Karim Abdel Gawad Wins All-Egyptian Battle To Claim Optasia Championships 2023 Title by Connor Sheen
photos PSA
March 26, 2023
- 2016 World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad has captured his first PSA
World Tour title since March last year as he claimed the Optasia
Championships 2023 title, beating compatriot and World No.12 Youssef
Soliman in a straight-game final.
The former World No.1 was featuring in just
his third tournament since returning to the PSA World Tour after
recovering from an injury, but showed no signs of struggle as he
settled into a devastating rhythm early on in the Gold event final.
In typical Gawad style, the unseeded
Egyptian started to attack the front corners immediately, to test the
movement of Soliman and ask questions of his compatriot after a tough
week of squash for the World No.12. Gawad’s severe drop shots and kills
were proving hard for Soliman to cope with as the older Egyptian took
the opening two games in no time at all to place on hand on the trophy.
Soliman’s resistance was fading in the
third game as the pressure from Gawad was unrelenting. The World No.12
was being forced into the front corners time and time again and despite
his powerful and smooth movement, he wasn’t able to negate the skill of
Gawad. Seven championships balls presented themselves for Gawad, who
only needed one to secure the Gold event title - a first title since
March 2022.
“A year ago I didn’t have a chance to be on court, I didn’t think I’d be on court again,” said Gawad after the win.
“My only wish was to take every advantage I
could, train as hard as I could and play every tournament I could. I
learnt a lot from my injury, I'm really happy and grateful to have
another chance to be on court in front of an amazing crowd and doing
what I love the most in my life.
“It is a great pleasure to be on a court
that all the legends have been on, thanks to the promoter, all the
sponsors, all the crowd that came to watch. Without all these things,
the tournament wouldn’t be able to happen so I'm looking forward to
coming back and playing again.
“I was so down, I was very depressed. I
lost 7kg of muscle. I want to thank my wife for taking care of me, my
coaches, my physio, my mental coach, everyone. It was a hard time,
luckily I’m back on court and enjoying every moment here and looking
forward to the next one.”
PSA World Tour action heads to Birmingham
next for one of the most prestigious events on the calendar, the 2023
British Open. Action starts on April 9th from The Edgbaston Priory Club
with 96 players looking to etch their names on the trophy come the end
of the tournament. Head to the PSA World Tour website for more
information.
