Sweden Roundup: Gawad Comes Through in Five to Reach Semis

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World No.9 Karim Abdel Gawad came though a brutal five-game-thriller against eighth seed Chris Simpson to reach the semi-final stage of the 2016 UCS Swedish Open in Linköping.

Both players partook in a veritable feast of attacking squash and put on a show in front of an enraptured crowd but it was Gawad who eventually shaded the contest, prevailing courtesy of a 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7 scoreline.

“I’m very happy to reach the semis,” said Gawad.

“This is the second PSA M70 semi-final I have reached in my career so I’m really happy to get through. Simpson is a very tough player so I’m glad I could take it in the fifth today. It was tough because in the fourth he was 9-4 up and I managed to get it back to 9-9 but he still won it.

“It made it tough mentally in the fifth because of how tough the fourth game was. I had to refocus, concentrate and get the first points in the fifth. I’m the number two seed in this tournament so I have to focus and not put too much pressure on myself.”

Title favourite Simon Rösner is still on track to pick up a first PSA World Tour title in over a year after downing Australian No.1 Cameron Pilley in a highly entertaining 79-minute clash.

High quality rallies were par for the course with only a number of lets towards the end of the third game punctuating what was otherwise a nail-biting contest full to the brim with attacking brilliance from the duo.

Rösner dropped the first game but soon wrestled back momentum of the match, prevailing by a 9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-6 margin of victory to reach his second ever Swedish Open semi-final.

“I’m really proud of my performance today,” said Rösner.

“I thought we played some good squash out there today and I hope that we ended up exciting the crowd as well. I think that I played better than last time I played him [in the Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open). I’m really proud to be in another semi-final in the Swedish Open.”

Elsewhere, Daryl Selby has reached his first PSA M70 semi-final since 2013 after coming through his fixture with Max Lee in straight games.

Lee was fatigued after coming through a gruelling five-game contest in the previous round against Alan Clyne and Selby took full advantage of his opponent’s weary legs to take an 11-9, 11-5, 16-14 victory and set up a semi-final meeting with second seed Gawad.

“I felt like I played well,” said Selby.

“He picked up so many balls in the third that I really didn’t think he was going to get back. It shows the professionalism, grit and determination that you face every time you step on court so all credit to Max. I thought my length was good so we’ll see what happens in the next round.”

Tarek Momen defeated French qualifier Lucas Serme in the day’s other fixture and the World No.11 will go head-to-head with Rösner in the next round.

Results: 2016 UCS Swedish Open – Quarter-Final
[2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [8] Chris Simpson (ENG) 3-2: 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7 (66m)
[5] Daryl Selby (ENG) bt [4] Max Lee (HKG) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 16-14 (51m)
[3] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [Q] Lucas Serme (FRA) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-3 (35m)
[1] Simon Rösner (GER) bt [7] Cameron Pilley (AUS) 3-1: 9-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-6 (79m)