The 29-year-old saw his 12-month reign as world number one come to an end when he surrendered a two-game lead to Farag in a final loss at the 2019 edition of the PSA Tournament of Champions.

But he now has the opportunity to take top spot for the fourth time, after defeating world number four Karim Abdel Gawad, while Farag fell to Momen in an all-Egyptian semi-final of this PSA World Tour Platinum event. 

ElShorbagy was on the losing side in his two previous matches against 2017 champion Gawad, but delivered a peerless display to secure an 11-9, 11-8, 11-8 victory which will see him compete for a third PSA Tournament of Champions title.

"This was the match that I was most nervous for so far in this event," ElShorbagy said.

"He was going for it in the first two games and created such a high pace, and I was a bit nervous as well with Ali losing the match before me and giving me the possibility of maybe going to world number one if I win tomorrow. 

"I had all these things going through my mind.

"I had to use all of my experience and I'm really happy to be back here in another final. 

"This is my sixth tournament this season, and I've made five finals.

"It's not easy to back it up every season, but there's nothing else I would want to be doing than playing finals like this."

Momen, playing his first PSA tournament since capturing the World Championship trophy in November, stormed into a two-game lead against Farag, who looked to be feeling the effects of a 62-minute battle against world number five Paul Coll of New Zealand in the quarter-finals.

A loss of concentration and an increase in performance level from Farag saw him draw level at two games apiece, but Momen had just enough in the tank to see an 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7 win over the line, and he will compete in a second PSA Tournament of Champions final after falling to Germany's Simon Rösner in the 2018 title decider.

The women’s final will feature France's Camille Serme and Egypt's Nour El Sherbini, after they registered semi-final wins over world number three Nouran Gohar of Egypt and world number six Joelle King of New Zealand, respectively.

World number five Serme, who defeated England's Laura Massaro to win the 2017 PSA Tournament of Champions, overturned five match balls against Gohar to follow up her quarter-final upset of another Egyptian, world number one Raneem El Welily.

The Frenchwoman initially struggled with the intensity of Gohar's hitting, but played some immaculate squash to send the match to a fifth game after twice falling a game behind. 

She then showcased her resilient side to withstand Gohar's efforts to close out the match, and finally sealed victory on the third of her match balls in the tiebreak, triumphing 7-11, 11-9, 9-11, 12-10, 16-14.

"So many things happened in my head during the match," Serme said.

"I can’t believe I won - I was 10-7 down in the fifth, but I believed."

Serme has now overcome four Egyptian players en route to the final - with three matches going to five games - and will take on yet another player from that nation tomorrow, when she looks to end a four-match losing streak to El Sherbini.

El Sherbini is aiming to become the first woman to win four PSA Tournament of Champions titles and booked her final berth after beating King by an 11-6, 11-9, 6-11, 11-3 margin.