The 2018-2019 season saw Tarek Momen make it a trio of Egyptians at the top of the rankings, reaching the World No.3 spot. Momen has put that down to finding a level of consistency that he believes he has never had in his game before, and his record this season speaks for itself.
“I was very happy with the way I played this season and the level of consistency I managed to sustain,” he said.
“From October to June I played around 10 tournaments and didn’t lose once before the semifinals. That’s something I never managed to achieve before.”
In February, he reached the top three in the World Rankings for the first time in his career, thanks to that consistent run of form, which started with a victory at the Channel VAS, where he beat Ali Farag in the final.
“Getting to World No.3 was a proud moment for me.
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For years I’ve been trying to reach the top but always struggled with consistency. I could beat the World No.1 one week and lose the next to a much lower ranked player.
“For the past 18 months I managed to find the level of consistency needed to reach the top.
Since then I’ve been working really hard to stand my ground and go further up.”
The Egyptian also won the CCI International in the second week of January, along with reaching a string of finals through the early part of the calendar year.
Momen holds one of those performances higher than the rest, as he reached the final of the Chicago World Champs for the first time in his career, ending a nine-match winless streak against defending champion Mohamed ElShorbagy to book a place in the final of the sport’s biggest tournament.
A packed crowd inside Union Station bore witness to a thrilling 97 minute battle…
“I think my performances at the Worlds in Chicago were the highlight of the season. My semifinal match against Mohamed was definitely one to remember.
“The way I kept pushing myself to get my first win over him in 5 years, and to do it on such a big occasion was truly rewarding. I played some really good squash throughout the week.
“A great quarter-final match against Marwan and I also survived a huge scare in the last 16 against Abouelghar. He had the lead for the majority of the match and I was truly proud of the way I fought back that day and never gave up.”
Tarek is already into his off-season activities, having spent time in Italy to relax with wife Raneem El Welily. He is looking forward to the work he will put in during the pre-season period, and he already knows his goals for the 2019-2020 campaign.
“Off season training is the building block of the year that gets us going for nine months. I’m really looking forward to working hard with my coaches to start next season on top of my game. A lot of work needs to be done physically, tactically and mentally to perform at my best whilst remaining injury free.
“My goal for the 2019/2020 season is simple & clear. I want to win as many titles as I can until I reach the No.1 spot hopefully before the season ends.”
