Amanda Sobhy and Karim Abdel Gawad are Squash Player Magazine's Players of the Month from Tour Media
photos squashpics.com
September 7, 2016
Sobhy wins Squash Player’s Player of the Month award
Amanda Sobhy has been named Squash Player’s Female Player of the Month
for September for beating world champion and world no.1 Nour El
Sherbini in the Hong Kong Open.
The 3/0 victory took the 23-year-old American to her second World
Series final and although she was unable to follow it up with the title
as she went down 3/1 to Nouran Gohar, it was a remarkable scoreline.
"It took a little bit to get used to her pace at the start; she's not
world no.1 for nothing," said Sobhy after her 12-10, 11-5, 11-6 triumph
in 33 minutes.
"At the start I felt that I was just running and trying to retrieve, so
I told myself to get into it, try and get the ball to the back, and I'm
very pleased with how I was able to come back.
"I think the first game was extremely important, given the fact I was
10-5 down. If she had won that game, it would have given her a lot of
momentum, so the fact that I was able to win that, I think that the
momentum shifted and I was able to build on a lot of confidence.”
Sobhy’s next target is to win a World Series final, having also reached the decider of the Tournament of Champions in January.
Gawad wins Squash Player’s Player of the Month award
Karim Abdel Gawad has been named Squash Player’s Male Player of the
Month for September after reaching his first World Series final at the
Hong Kong Open.
"I'm so happy, I can't describe the feeling," said the 25-year-old
Egyptian after defeating Australian Ryan Cuskelly 11-7, 11-6, 6-11,
12-10 in the semi-finals.
"I was in control during the first two games, but then he came back
very strongly and he was probably in control for the third and most of
the fourth.
“I just gave everything to try and win that fourth, because I knew he
was getting better and better, and a fifth game would be good for him.”
Unfortunately for Gawad, that is where his fine run ended, as he went
down 3/2 to his experienced compatriot, Ramy Ashour, in the final,
after battling back from 1/0 and 2/1 down to take the match to a
decider.
Nevertheless, the world no.8 still ranked reaching the final as the
second biggest achievement of his career, after his Swedish Open title
in February.
