Mosaad Trying to Push On After Summer Tragedy from PSA Media
photo PSA
December 18, 2015
- World No.4 Omar Mosaad has revealed that the tragic car accident that
claimed the lives of his sister and mother in July has forced him to
push on with his training in their memory.
The Egyptian was taking part in a training session before receiving a
phone call informing him that both his sister and mother had been
involved in a horrific accident just outside of the Egyptian holiday
resort of El Gouna. Despite getting to the scene as fast as he could
with his father and brother, they had already passed away with Mosaad’s
two-year-old nephew and five-year-old the only survivors from the
tragedy.
Speaking to Rod Gilmour at Squash Player, Mosaad insisted that looking
after both his nephew, Youssef, and his niece, Tia, has been one of his
biggest priorities since the accident.
“I’ve tried to be beside them all this time,” said Mosaad.
“They miss their mother and grandmother. You need to do a lot of work and care for them. It takes time.
“This is about my brothers and my dad. I needed to be beside him [dad]
too. He has lost his wife and his daughter and it’s difficult for him.”
Despite a short time away from the game, Mosaad made the decision to
return to the court after seeking advice from his coaches, his brother
Mohamed being one of them, and made his comeback in September’s Stars
on the Bund China Open where he reached the semi-final.
While he admitted that it was difficult to take to the court after such
a loss, the 27-year-old says that he had extra reason to step up his
training with his sister and mother in the forefront of his mind.
“I took the hard and mentally sad decision to go back on court,” he said.
“I played on in the memory of my mother and sister. It gave me a reason to push on with my training.”
He then hit some of his best ever form on the PSA World Tour and
reached his first ever PSA World Series final in Philadelphia at the
Delaware Investments US Open where he fell to defeat against France’s
Gregory Gaultier.
The 2015 PSA Men’s Championship saw an even greater achievement as he
made it to his first World Championship final in Seattle, notably
downing compatriot Ramy Ashour en route. It was a run that Mosaad was
understandably proud of.
“I never had to play six matches in a row like that, I didn’t have that kind of experience,” explained the man from Cairo.
“I felt amazing, it was the second time this season I had made a big final, so I was really happy. it was a big achievement.”
With Mosaad being one of the in-form players ahead of next month’s J.P.
Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York, it wouldn’t be a surprise
to see him gunning for yet another big final stateside.
