Black Ball Open Day One: Gawad Makes Triumphant Return to Action

Former World No.1 and World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad made his long-awaited return to the PSA World Tour after a 10-month spell on the sidelines as he came back from a game down to overcome Frenchman Auguste Dussourd as play got under way at the Black Ball Squash Open this afternoon in Cairo.

Gawad has had a torrid time with injury over the past two and a half years. A heel issue has seen the talented Egyptian unable to play his best squash, leading him to slip down from his position inside the world’s top five to his current ranking of No.19.

His last appearance on the PSA Tour resulted in a last 16 exit at the PSA World Championships last May and, before today, the 31-year-old hadn’t stepped back onto court on the tour since then. 

However, regular trips to Germany for treatment in the intervening months have resurrected his career and Gawad ensured that he would make a triumphant return to injury after completing a 9-11, 11-0, 13-11, 11-5 win over World No.27 Dussourd.

After falling a game behind following a strong start from his opponent, Gawad showed flashes of the ability that took him to World No.1 six years ago as he inflicted a ‘bagel’ upon his opponent in the second game. He then showed another side to his game, displaying a fighting spirit to overturn a game ball and take the third. 

He was in full flow again in the fourth to seal the win and set up a mouthwatering second round fixture with England’s No.5 seed Mohamed ElShorbagy.

“I’m really happy to be back on court,” said Gawad.

“It wasn’t easy but I’ve focused on coming back, training well and looking after my body over the past couple of months. I have some people that I have to thank because without them I wouldn’t be back on court here. 

“My physio has been travelling with me to Germany every couple of weeks for rehab and injections. I also want to thank Omar Abdel Aziz [Gawad’s coach] and my fitness coach of course for the hard times they’ve had with me in the last couple of months. I forgot to say thank you to my family and my wife, she would kill me if I didn’t mention her!”

Also in action on the glass court at the Black Ball Sporting Club was Gawad’s compatriot and 2020 winner Fares Dessouky, who earned a 3-1 victory against Germany’s Raphael Kandra to earn a second round berth against top seed Mostafa Asal.

“Mostafa has been playing very well, he’s the World No.1 and everyone is chasing him these days,” Dessouky said afterwards.

“I’m just trying to find my consistency on court, but I have a lot of good memories here, so I have a lot of confidence to play the next round. I’m trying to play a lot of hard matches back-to-back, so when I step on court I can lose a game or two but still come back to win the match. I’m working on that every day.”

World No.28 Sebastien Bonmalais was able to upset Qatar’s top 20 player Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi over on court 13, while Welshman Joel Makin got the better of Mohamed ElSherbini. They will face 2021 champion Marwan ElShorbagy and No.4 seed Paul Coll, respectively.

In the women’s draw, World No.12 Salma Hany booked her spot in the last 16 courtesy of a 3-0 win over fellow Egyptian Yathreb Adel, winning 11-7 in all three games to bring a scrappy encounter to a close.

“I’m obviously very proud to get the win in three,” Hany said.

“Yathreb is a very tricky opponent, we’ve played a couple of times recently and she won both of them. I wanted to enjoy my squash and the court today, I love it here. I have all my team here, it always feels very special to play at home and I made the most of it.”

Also in action was Welsh World No.14 Tesni Evans, who dispatched South Africa’s Alexandra Fuller in straight games.

Evans said: “We only played a couple of weeks ago in Cleveland and it was really close, I don’t know how I won that day.

“I think it was an improved performance. Both of us made a few errors, it’s really fast off the front wall, and it caused a bit of franticness from both of us. Alex was hitting it quite hard at me and I was panicking a little bit with it and it causes a few errors sometimes because it’s so fast.”

Evans will line up against two-time winner Nour El Sherbini in the next round, while Hany is set to face USA’s Amanda Sobhy.

There were also wins for Egypt’s Nadine Shahin, who upset World No.20 Jasmine Hutton, and Wales’ Emily Whitlock, who defeated World No.30 Hana Ramadan.

The evening session of the Black Ball Squash Open begins at 15:30 (GMT+2). Matches will be streamed live on SQUASHTV.

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Results – Men’s First Round (Afternoon Session): 2023 Black Ball Squash Open

Fares Dessouky (EGY) bt Raphael Kandra (GER)  3-1: 14-12, 11-8, 10-12, 11-6 (61m)

Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA) bt Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) 3-1: 11-8, 6-11, 11-8, 13-11 (61m)

Joel Makin (WAL) bt Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-2 (47m)

Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 3-1: 9-11, 11-0, 13-11, 11-5 (53m)

Results – Women’s First Round (Afternoon Session): 2023 Black Ball Squash Open

Nadine Shahin (EGY) bt Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 3-1: 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-7 (48m)

Emily Whitlock (WAL) bt Hana Ramadan (EGY) 3-0: 11-4, 11-1, 11-8 (31m)

Salma Hany (EGY) bt Yathreb Adel (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 (30m)

Tesni Evans (WAL) bt Alexandra Fuller (RSA) 3-0: 12-10, 11-8, 11-4 (31m)