Year in Review; Star Performers – Karim Abdel Gawad

Egypt’s Karim Abdel Gawad completed his chrysalis from a precocious, but inconsistent, talent to one of the world’s greatest players throughout 2016, lifting the sport’s biggest title and moving into direct competition with current World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy for a place atop the World Rankings.

The 25-year-old from Giza started his year by lifting a maiden PSA M70 title at the Swedish Open in February, but it wasn’t until the start of the 2016/17 season in August that he really started to be a threat in major PSA World Tour events.

After reaching a maiden World Series final at the Hong Kong Open – losing out to compatriot Ramy Ashour in the process – Gawad played some of his best squash a month later in September’s Al Ahram Open, becoming the first Egyptian player since the legendary Ahmed Barada in 1998 to lift a PSA World Tour title in front of the stunning Great Pyramid of Giza.

After claiming notable wins over Tarek Momen and 2015 World Championship runner-up Omar Mosaad en route to the final, Gawad played with poise and control to defeat number four seed Ali Farag in the final to claim a victory that would elevate him into the world’s top five the following month.

Even greater things were to come for Gawad though in November as he headed to Cairo for the 2016 instalment of the PSA Men’s World Championship – the most illustrious tournament on the PSA World Tour.

A inauspicious start to the tournament saw Gawad almost face an ignominious first round exit to England’s Nathan Lake, but he came back from two games down to win, before moving on to see off Mohamed Abouelghar in five games to reach round three.

Hong Kong’s Max Lee was the next player to fall victim to Gawad, with three-time winner Nick Matthew awaiting the talented Egyptian in the last eight. But the Englishman was struggling with illness, and Gawad took full advantage to power to the win in straight games – setting up a mouthwatering encounter with ElShorbagy.

A brutal, 90-minute affair played out in front of captivated spectators at the Wadi Degla Club, with Gawad pushing through to claim victory, earning a rematch against Ashour in the showpiece finale.

Gawad battled back from a game down to lead 2-1 in his climactic clash with Ashour, but Ashour fell victim to a reoccurrence of the hamstring injury that has seen him sidelined for much of the past two years, forcing him to retire at the beginning of the fourth game – meaning Gawad became only the third Egyptian of all time to hold the sport’s most prestigious title after Amr Shabana and Ashour himself.

“I still can’t believe it,” said the new World Champion after the match.

“It has been a very long week, I didn’t have a good start, but I think I had good performances this week. I’m grateful to my team as I was able to get back on court today after my match yesterday.

“I need to thank my parents, my father, my mother, my sister and my fiancée, who support me always, and came this week to help me win this. Also, my coaches, Omar Abdel Aziz, Mohamed Abbas, and my fitness coach, Ali Ismail. The results I had this season are 50{d0587469e8933ea5fce14b556fa40d44c2813bf7740605b59885b5a8c24d5885} my work, but 50{d0587469e8933ea5fce14b556fa40d44c2813bf7740605b59885b5a8c24d5885} their effort, and they work hard to keep me fit and allow me to recover between tournaments when we have a very short time between events.

“I feel very sorry for Ramy for having the injury again and not being able to complete the match today. He’s a great ambassador for our sport and we are all happy to have him around at the tournaments.

“He’s great for many generations and all the generations learn a lot from him, even me. I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Less than two weeks after his World Championship triumph, Gawad headed to Doha for the Qatar Classic – where his brilliance continued as he claimed his first ever World Series crown.

After beating Mohamed Reda, Zahed Mohamed, Marwan ElShorbagy and Daryl Selby on his way to the final, Gawad battled for the title in another meeting against the older ElShorbagy brother, Mohamed, who was aiming to become the first man to win the Qatar Classic on three occasions.

But Gawad played with accuracy and composure as he outplayed the defending champion, taking it in straight games to claim the title and ensure that he will top the Men’s PSA Road to Dubai Standings going into 2017.

Only the top eight players on the PSA Road to Dubai Standings will qualify for a place at the season-ending Dubai PSA World Series Finals – which takes place at Dubai Opera between June 6-10 – with all World Series tournaments throughout the season offering up crucial points to go towards to the standings.

Gawad missed out on a place at last season’s World Series Finals, but his fine start to this season has seen him leapfrog ElShorbagy to sit on 205 points, 25 ahead of his fellow Egyptian, and he will start the new year as the man to beat.