Young Elias makes his presence felt

Peru’s two-time world junior champion Diego Elias left a lasting impression on his Qatar Classic debut as he stretched defending champion Mohamed El Shorbagy to five games in the opening round.

It looked business as usual for world No.1 El Shorbagy who took the first two games 11-4, 8-11 in quick time.

But Elias, who moved into the main draw after the late withdrawal of Egyptian world No.6 Ali Farag, fought back to win the next two games 11-8, 6-11 and took the match to the decider, which he lost 5-11.

Some of his between-the-leg winners were pure classic and Elias, ranked 27th in the world, hopes to improve.

“I fought well till the end. I think it was Mohamed’s experience that paid off in the deciding fifth game. I hope to learn by experience,” said the 19-year-old, one of the youngest players in the tournament.