PSA Gradignan: Malik Secures Second Straight Tour Title

Curtis Malik wrapped up his second straight tour title, beating Mazen Gamal 3-0 in the PSA Gradignan final. 

The 24-year-old came into this tournament as the No.1 seed, looking to follow on from success in St Louis a fortnight ago, when he secured glory from the same seeding. 

His opened his campaign with a 3-0 victory over Wales’ Elliott Morris Devred in round two, before overcoming a pair of Frenchmen to reach the final, beating wild card Joshua Phinera in the last eight and No.3 seed Edwin Clain in the final four. 

Separated by less than 20 spots in the world rankings, Malik and Gamal traded points in the early stages of game one, finding themselves locked at 4-4 after 5 minutes of play. 

From there, though, Malik took complete control and didn’t look back. 

He won the next seven points to wrap up game one 11-4 and raced out to a 6-1 lead in game two, which he closed out 11-7. 

Gamal won the first point of game three, but that would be as good as it got for the experienced Egyptian, as Malik soon had a lead that he would never relinquish. 

From 2-1 up, Malik moved to four match balls at 10-6 in the space of less than seven minutes, and while Gamal saved the first two, it would be third time lucky for the No.1 seed, who secured the ninth PSA Tour title of his career, and his third of 2023. 

Result: Men’s Final 

[1] Curtis Malik (ENG) bt [2] Mazen Gamal (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-8 (29m)