Walker & Gawad Make $25K Pittsburgh Final by Howard Harding 3 February 2014 -
Defending champion Alister Walker will contest the final of the 3
Rivers Capital Pittsburgh Open for the second time when he faces
second-seeded Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad in the climax of the PSA World
Tour International 25 event - the fifth tournament of the 2014 US Pro
Squash Series - at Rivers Club in Pittsburgh, USA.
The World No.19 from
Botswana survived a tough test against Tour veteran Olli Tuominen, the
34-year-old former World No.13 from Finland. Honours were shared after
the first two games before Walker overcame a brief lead by the
fourth-seeded Finn in the third to open a 2/1 lead.
It was nip and tuck in
the fourth until eight-all - when top seed Walker ran off three points
in a row to clinch his 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8 victory after 69 minutes.
"Playing Olli is
always tough both physically and mentally," said US-based Walker
afterwards. "Today I managed to get a very good win because Olli has
been playing very well lately having followed his scores.
"He is very
experienced, ever hungry and a highly-ranked player," added the
31-year-old on the eve of his 16th PSA World Tour final.
Gawad, the 22-year-old
second seed is the latest Egyptian to burst into the world top 20 - and
demonstrated his prowess in an 11-7, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8 victory over
third seed Nicolas Mueller, the Swiss number one ranked 28 in the world.
"Niki and I played
like twice in the juniors and once on the PSA Tour and I was expecting
a very tough battle - and here it was!" said the World No.17 from Cairo
later.
"Niki is so talented -
I had to keep my eyes open and focus on each of his shots and try to
put the ball in the corners," continued Gawad, now in the 12th Tour
final of his career. "I'm very happy to win today and looking forward
to playing the finals tomorrow."
Walker and Gawad will
be marking their second Tour clash - but their first since May 2010 at
the Sky Open in Gawad's home city Cairo. Walker beat the then
18-year-old ranked outside the world top 70 in straight games.
"Tomorrow against
Gawad will be very tough," said Walker. "He is talented and can rattle
off points quickly and things can get away from you if you lose focus
for a minute. We played several years ago in Cairo but he has improved
considerably since then."
RESULTS: PSA International 25 3 Rivers Capital Pittsburgh Open, Pittsburgh, USA
Quarter-finals: [1] Alister Walker (BOT) bt Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) 11-9, 11-3, 15-13 (45m) [4] Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [8] Cesar Salazar (MEX) 8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 (42m) [3] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt [6] Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 (40m) [2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [5] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) 11-9, 11-3, 11-9 (44m)
Semi-finals: [1] Alister Walker (BOT) bt [4] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8 (69m) [2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [3] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 11-7, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8 (53m)
