In 1999, a young Karim Gawad sat amongst the crowd in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza, watching Ahmed Barada competing at the World Open and daring to dream of one day celebrating success on that very stage.
Seventeen years later, that dream became reality. At the 2016 World Championships in Cairo, Gawad pieced together the finest run of his career to achieve the feat Barada had come so close to completing all those years before.
At 25, the Giza-native became the third Egyptian man to win the PSA World Championships, following in the footsteps of Amr Shabana and Ramy Ashour.
Now 34, it remains the defining chapter of Gawad’s career.
“Winning a World Championship title is a dream for every player,” Gawad reflected. “If anyone asked me what I wanted to achieve in my career, my answer was always to become World No.1 and a World Champion.
“Watching Ahmed Barada playing by the pyramids, I remember that I was one of the kids in the crowd who just hoped to watch Ahmed Barada and get his wristband by the end of the match.
“To go on to achieve that in front of my family, friends, and coaches was so special.
“At the time, I just couldn’t believe it. I remember I was playing great squash, but I still didn’t think I would carry the trophy at that time. However, I did always believe that I would carry the trophy one day.
“In that moment, I remembered all the years, I remembered all the effort my parents put in throughout their lives. So, of course, it changed my life.”
Gawad admits that the PSA World Championships remains a tournament above all others on tour – no matter the previous success of a player, it is an event which can define careers and legacies.
“Players build their entire season around peaking for this event. The level of preparation, pressure, and performance is higher than almost anywhere else,” Gawad said.
“You can win multiple tour titles, but a World Championship win changes how your whole career is viewed. It’s often the first thing mentioned when judging a player’s legacy.
“It is the one tournament everyone is looking for and it’s a very unique tournament, it’s a very special tournament.”
There are never any easy routes to becoming a World Champion, and Gawad’s 2016 triumph was certainly built the hard way.
The Egyptian’s title hopes almost came crashing down before they had even begun, with the aptly-nicknamed ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’ forced to launch a five-game comeback to avoid a shock opening round defeat to Nathan Lake, before staving off a Mohamed Abouelghar onslaught to once again progress in five the following day.
Wins over Gawad’s self-proclaimed bogey player, Max Lee, and former champion Nick Matthew – a career-first win over the latter – were to follow, before ousting pre-tournament favourite and top seed Mohamed ElShorbagy in a pulsating five-game semi-final clash.
“I remember it very well,” Gawad recollected. “All the tough, long matches I played, starting from the first round through to the final.
“I went into the tournament knowing that I hadn’t had a strong result since my time in the World Juniors, where I lost before the quarter-finals every time I had played.
“Playing in Egypt made it even more special, as it was my first World Championships there. I entered the tournament aiming to achieve the best result possible and to play my best squash, but winning it wasn’t really on my mind. It was only when I reached the semi-finals that I truly started to believe in my chances and felt that I could do it that time.”
By the end of his thrilling win over ElShorbagy, what had started as an outside run had turned into a genuine title charge for Gawad.
However, standing between him and the tour’s biggest prize was three-time champion and Egyptian great Ramy Ashour, a player he had never beaten in his professional career to that point.
If the magnitude of the occasion demanded tension, though, Gawad managed to resist it.
“To tell you the truth, I actually came out 10 minutes before my match because I was playing cards with my friends,” Gawad wryly admitted as he recalled the build-up to the biggest match of his life.
“I arrived there and Omar Abdel Aziz and my fitness coach at that time were waiting for me and they were so panicked. I had my friends with me in the car, and then they asked me, ‘Let’s go, let’s go!’ and I said, ‘Okay, I’ll just park the car and come’. They then said, ‘Just let any of your friends park the car and get in here right now, you’re 10 minutes before the match!’
“I was still not dressed, I still had to change and I still had to do my warm-up. I jumped onto the squash courts, and Ramy [Ashour] was all sweat!”
That looseness, though, translated into a sublime performance on the court, where Gawad played with clarity and composure against one of the game’s greats.
Although eventually ending in anticlimactic circumstances, when Ashour was forced to retire early in the fourth when trailing 2-1, this anecdote was, in hindsight, the perfect reflection of Gawad’s character – unflustered and instinctive no matter the magnitude of the occasion.
A decade on from this crowning moment of his career, Gawad looked as well placed as ever to have a run at replicating this feat at the age of 34.
The former World No.1 comes into this year’s PSA World Championships playing some of his finest squash in years, having recently collected his 32nd PSA Tour title after a dominant run at the Grasshopper Cup in Zurich. He also returned to World No.3 for the first time since 2020 after yet another major semi-final appearance at the Tournament of Champions.
“Winning a tournament and being in good shape always gives you that extra push before an important event like the World Championships,” Gawad said.
“I put that down first of all to my family and the team behind me. You have no idea how much work they do to keep me in shape and in the right mental state to perform at that level, stay injury-free, and be ready.
“And also, it comes from within – I truly believe I still have much more to prove to myself and that I have more to show.
“To win this tournament again, it is something I would hope for very much.”
Gawad kickstarts his PSA World Championships campaign on Friday, 8th May against England’s Patrick Rooney. You can watch him in action from Cairo live on SQUASHTV. Gawad’s full interview with Lisa Aitken, in which he recollects his World Championships memories, is available to watch here.
For more information on the event, visit the PSA website or follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Threads, WhatsApp and LinkedIn.
