Top Seeds To Contest Dubai Cup Final
by Nathan Clarke

November 27, 2014 - Top seeds Karim Abdel Gawad and Chris Simpson will go head-to-head for the first time ever on the PSA World Tour when they meet in the final of the 2014 Dubai Cup, PSA International 25 tournament,

The duo moved into the final after getting past Pakistani pair Nasir Iqbal and Aamir Atlas Khan at the semi-final stage, and will now face-off in a contest that will see both men hoping to claim their second tour title of the year, with Simpson aiming to add to May's Bedell Jersey Squash Classic triumph and Gawad to the 3 Rivers Capital Pittsburgh Open title he won in January.

Simpson, the number two seed, put in a stellar performance to see off former World No.14 Khan with an impressive 3-0 win, playing with patience and precision to survive an early onslaught from the Pakistani star before asserting his dominance to complete the victory.

“I’m very, very happy to win, and very, very happy to win with a 3-0 score," said Simpson.

"It wasn’t a cruise. It was a very tough match with lots of concentration required. It was a tough balancing act of playing long enough and not playing negative.

"I’ve watched him [Gawad] play a lot and I'm looking forward to it as it’s quite nice to play someone new.”

Gawad moved into the semi-finals after his opponent, Iqbal, was forced to retire during the second game of their encounter and the Egyptian will be hoping to use the extra recovery time to his advantage during the final.

Results: Semi-finals 2014 Dubai Cup:
[1] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [5] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) 14-12, 3-0 [retired]
[2] Chris Simpson (ENG) bt Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) 3-0: 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 [39m]

Final:
[1] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [2] Chris Simpson (ENG)