Egyptian Duo Gawad and Dessouky Advance to Semi-Finals on Day of Drama in El Gouna by Sean Reuthe
photos PSA
April 12, 2017
- Day six of the 2017 El Gouna International Squash Open saw both
matches scheduled for the glass court - situated at New Marina on
Egypt’s Red Sea - moved to the new squash complex in El Gouna due to
unexpected rainfall, with World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad and World
No.9 Fares Dessouky ensuring that at least one Egyptian will reach the
final on home soil.
The new squash complex, which only finished construction in the weeks
leading up to the tournament and hosted the qualifying stages and some
of the early main draw fixtures, saw Gawad take on German No.1 Simon
Rösner on the traditional court.
The pair matched each other point-for-point for the majority of the
52-minute encounter, with Gawad’s big-game experience and the roar of
his home crowd seeing him prevail in the crucial points to claim an
13-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-2 victory.
"When I heard that we were transferred, I was a bit frustrated,"
admitted Gawad, who will overtake Gregory Gaultier at the summit of the
World Rankings if he reaches the final of the World Series tournament.
"I hadn’t seen the complex at all, I had no idea what the court felt
like, and I was really worried as Simon had played two matches there,
when I hadn’t even seen the place.
On the bus coming here, I told myself that all conditions were part of
the game, that when you want to be a top player, you have to adapt to
what the game throws at you. And I told myself, forget about the
conditions, just get on with it.
"The fact it was a small venue had some advantages, there was a lot of
support for me I felt, and they really helped at the times I really
needed support. So being here had positives and negatives, I just had
to deal with the negatives to overcome them and finally win against a
tough opponent."
Dessouky stands between Gawad and a place in the final after the
22-year-old overcame Peruvian two-time World Junior Champion Diego
Elias in a feisty clash, which saw both player’s engaged in a heated
discussion as they walked off court after the culmination of an
acrimonious encounter.
The match started on the glass court - with both players taking a game
apiece - before play was delayed for almost an hour due to the rain.
With the match relocated to the complex, Elias held four game balls in
the third game, but squandered them to a resurgent Dessouky, and he
held his nerve to triumph in a dramatic fourth-game tie-break to take
it 11-7, 7-11, 12-10, 12-10 in a mammoth 127 minutes, taking into
account the delay.
They join fellow Egyptian Marwan ElShorbagy and Frenchman Gaultier in the semi-final stage, which will take place on April 13.
Results - Quarter-Finals (Bottom Half): 2017 El Gouna International Squash Open
Fares Dessouky (EGY) bt Diego Elias (PER) 3-1: 11-7, 7-11, 12-10, 12-10 (127m)
[2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [8] Simon Rösner (GER) 3-1: 13-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-2 (52m)
Draw - Semi-Final: To Be Played April 13th
[6] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v [3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Fares Dessouky (EGY) v [2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
