Omar Abdel Meguid Over Karim Ali Fathi to Capture PSA Oregon Open by Mauricio Sanchez Februay 7, 2016
- The were was great expectation for the all-Egyptian final between
Omar Abdel Meguid vs Karim Ali Fathi at the Multnomah Athletic Club.
Throughout this week these players had demonstrated why they were the
two top seeds of the tournament. Omar possesses a powerful physique
with a lethal combination of delicate touches in the front area of the
court. On the other hand, Karim is extremely agile and builds points
beautifully before going for his attacks. It was a great match-up of
power vs resistance that kept the Portland crowd gasping in disbelief
for the precision and athleticism of these players in this great final.
In
the first game, Karim started playing very tight rails and was able to
establish a quick lead at 5-0. He was making sure to go around Omar in
order to keep continuous rallies. Omar was not able to find his rhythm
in this first game and reserved energy for what was to come. Karim took
the first blood 11-3.
But the pressure of being one love
down gave Omar the focus he needed. He has the ability to hit an extra
gear whenever he finds himself in difficult situations. Omar was
stepping up in every rally and volleying more and more. The powerful
attacks were able to break the movement of Karim and Omar took the game
11-5.
At one all, everyone in the crowd was wondering if
Karim's resistance or Omar's finesse would prevail. The rallies were
incredibly disputed and for the first time in the tournament the
relaxed attitude of Karim seemed to go into lapses of tension. At 5-3
we saw the rally of the match in this game with both players reaching
unbelievably difficult shots and attacking millimeters from the tin.
But not surprisingly, as it is the case in some of the most disputed
rallies in Squash, the magnificent rally ended in a let. Karim was able
to put a lot of work into Omar's legs and he seemed to have the
momentum in his favor by taking the third game 11-8.
In the
fourth game, Omar was again able to go into his characteristic second
gear and started dominating the rallies. Omar's powerful physique
contrasts his delicate touch but it creates a special effect that is
difficult for his opponents to decipher. Even though Karim was still
running for every shot Omar would found a way to finish most rallies to
level the match at two-all.
In the last game, both players
decided to start hitting the ball even harder and running for
everything, clearly pushing themselves to the limit. It was very close
all the way to five-all until Omar found some magical touches and was
able to create a lead to take the match at 11-7.
The avid
Squash fans received the new champion with raucous applause. In his
third final in the Oregon Open, Omar was finally able to take the
title. He is very popular in the Oregon circles and he graciously
returned the compliment to his fans. When asked what he liked the most
about Portland without hesitation he responded "the crowd". It was an
incredible week of Squash in the Pacific North West and Squash
enthusiasts were treated to a great final by these Egyptian Squash
magicians.
