Gamal Awad (9 August 1955 – 6 November 2004) was a
squash
Squash may refer to:
Sports
* Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets
* Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling
* Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
player from
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
He was the younger brother of
Mohammed Awad
Mohammed Hussain Awad Al-Juboori () was a political party member of the Iraqi National Dialogue Council that is a moderate Sunni block. He was a representative of this block at the National Assembly of Iraq. On 12 April 2007, he was killed in th ...
another notable Egyptian squash player.
Awad became the Egyptian national champion in 1976, and won the British Amateur championship in 1977 and 1978. He finished runner-up to
Jahangir Khan
Jahangir Khan (Pashto/ ur, جهانگير خان born 10 December 1963) is a former World No. 1 professional Pakistani squash player. He won the World Open title six times , and the British Open title ten times (1982-1991). Jahangir Khan is w ...
at both the 1982 World Masters and the 1983
British Open
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...
.
The match for which Awad is best remembered came at the
Chichester
Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...
Open in 1983 against Jahangir, which set a new world record for the longest squash match on record. The first game itself was a record for the longest single game in a squash match, as Awad recovered from 1–8 down to take the game 10–9 in 1 hour and 11 minutes. In the end, Jahangir won the match 9–10, 9–5, 9–7, 9–2 in 2 hours and 46 minutes.
Awad's acrobatic performances on the squash court earned him the nicknames "rubber man" and "grasshopper".
Awad retired from the professional squash circuit in 1987, following problems with knee injuries.
Gamal Awad died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
on 6 November 2004 in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
at the age of 49.
References
External links
Article at Squashtalk.com*
1955 births
2004 deaths
Egyptian male squash players
20th-century Egyptian people
{{Egypt-squash-bio-stub