World No.1 Mostafa Asal defeated former world champion Karim Gawad in straight games to progress to the semi finals of the PSA World Championships.
It’s the fourth successive appearance for Asal in the semi finals of this event, with the Egyptian runner-up last year to Peru’s Diego Elias.
Asal, who hasn’t dropped a single game on his way to the last four in Chicago, produced an impressive display to keep Gawad at bay and advance 3-0.
The previous five matches between the two had all been won by Asal, who was beating Gawad for pace by whipping the ball into both back corners to take the first 11-7.
After a passive opening period from Asal in the second, the World No.1 was soon back in control as he found his range with good width once again to make it a 2-0 advantage.
More accurate line hitting from Asal put him firmly in the driving seat, with the ‘Raging Bull’ countering well to any attacks Gawad tried to launch. Despite seeing a few match balls saved, Asal won 11-8 for a place in the semi finals, where Paul Coll or Mohamed ElShorbagy await.
“Karim [Gawad] is an amazing personality on and off the court and sharing a court with him at the moment, I’m speechless,” he said.
“Since day one, I was the first to get on court with him. Karim is amazing and we’ve battled a lot on court. He’s amazing on and off court.
“Karim is very tricky to play against – sometimes you see phases where you think he’s completely gone but he isn’t.
“You could see it at the end of the third – he was a little bit off and then he came back at me and he gave a fight. It was a tricky match but it was a solid performance.”
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Result
[2] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt [6] Karim Gawad (EGY) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 (56m)
