Gawad Takes World Championship Title After Ashour Retires Through Injury by Sean Reuthe
photos PSA
November 4, 2016 -
Egypt’s Karim Abdel Gawad is the 2016 Wadi Degla PSA Men’s World
Champion after his final opponent in Cairo, three-time winner Ramy
Ashour, was forced to retire in the fourth game of their climactic
clash after a reoccurrence of the hamstring injury that has ravaged the
last two years of his career.
Gawad, the 25-year-old World No.3 from Giza, battled back from a game
down to go 2-1 up after a series of explosive rallies brought a
vociferous crowd at the Wadi Degla club to their feet time and time
again.
But, just two years after he marked a return from six months on the
sidelines by taking the 2014 World Championship title, Ashour was
unable to repeat the feat as his troublesome hamstring flared up again
with the maverick 2-1 down in the fourth to hand the title to Gawad,
who becomes only the third Egyptian of all time to hold the sport’s
most illustrious title after Amr Shabana and Ashour himself.
"I still can’t believe it," said Gawad.
"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% my
work, but 50% 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."
Ashour said: "It was an honour to play this week, I’ve been through a lot, and every time I fall down I learn.
"As long as I’m still breathing, I’ll just keep trying. It’s the thing
that I feel so much happiness when I do and thank you all for being
here today."
Result - Final: 2016 PSA Men's World Squash Championship
