Mostafa Asal has already established himself as one of the toughest competitors on the PSA (Professional Squash Association) tour by getting into the top five and winning major tournaments early on in his career. The El Gouna International Open in his native country, Egypt served as the Egyptian’s debut PSA Tour event in 2018.
Asal, who is currently ranked fourth in the world, won his match against the men’s World No. 2, Paul Coll, yesterday at Cairo’s Mall of Arabia, where the magnificent glass court was installed; he was named the 2021–22 CIB PSA World Tour Finals champion.
After a 76-minute thrilling match against Coll of New Zealand, he has now won the eighth PSA event of his remarkable career. The 21-year-old was facing Coll for the second time in a row after he defeated the former World No. 1 in the El Gouna title match earlier this month. Asal has now won four platinum PSA titles after also winning the U.S. Open and El Gouna International Open trophies this season.
Asal told the PSA in an interview after his match: “It’s unbelievable for me, having two trophies for the same tournament and defending my title is unreal.” He also carried on to say:
Thanks to this crowd, Karim Darwish for organizing this amazing tournament, Lee Beachill, and all of PSA for helping me. All credit to Paul, he’s an unbelievable player and one of the most honest players on tour; thanks to him for a great battle and I’m looking forward to more battles with him for sure.
Mostafa Asal via PSA
Asal’s mother came on court to express her pride in her son’s outstanding performance throughout the tournament in a touching moment following Asal’s triumph. He posted this image to Instagram with the caption: “Without my mum, I have nothing. She is the reason I am and will always be who I am.”
Since it has long dominated the squash world, Egypt has developed into a mecca for top-tier squash players ascending the ranks of the professional tour. Six male players among the top PSA 10 are Egyptian. Yes, Egypt’s wonderful coaches deserve some of the credit, but parents also play a significant role in motivating their children to climb up the rankings. Asal is on the verge of making history, not just because of his young age but also because of the consistency and performance that we haven’t seen like it before on the tour.