Mostafa Asal’s new coach, Mohamed Elkeiy, is aiming to help Egypt capture the World Cup in Chennai – where Asal claimed the World Junior title in 2018 – before getting back to work with the controversial youngster …
Five years ago Mostafa Asal, the current Men’s World No.4, made the squash fraternity take notice of him by clinching a double – the 2018 World Junior Championships individual and team titles – in Chennai.
And now, his coach, Mohamed Elkeiy, hopes to replicate what Asal did – come up trumps in a marquee tournament hosted at India’s ‘squash capital’ and leave the metropolis with a piece of silverware.
Elkeiy is currently serving as a coach for the Egypt national team that is vying for the top prize in the Squash World Cup here. The 43-year-old Egyptian will have to find a way to go the distance in the absence of not only Asal but also many other big guns (it is to be recalled that a lot of superstars have given the event a miss).
Elkeiy, whose Egypt side is the top seed and the pre-tournament favourite, stressed that rankings go out of the window in a fast-paced event like the ongoing World Cup.
“With the format that we have, it is not about which player has the higher ranking. I think that you will see a lot of surprises during the course of the tournament.”
On working with Asal Elkeiy said that his next target would be to get Asal back on track. In March, the 22-year-old was handed a six-week suspension by the PSA for ‘dangerous play’ and slipped down a few places from World #1.
“I am working with him on adjusting the tactics so that he does not put himself in a situation where the referee can go against him. I am trying to calm him down and change a few strategies… to win without any consequences,” said Elkeiy, whose partnership with Asal began last month at the El Gouna International in Egypt.
Fram chats with old friend Mohamed Elkeiy at the El Gouna International, about his new role at the side of the tumultuous young Egyptian.
It was a very positive week from my point of view, and also for Mostafa.
My work with him this week was trying to let him look better on court, making less mistakes he was doing previously with his movement. Also, we chose different tactics he could play and use to avoid traffic issues.
This week, he didn’t repeat the behaviour on court he used to have on his previous events, and he was performing really well, acting really well on court for the past week. Maybe a few mistakes during the match with ElShorbagy. We talked about it, and he admitted the mistakes, we will be working on it.
Yesterday’s match took a lot of Mostafa. He lost a lot of energy, 3/2, was a very long match, and his legs were tired. Ali was a bit fresher, he didn’t play as much squash as Mostafa did, that affected his physicality as well, not to mention that Ali’s game is based on making his opponent move a lot, and that, today, Mostafa couldn’t do it consistently enough.
Right after his World Cup duty, Elkeiy will join his ward for the World Tour Finals in his home country later this month.
