rodriguez, ranked 17th, scripted one of the biggest wins of his career after he sensationally knocked out world No.1 and two-time winner, Ali Farag, 3-2 (13-11, 5-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-8) to set up a quarter-final clash against three-time winner Mohamed ElShorbagy on Tuesday. 

The highly entertaining 72-minute encounter is arguably one of the best matches of the tournament so far as the two players brought out the best in each other with their high-octane level of play. 

Meanwhile, Mohamed ensured that the two ElShorbagy brothers will be featuring in the last-eight of the QTerminals Qatar Classic 2022 after emerging victorious in his clash with Youssef Soliman. 

Mohamed, the elder of the ElShorbagy brothers, won in straight sets (11-5, 11-8, 11-5) moments after his brother, Marwan, had secured his own quarter-final berth after a 3-2 (8-11, 11-7, 11-9, 12-14, 11-7) win over Shahjahan Khan of the USA. 

"I think after I won the match yesterday, I told my coach, Greg, we shouldn’t take [Soliman] lightly. He just won a [bronze-level event] in Egypt. I know how talented he is and he’s playing with confidence. I needed to start very well and kill any confidence [he had]. I think we did a good job and I’m happy to be through to the quarters," Mohamed said after his win. 

Marwan, the No.8 seed, came from behind to defeat the world No. 30 American in the first match of the day. 

Khan, playing one of the best matches of his career, took a deserved lead in game one before his Egyptian opponent countered, finding his mark at the front with increasing frequency to move into the lead with an 11-7 and an 11-9 win.