Gawad Sets Up Final Clash With Gaultier in El Gouna International to Become New World No.1 by Sean Reuthe
photos PSA
April 13, 2017
- World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad will become the new World No.1 in
next month’s World Rankings after he beat fellow Egyptian Fares
Dessouky to reach the final of the El Gouna International Squash Open,
World Series tournament - and he will face the man he will dethrone,
Gregory Gaultier, in the title decider.
Gawad, who started the season ranked at World No.8, has been in
sensational form over the past eight months, lifting the World
Championship title, Qatar Classic title and Tournament of Champions
title to surge up the rankings.
He required just a quarter-final finish at last month’s British Open to
take top spot, ultimately losing to compatriot Mohamed Abouelghar in
the round before, but held his nerve on the banks of Egypt’s Red Sea to
recover from a game down against World No.9 Dessouky, beating the
22-year-old 7-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-8 to become the fifth Egyptian to top
the World Rankings.
"Today is extra special for me, reaching the finals here in El Gouna in
front of this amazing crowd is a great pleasure for me," said Gawad.
"It makes me very happy. I didn't want to think about it [the battle
for World No.1] because I've been thinking about it a bit in the last
two tournaments and it affected my way of playing so much.
"Today I just wanted to go on court, do my best and reach the finals
here in El Gouna. Winning today is a great feeling. Tomorrow is another
day, I have to keep my focus and I have to concentrate as much as I
can."
Meanwhile, Gaultier extended his unbeaten run to 18 matches, with a
straight games win over Egyptian World No.5 Marwan ElShorbagy sending
the 34-year-old into a fifth successive PSA World Tour final.
Gaultier's incredible form has seen him lose just one match in 2017,
with wins at the Swedish Open, Windy City Open and British Open over
the past few months ensuring that he became the oldest World No.1 of
all time in the PSA Men’s World Rankings for April.
And he will compete for a third straight World Series title after a
12-10, 11-4, 11-4 victory over ElShorbagy saw him through to the final
against Gawad - the last man to defeat the rampant Frenchman in
January’s Tournament of Champions final.
“I've been World No.1 before, for me it's just a pleasure to be there
and I'm not over the moon like the first time I became World No.1,”
Gaultier said.
“If you win, you deserve to be there, and if you lose then you deserve to go down in the rankings, that's how it works.
"All I care about is having a good time and having fun on the court,
that is why I keep playing. The day I feel irritated or frustrated that
I have to go back to training or if I don't take pleasure on the court
then I will stop. I'm still hungry, I still want to win more titles and
I still have something left in the tank to do good things before I put
the racket into my wardrobe.”
The 2017 El Gouna International Squash Open final will take place at
19:00 local time (EET) tomorrow (April 14) and will be broadcast live
on SQUASHTV, Eurosport Player and the following broadcasters:
Astro (Malaysia / Brunei)
beIN Sports (Middle East / North Africa)
BT Sport (United Kingdom)
DAZN (Japan)
Eleven Sports Network (Singapore / Taiwan)
Fox Sports Australia (Australia)
MNC Indonesia (Indonesia)
Now TV (Hong Kong)
Sky Sport NZ (New Zealand)
Super Sport (Sub-Saharan Africa)
Ten Sports (Indian Subcontinent)
Truevisions (Thailand)
