Gawad Lifts Swedish Open Crown After Beating Momen in All-Egyptian Final by Sean Reuthe photo squashpics.com
February 7, 2016
- World No.9 Karim Abdel Gawad overcame fellow Egyptian and close
friend Tarek Momen in a dramatic final in the 2016 UCS Swedish Open in
Linköping - earning his first ever PSA M70 crown in the process.
The
match was finely poised throughout the 80-minute encounter with Momen
coming back from a one-game deficit on two separate occasions to set up
a climactic fifth game showdown.
Gawad dug into his energy
reserves impressively though to come through in five games for the
second time in this event, with a 12-10, 8-11, 11-9, 3-11, 11-4 victory
handing the crown to the man from Alexandria.
"It’s a great feeling, I’ve been working so hard for this," said Gawad.
"It’s
my first big title, my biggest title before this was an M35 tournament
so, for me, it’s a great step forward and hopefully this is just the
beginning. In the fifth game when it was at 4-4 I said to myself that I
just needed seven more points. I had to push and put in everything I
could.
"Obviously, Tarek was doing the same but I had to
focus and remember all the work I have been doing over the last couple
of months. I’m very thankful I won the last few points. It’s given me a
lot of confidence for the rest of the season."
