My trip that took me from Optasia in Wimbledon (warm clothes) to Gouna via Cairo (clothes not that warm) just came to an end. After a sleepless night courtesy of Air France, which systematically makes us fly at 3 am to land in Paris at 7.30 to catch another plane to Nice, was I fresh and jolly? I let you imagine.
The cherry on the cake was that my lovely new bag never made it to the second flight… Sigh…
I did notice the lovely bag at Optasia on the Dunlop stand… Light, à géométrie variable (you can make it small or big as you wish). Love it, love it.
Ask, and you shall receive… Lovely Stephen Heatley from Dunlop gave it to me in Gouna!
To be honest, I could have stayed in Cairo till the end of the World Cup in Palm Hills – one of my favourite clubs EVAH with Heliopolis – but I had to come back to try and check on my brother, whose health is deteriorating. And retrospectively, I think it’s a good idea. So many things happened during that trip, it was essential for me to take a break and breathe…
The Good
Thank the Lord, plenty of good.
Remember when??
First of all, a little reminder of the first event history….
Fram at Wimbledon: The Rise and Rise of the Optasia Championships
And of the second event
Noor Zaman: definitely a player to watch
I had never really had the opportunity to study that boy talent, and boy, he got plenty.
“I feel that young Noor is going to learn, and that we will finally have Pakistani players where they belong, at the top of the game. He is bringing a bit of flair and invention to our game, while playing fair squash. I like. I like very much….” I wrote as a conclusion of my report on his first match in Optasia.
“People, a star is born” was the start of my report on the second match, where he stunned Leonel Cardenas…
Amanda Sobhy: Meet the Squash Phoenix
That match between Amanda and Satomi, prompted me to write a little “ode” to Amanda, offering her a new nickname that she embraced, I’m proud to say.
Youssef Ibrahim: Furious pace and popping shoulder!
I love my Golden Boy. Since 2016, first time I spotted him in Degla’s world against Greg Marche, I always followed his career. He is at the moment one of the most exciting player to watch, but like another mega entertaining player we miss so much, Mr Ramy Ashour, his career is riddled with injuries.
First his knee that needed surgery, it took him a long time to get back to his best form, then a year ago in Gouna, he dislocated his shoulder. A year later, in Optasia, he did it again in his second round:
R2: The Match of two injuries… Youssef survives, Abou falls …
He managed to win it, how, we’ll never know, only to bow in an incredibly intense third game against Karim Abdel Gawad…
And what about Gouna, you might ask?
Well, he started ‘slowly’ with a 13-11, 11-13, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9 in 85m against Dimitri Steinmann, then produced one of the best matches of the past decade against remarkable Abhay Singh.
With a painful shoulder, he then despatched of Paul in 4, as you do, in just above an hour – not many player can achieve such a performance against Superman, only bowing in 4 against Zakaria in the semis, while receiving treatment between games…
ROWAN ELARABY: SHE IS BACK!
Yes, she might have lost her second round, but it was against this year’s runner-up, Amina Orfi. I adore that lovely graceful yet fierce player, and it’s great to have her back ‘for sure’ (say it out loud with a French accent, of course)
Special mention to …
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The Zakaria family:
I fell in love with that family, from the big brother Mohammad, to the younger sister Talia, Mum and Dad, always respectful while emotional and supportive, not forgetting the little brother, whose spirit and character are already showing.
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Abhay Singh
I admire the qualities of the No1 Indian player. A stunning athlete, with a mind of Iron.
The performance he produced against Aly Abou Eleinen was outstanding, and I feel he is going to climb the rankings pretty soon. Between Abhay and Anahat, the present/future of India looks mighty GREAT.
The Ievent team
Incredible people, every year. With the addition this year of my little Jana Shiha, as beautiful inside as outside working with Omar El Sherbini team…
Mansi of course, incredibly nice Nazih and Mark, with a multitude of helpers, Sondos for the food and beverage, and so many many many more.
Working with Ievents makes my life easy, and my work productive. When I’m given the tools I need, my autistic brain can function. So thanks again for the A+++ treatment of the Old Queen Mother… Merci à tous!
A new Sports Minister
Egypt has some great Footballers, some amazing Squash Players, but they also had a handball legend: Gohar Nabil. And guess what, he is now the new Minister of Youth and Sports.
An Al-Ahly player, He participated to three Olympic Games (’92, ’96, 2000) and was even nominated World Best Pivot in ’98 and 2000. Sports, Performances, Adrenalin.. The Man knows a bit about it.
Welcome to our world, your Excellency!
The Women’s final
If you only watch one match of those two events, it has to be the Hania/Nour last match. Pure Gold, Pure Diamond….
F: Hania wins 11/9 in the 5th a perfect advert for Squash against Nour
… THE SAD…
Ibrahim Metwally, a Cherished Father
I couldn’t believe the news when Greg Gaultier told me upon my arrival on the second day of Gouna. Mr Metwally, father of Mariam, was not feeling great while watching his daughter playing good friend Zeina.
He was then taken to the Gouna Hospital, around the corner, while Mariam was finishing her match and even giving me her after-match quote. Finally aware of the situation, our Mariam rushed to be reunited with her dad who unfortunately, was not able to recover from his stroke. The doctors worked for hours, literally, trying to revive him but it was not possible. The entire Egyptian squash community rallied around the Metwally family at the hospital.
RIP, dear Ibrahim.
Injuries Galore
A few extremely talented players had to withdraw during matches due to injury.
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Jonah Bryant:
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Mohamed Abouelghar
I already gave you the link to the match with Yous Ibrahim, which he had to forfeit in the 5th in Optasia, and unfortunately, the injury flared up against Diego in Round Two in Gouna.
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Moh and Marwan ElShorbagy
The Englishmen had to stop their battle far too early in Gouna: Mohamed in his first round against Leonel, and Marwan in his battle against Diego in the quarters.
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Olivia Weaver
The American was wearing a big tape around her thigh from day one, an injury she’s been trying to sort out for a while now.
She was playing Goddess squash the whole week in Gouna, up to the semis against Nour, where disaster struck:
THE UGLY
What is happening to my sport? How can a single player make the world’s best sport implode??
I hope that, in their next life, every single person who criticised, despised and threatened the refs during those two events will come back as refs.
None are so blind as those who will not see, and that’s your prerogative. But that doesn’t give you the right to physically threaten a ref, or imply they are “paid by PSA to harm/damage/prejudice a player”. HOW DARE YOU.
Not to mention that PSA is definitely not paying the refs enough by any means!!!!! ONLY KIDDING BOSS.
So to make us smile again, I kept the best for last:
RAMY’S TIME MACHINE:
The Ram Challenge
For those who missed it, the Artist had invited Greg Gaultier for a little RAM exhibition – a match with his own scoring, which he nicknamed RAM SCORING.
You play short game (3m), the music is blasting during the match, it’s fun, it’s intense…
Greg Gaultier had a blast:
At my age, it’s all about having fun, and being back here playing with such a player, who revolutionised the game, is a privilege!
I went through several generations, but when he arrived, it was a bit of a nightmare, lots of tough 3/0, thanks Ramy. And I’m here tonight thanks to him, I don’t play anymore, but I couldn’t say no to sharing a court one more time with him.
About the scoring system, it’s my first time playing the RAM scoring system. You have to be alert from the beginning, you can score two points right away, and with Ramy’s skills, I knew he would go for nicks!
It’s a fun system, I really enjoyed my time on court.
As for Ramy… His head was not really on court, he was making sure that everything was running smoothly, he had an army of People in Black (I was one of them, sorry Greg) making sure that things went according to plan.
As Ramy put it:
“It was a great honour to play in front of the El Gouna crowd once again. And playing with Greg here, it’s the pinnacle of things, so I don’t know where we go from there!
“I came up to that system just to add to the excitement of the current PSA World Tour, that doesn’t take anything away from the official Tour.
I came up with that scoring more for “us”… for the players that have retired: we can still do things, we can still be part of incredible scenes like this one.
I’m pretty happy I got to show this to the world. I wish I was getting the trophy, but it’s ok!!!!”
Yes, Ramy didn’t win, but I ALONE know why.
His wife, Malak, God bless her, just didn’t fancy the trophy, plus another trophy on the shelves, SERIOUSLY??
So Ramy, as a good husband he is, had to let his former opponent take the victorious bow to please the lovely wife.
And that the absolute truth… I know you all believe me.
It was a fun, light, emotional moment, and I blame the wind for sticking something in my eye..
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