Egypt squashed the opposition at the Giza 2022 FISU World University Championship

Under the eternal gaze of the Giza Sphinx, the 2022 FISU World University Championship ended up in an all-Egyptian affair – almost looking like a national championship rather than a global competition.

The gap between the local student-athletes and the rest of the world was large, not to say huge. Only the Swiss Yannick Wilhelmi managed to maintain a touch of uncertainty when he was leading two games to one in his semi-final against Egyptian seed n°2 Moustafa Elsirty in the men’s tournament. But at the end the logic prevailed and both men and women finals were a contest between the top seeds – all from Egypt – and the favourite Mostafa Asal (picture above) and Sana Ibrahim won.

It was not really a surprise since Egypt is a dominant force on the professional circuit, and many of the Egyptian participants in FISU World University Championships went on to be legends of the game. For example, past winners Karim Darwish, Ramy Ashour and Raneem El Welily have all progressed to the World No.1 ranking.

The team event also went to Egypt, whose squad crushed Switzerland in the semi-finals and France in the final without breaking a sweat.

In 2024, the FISU World Championship Squash is set to remain on the African continent as it will take place in Cape Town, South Africa.

The finals at a glance

Women:

Sana Ibrahim (EGY)- Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 11-1 4-11 8-11 11-8 5-2 Retired

Bronze medals: Cindy Merlo (SUI) and Marta Dominguez (ESP)

Men:

Mostafa Asal (EGY)-Moustafa Elsirty (EGY) 11-5 11- 7 11-8

Bronze medals: Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) and Yahya Enawasany (EGY)

Teams:

Egypt-France 2-0

Bronze medals: Switzerland and Hong Kong China.