Gawad Is
Egyptian People Champion
Karim Abdel
Gawad
claimed the sixth PSA World Tour title of his career after overcoming
fellow Egyptian Ali Farag in the final of the inaugural Egyptian
People Tournament, the PSA Challenger 10 squash event at the
Heliopolis Club in Cairo.
For the second
time in the tournament, the 20-year-old favourite dropped the opening game as
Farag, the third seed from Cairo, bid to record the first ever win over his
fellow countryman.
But
Alexandria-born Gawad fought back to take the next two games before Farag again
reclaimed the upper hand to draw level.
World No38
Gawad was able to reassert his authority in the decider, however, and kept his
lower-ranked opponent at bay to record his 6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8
victory.
The title
triumph marks not only Gawad's first of the year, but his first Tour success on
home soil.
Gawad & Farag
Make Cairo Final
Karim Abdel
Gawad
and Ali Farag will meet in an all-Egyptian final of the inaugural
Egyptian People Tournament after four-game victories in the semi-finals of
the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event at the Heliopolis Club
in Cairo.
Third seed
Farag ended the run of unseeded compatriot Marwan El Shorbagy, the
18-year-old from Alexandria who has been enjoying an impressive run on the PSA
Tour since becoming the world junior champion last month.
But Farag, the
19-year-old world No73 from Cairo, beat fellow teenager El Shorbagy - now ranked
five places higher - 11-1, 11-13, 11-3, 11-6 to reach the fourth Tour final of
his career.
Gawad, the top
seed, faced fellow Cairo-based Andrew Wagih Shoukry, the No4 seed. The
20-year-old world No38 overcame Shoukry 11-8, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8 to reach the
eighth final of his career.
But whilst
Gawad is celebrating his first final appearance of the year - and his first on
home soil - his final opponent Farag will be looking for his third Tour title of
2011.
Marwan Makes
Cairo Quarters
Egyptian
teenager Marwan El Shorbagy became the only unseeded player to reach the
quarter-finals of the inaugural Egyptian People Tournament after beating
compatriot Karim Ali Fathi in the second round of the PSA World Tour
Challenger 10 squash event at the Heliopolis Club in Cairo.
Fathi, a
qualifier, made his breakthrough in the opening round where he knocked out
second seed Omar Abdel Aziz.
And the
18-year-old from Cairo took the opening two games against El Shorbagy, also 18,
but ranked more than 130 places higher in the world rankings.
But El
Shorbagy, the recently-crowned world junior champion, dug deep and - taking
advantage of a hamstring injury sustained by Fathi early in the third game -
took control of the match to draw level before claiming victory in an 8-11,
3-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8 scoreline.
El Shorbagy
will now face third seed Ali Farag following the 19-year-old from Cairo's
11-3, 12-10, 11-8 win over fellow countryman Omar Abdel Meguid.
The other semi
will also be an all-Egyptian affair, between top seed Karim Abdel Gawad
and Andrew Wagih Shoukry, the No4 seed.
Gawad, the
Alexandria-born world No38, recovered from a game to beat Ali Farag's
older brother Wael Farag 11-13, 11-7, 11-9, 11-5, while Shoukry
despatched Mazen Gamal 11-6, 12-10, 11-7.
Qualifier
Karim Ousts Aziz In Cairo
Egyptian
teenager Karim Ali Fathi caused a sensational upset in the inaugural
Egyptian People Tournament when he beat second-seeded compatriot Omar
Abdel Aziz in the opening round of the PSA World Tour Challenger 10
squash event at the Heliopolis Club in Cairo.
Experienced
Aziz, the 27-year-old world No45 from Cairo, took the opening game. But
18-year-old Fathi, a qualifier coached in the UK by former England international
Phil Whitlock, survived a lengthy second tie-break game before going on to close
out the match 6-11, 16-14, 11-8, 11-8 and record one of the best wins of his
career.
Fathi will now
face another rising star of Egyptian squash Marwan El Shorbagy. The
18-year-old from Alexandria, who became the world junior champion in
considerable style last month in Belgium, took just three games to dismiss
Jordan's Ahmad Alzabidi 11-4, 11-4, 11-7 to earn a place in the Tour
event's quarter-finals.
Event
favourite Karim Abdel Gawad cruised into the last eight. The Cairo-based
20-year-old despatched Cairo-born Italian Amr Ramsy Swelim 11-5, 11-3,
11-2 and will now take on fellow countryman Wael Farag for a place in the
semi-finals.
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