What's been happening in the world of squash (14th to 20th of November 2016)

Gawad on a roll

Two weeks after becoming World Champion in Cairo, Karim Abdel Gawad won the Qatar Open - last World Series event of 2016. If the Alexandria-born hadn’t quite produced the results matching his abilities before the start of the season, the last few months have been nothing but magnificent for him: he got to his first final of a major tournament in Hong Kong, won in Al-Ahram and reached the semi-final of the US Open before the dream two weeks everyone knows about. The last player who had carried the momentum after a world title was Ramy Ashour in 2012: in fact, he’d won the next four World Series events after this. Gawad is playing with so much confidence at the moment that we can see him walk in The Artist footsteps. In the final in Qatar, he was able to contain a very determined Mohamed El Shorbagy, eager for revenge after his loss in the semi-final in Cairo. The world number 3 was 10-9 down in the first game but was able to claw his way back and win 12-10 after 29 minutes of play. He closed the match in straight games (12-10, 15-13, 11-7 in 67 minutes). The last time El Shorbagy had lost 3-0 in a World Series event was in March 2015 in Chicago. “I’m very happy with the way I performed today,” said Gawad (source: www.psaworldtour.com). “For the first time, I was under pressure. When you are a World Champion, people expect you to win and that you have a big chance to win. That is a new element I had to integrate into my preparation. “Being World Champion and Qatar Champion sounds good, really good. I’m living the dream. But next season, I’m aware that I’ll have to make sure I’m very consistent if I want to stay in competition with the top boys.” El Shorbagy was graceful in defeat, saying: “Karim deserves to be the champion, he’s played so well in this first part of the season. It was a great match, and the best player on the day won.” The world number 1, who hasn’t been as consistent as he usually is in the last few months, nevertheless left Doha with some renewed confidence after two epic wins against Simon Rosner in the quarters and Nick Matthew in semi-finals – both 11-9 in the fifth game. This was heartbreaking for the German number 1, who played exceptionally well but failed to make the semi-finals of a major tournament for the sixteenth time in sixteenth attempts.

Photo credit: squashsite

Around the world

Canada’s Samantha Cornett won her first tournament since being back from a 14-month long injury, in Sarnia (Ontario, Canada). She didn’t drop a game all week but had to overcome the resilience of Finland’s Emilia Soini in the finals (two tie-breaks). This is promising for her and her team before the Women’s World Team Championship. --- In the men’s event, Colombia’s Juan Camilo Vargas won his maiden title in the PSA World Tour. The graduate from Trinity beat Frenchman Vincent Droesbeke in the final in 3 hard-fought games. This victory comes a few weeks after his first final in Minneapolis and he should therefore make a huge climb in the rankings in December (he’s currently #340). --- Farhan Mehboob is back! The 28-year old Pakistanese won his biggest title since 2008 in Islabamad, beating compatriot Farhan Zaman in the final. The mercurial left-hander, who had reached a career high ranking of 16 in 2009, has been playing on and off for a few years, among other things because of visa issues. --- Joshua Masters continues to impress (picture below). The 21 year-old from England won his first PSA $10,000 in Saskatoon, Canada, after a string of convincing wins over Nick Sachvie, Martin Knight, Andrew Schnell, and Peter Creed. He will be hoping to carry this form in Edmonton this week (PSA $35,000).

Photo credit: squashsite

Women’s World Team Championship, 5 days to go

The WWTC starts on Sunday with the opening ceremony, before the action begins on Monday. The seventeen nations are split in 4 pools (three of four teams and one of five) and the top two in each pool go through the quarter final stage. The two favorites – England and Egypt – will play their first fixture in Jeu de Paume, against India and Canada respectively. From Wednesday onwards, most of the matches will be played on a glass court in the Palais des Sports Robert Charpentier in Issy-les-Moulineaux. 

More info on the official website

wsfwomensteams.com

Results

PSA

• Qatar Classic (Doha, Qatar) – $150,000 (Men’s)

Winner: Karim Abdel Gawad (Egypt)

• Simon Warder Memorial Prostate Cancer Tournament (Sarnia, Canada) – $5,000 (Men’s) + $5,000 (Women’s)

Winners: Juan Camilo Vargas (Colombia) et Samantha Cornett (Canada)

• Sunrise Foods International Saskatoon Movember Boast (Saskatoon, Canada) – $10,000 (Men’s)

Winner: Joshua Masters (England)

• Pakistan Air Force CAS International Championship (Islamabad, Pakistan) – $25,000 (Men’s)

Winner: Farhan Mehboob (Pakistan)

Others

• Premier Squash League, round 3

Group A :

Pontefract vs. Bristol : 4-1

Leicester - Birmingham : 1-4

Group B :

Surrey vs. Bexley: 2-3

Chichester vs. London Coolhurst: 4-1

• Premier Squash League, round 4 (brought-forward fixture)

Bexley – St George’s Hill: 2-3

Schedule

PSA

• Monte Carlo Classic 2016 (Monaco) – 21^st to 25^th of November – $25,000 (Women’s)
• ReidBuilt Homes Edmonton Open (Edmonton, Canada) – 21^st to 26^th of November – $35,000 (Men’s)
• CCI International JSW ISC (Mumbai, India) – 22^st to 27^th of November – $50,000 (Men’s)

Others

• Women’s World Team Championship (Paris, France) – 28^th of November to 3^rd of December