[7] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) 3-1 [4] Karim Gawad (EGY) 11-9, 9-11, 13-11, 11-4 (62m)
PSA report
World #7 Youssef Ibrahim advanced into his first World Champs final after defeating 2016 champion Karim Gawad in four games. The seventh seed will face off against World #1 Mostafa Asal for the biggest title professional squash has to offer.
The opening game was full of unpredictability, with both players hitting with low margins, which in turn led to plenty of winners but several unforced errors. Despite former champion Gawad edging into a 9-6 lead, a flurry of late errors opened the door for Ibrahim, an opportunity he took with welcome arms. He seized five straight points to move one game to the good after 13 minutes of play.
Gawad didn’t let the first-game loss affect him in the subsequent second, rediscovering his accuracy levels and moving 10-7 up on the scoreboard. Despite Ibrahim once again stealing victory from the jaws of defeat, saving two of these game balls, Gawad hung on to level the match at 1-1.
The two Egyptian compatriots were once again tough to split in the third, with quality hitting and nervy errors leading to a stop-start spectacle. Seventh seed Ibrahim opened up a slender 10-9 lead but forced a backhand drop from the back of the court into the tin to see the third game head to a tie-break.
Gawad brought up a game ball of his own, but once again saw Ibrahim come clawing back, with ‘The Gunslinger’ clinching two consecutive points to move within a game of the biggest final of his career.
With no change of ball requested by either player, Ibrahim came out firing, racing into a quick-fire 6-2 lead as the ball began to drop off. From that point, Gawad looked down and out, hitting several tins in succession to see Ibrahim race through to the win after 62 minutes of play.
Youssef : “It’s amazing. It’s been a long and tough week for me. I was just preparing so much for this tournament. I’m getting surgery and I will be out of the game for 6 months. I knew it was going to be the last hurrah [for the season], so I wanted to make it memorable, and so far it’s going well.
“Honestly, tonight was the latest that I’ve ever played. I’m a morning person, so I naturally sleep early as well. It’s hard to play after midnight. I didn’t feel like it was the semi-finals of the world champs, but I just had to boost myself a little bit on the inside. I hit a lot of errors, but I think given the circumstances, I played pretty well.
“I’m going to take my time with my recovery, just try to get a good sleep and I’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
