Egypt’s world No. 11 Fares Dessouky emphatically claimed the $52,5000 Pittsburgh Open title in a thirty-four-minute final against India’s world No. 13 Saurav Ghosal Sunday, January 26, at the Rivers Club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The twenty-five-year-old from Alexandria entered his first career appearance in Pittsburgh as the tournament’s top seed, opposed by the two seed, Ghosal.

Dessouky progressed to the final with four-game wins over world No. 28 Campbell Grayson in the quarterfinals and world No. 14 Gregoire Marche in the semifinals. In the bottom half of the draw, Ghosal overcame former world No. 3 Omar Mosaad in a narrow semifinal encounter 11-6, 16-18, 11-7, 12-10 after seventy-three minutes.

In the final, Dessouky extended his winning record against the Indian veteran to 5-0, claiming the title 11-7, 11-4, 11-9.

“Fares played almost flawless squash to beat Saurav Ghosal in three in the finals of the Pittsburgh Open—and he needed to as Ghosal’s impressive speed, movement and court coverage combined with his soft touch to the front had proven too much for everyone else in the tournament,” reported Steven Baicker-Mckee. “Dessouky’s attacking game was at its finest all day, and he probably had fifteen balls roll out of the nick. Ghosal worked hard to keep Dessouky off the volley in game three, and the strategy helped, allowing him to pull even at nine-all. But after a hard-fought point to pull ahead 10-9, Dessouky smashed another ball into the nick to claim the title.”

The 2020 Pittsburgh Open title marks Dessouky’s third and largest PSA title. The Rivers club celebrated the eighteenth staging of the tournament since 1993.