Mahmoud el Karim (1916–1999) 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 won the
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 ...
men's title four consecutive times from 1947–1950.
Playing career
Karim first played
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
and
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
at the Gezira Sporting Club in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
before discovering squash at the age of 15. He enjoyed it so much, that he came to devote all his time to the sport.
In 1947, Karim captured the British Open title for the first time. The 1947 final was the last occasion on which the British Open was decide in a best-of-three-matches contest between the two finalists. Karim beat
Jim Dear
James Dear MBE (1910–1981) was an English racquets, court tennis, and squash player who effectively won world titles in three different sports during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.
Rackets
Dear won the Rackets World Championships from 1947 to ...
9-4, 9-1, 9-3 in the first match and 5–9, 7–9, 9–8, 9–7, 9–4 in the second match. In 1948 Karim again faced Dear in the British Open final, this time in a single match to determine the champion which Karim won 9–5, 9–3, 5–9, 1–9, 10–8. Karim then beat
Brian Phillips in the 1949 final 9–4, 9–2, 9–10, 9–4. In 1950, Karim beat
Abdul Bari of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
in the final 9–4, 9–2, 9–7.
Karim was also runner-up at the British Open in 1951 and 1952, losing in the final on both occasions to
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
's
Hashim Khan
Hashim Khan ( ps, ; – 18 August 2014) was a squash player from Pakistan. He won the British Open Squash Championships (the then ''de facto'' world championship) a total of seven times, from 1951 to 1956, and then again in 1958. Khan ...
.
Excerpt from The Squash Rackets Association Handbook 1950-51
Affiliated Associations and Overseas Reports
Australia
"The year was without doubt the most outstanding in the history of the association, being dominated by the visitof Mahmoud Kerim, holder of the British and Egyptian open championships and accepted as the finest squash rackets player in the world at present. The Egyptian S.R.A. made the very generous offer of a contribution of half the cost of the return air fare and the Gezira Sporting Club, to which Karim is attached, strongly supported the idea and granted him leave of absence for the tour. Although an outlay of over 500 pounds would be involved and the associations funds at the time stood at about 80 pounds, the executive in inviting Karim were certain of the support of squash followers and of the considerable value in every way of the visit to the game here in Australia. The outcome exceeded even the optimistic expectations of the executive. The presence of this outstanding player created tremendous interest in the sporting world and gave great impetus to the game. Karim played a number of exhibition games in Victoria and New South Wales and won both the professional and open championships of Australia.
The Australian championships were conducted in Victoria on the courts of the South Yarra Club. In the final of the Professional Championship,
G.J Watson had an excellent opportunity of scoring over our visitor M.A.Karim, when he led eight-three in the fifth game of the final of the professional championship. Karim, however, staged a thrilling finish to win the match. The results were:
M.A.Karim (Egypt) beat G.J.Watson (Australia), 4-9,9-0,4-9,9-2,10-8.
Karim gave an outstanding display in taking the title from Watson."
Following the game, Karim presented his winning racket to Eric Vincent, secretary of this association, who was instrumental in arranging the visit of Karim to Australia.
Coaching career
After retiring as a player, Karim moved to
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, and became a squash coach. He then moved to London, Ontario and coached at the All-Canadian club to coach Caleb Quinlan. He moved back to Egypt at the age of 72 and became Director of Squash at the Gezira Club.
Karim died on September 9, 1999 at the age of 83.
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karim, Mahmoud
Egyptian male squash players
1916 births
1999 deaths
20th-century Egyptian people