Local hero Wael El Hindi ended the giant-killing run of unseeded Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema in the final of the Rotary Heliopolis Squash Open at the National Stadium in Nasr City in the Egyptian capital Cairo to ensure that the established PSA Tour title remains in Egyptian hands.
The 26-year-old fifth seed from Cairo made his breakthrough in the $40,000 PSA Tour event when he defeated Finland's No2 seed Olli Tuominen in the quarter-finals.
But his opponent in the final had enjoyed his best run of the year – which started when he despatched Canada's sixth seed Shahier Razik in the first round. Anjema's next upset came when ousted favourite Karim Darwish – the world No9 from Cairo who was the event's runner-up twelve months ago.
In his third upset in as many days, the 23-year-old from The Hague toppled Egypt's No3 seed Mohammed Abbas.
After surviving a tie-break in the first game of the final, El Hindi delighted the local Cairo crowd when he stormed through to his 11-10 (3-1), 11-4, 11-9 victory in 50 minutes to secure the fourth PSA title of his career – but the first since lifting the KL Open trophy in Malaysia in February 2004.
El Hindi extends a line of distinguished Egyptian winners of the title – including Amr Shabana, Omar Elborolossy and Ahmed Barada – since 1998, when England's Peter Nicol secured the trophy after one of his famous clashes with Canadian rival Jonathon Power.
RESULTS: Rotary Heliopolis Squash Open, Cairo, Egypt
Final:
[5] Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt Laurens Jan Anjema
(NED) 11-10 (3-1), 11-4, 11-9 (50m)