QF: A simple affair between friends, Karim v Dimitri

Posted on by

[3] Karim Gawad (EGY) 3-0 [6] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)  11-7, 11-8, 11-7 (39m)

PSA report

World No.9 Karim Abdel Gawad completed the semi-final line-up following an impressive three-game victory over Swiss No.1 Dimitri Steinmann.

Gawad, the No.3 seed in Cairo this week, set up a last-four meeting with No.2 seed Tarek Momen after claiming an 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 win over World No.22 Steinmann.

Former World Champion Gawad burst out of the blocks early in the first game, striking the ball beautifully on the all-glass court at Golf Central Mall and taking control of the mid-court – a position which reaped its rewards as he raced into a 7-1 lead.

After taking a dominant eight-minute first game, Gawad and Steinmann traded points late into the second game. However, it was Gawad’s exceptional court-craft which came to the fore in the key moments, with a couple of brilliant winners helping him move away from 7-7 to double his advantage by an 11-8 scoreline.

The third game followed a similar trend, with Gawad once again coming on strong in the big points. The pair couldn’t be split up to 6-6, but it was the former World No.1 who took six of the last seven points of the match to book his spot in the last-four of the Gold-level event.

“Last year, Dimitri came and we’ve been training together for a couple of weeks.

“We were training fitness together, hitting together. He’s a great friend of mine, and he’s a great fighter. He retrieves everything and it’s so hard to play against him.

“I’m glad to get through in three today, it’s very important just to get a win in three and try as much as possible to focus on tomorrow’s match as well and get ready for tomorrow.

“Take us back to 2012 when I started to compete with Tarek Momen a lot. We’d been training at the same club since I was 13 years old. He was 17. I remember I was watching him playing when we juniors, I was still playing U15s.

“He’s a great person on and off court, and I’m very happy to be sharing a court one more time with him and looking forward to a great match tomorrow.”