Atef Strikes Gold In Golden Open by Howard Harding 3 June 2013
- After surviving two rounds of qualifying, Egyptian teenager Ahmed
Atef swept through the field of the City Of Kalgoorlie-Boulder PSA Int
Golden Open in Western Australia before despatching top seed Arthur
Gaskin in today's final of the PSA Challenger 5 squash event at the
YMCA in Kalgoorlie to win his maiden PSA World Tour title.
The 19-year-old showed his promise in the semi-finals where he knocked out local hope Justin Beard, the No2 seed from Adelaide.
Irishman Gaskin also seemed to be in commanding form - reaching his
second successive Tour final in Australia - and the fifth of his career
- without dropping a game.
But the 28-year-old from Dublin met his match in the final as Atef -
ranked outside the world top 200 - rallied to his career breakthrough
11-6, 4-11, 11-6, 11-6 victory in 64 minutes.
Atef not only celebrates his first Tour title - but becomes the ninth Egyptian to win a PSA Tour trophy this year!
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 5 City Of Kalgoorlie-Boulder PSA Int Golden Open, Kalgoorlie, WA, Australia
1st round:
[1] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) bt Tim Cowell (AUS) 11-6, 11-7, 11-4
Tom de Mulder (BEL) bt [Q] Tristan Eysele (ENG) 11-8, 11-6, 10-12, 9-11, 11-8 (64m)
[Q] Adam Auckland (ENG) bt Matias Tuomi (FIN) 11-8, 11-3, 11-6 (24m)
Kim Are Killingberg (NOR) bt [3] Micah Franklin (BER) 11-9, 11-4, 11-3 (35m)
[Q] Nosherwan Khan (PAK) bt [4] Robert Downer (ENG) 4-11, 11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7 (70m)
[Q] Ahmed Atef (EGY) bt Rhys Dowling (AUS) 12-10, 11-4, 11-8 (31m)
Sunil Seth (AUS) bt [WC] Brenton Scheer (AUS) 11-9, 11-8, 11-3 (21m)
[2] Justin Beard (AUS) bt Arthur Moineau (FRA) 7-11, 14-12, 11-4, 12-10 (51m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) bt Tom de Mulder (BEL) 13-11, 13-11, 11-4 (24m)
[Q] Adam Auckland (ENG) bt Kim Are Killingberg (NOR) 11-9, 11-6, 11-7 (34m)
[Q] Ahmed Atef (EGY) bt [Q] Nosherwan Khan (PAK) 6-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-1 (35m)
[2] Justin Beard (AUS) bt Sunil Seth (AUS) 13-11, 4-11, 11-9, 12-10 (67m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) bt [Q] Adam Auckland (ENG) 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 (37m)
[Q] Ahmed Atef (EGY) bt [2] Justin Beard (AUS) 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 (41m)
Final:
[Q] Ahmed Atef (EGY) bt [1] Arthur Gaskin (IRL) 11-6, 4-11, 11-6, 11-6 (64m)
