Mazen Hesham (EGY) 3-1 [2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 11-1, 11-5, 9-11, 11-6 (47m)
Karim
I have something in my bone in my hill that is giving me a very sharp pain when I put weight on it, plantar fasciitis. It started during last tournament. I was hoping I would recover before this one, so if Qatar doesn’t happen, then I will have a month to recover. So it should be ok soon.
Mazen
To be in the last 16 don’t matter that much to me but what matters to me is to be able to play with somebody as good as Karim.
After he lost the first game – we know that he is not the best at the beginning – I kept wondering when he was going to wake up… And I rushed a bit in the third, and he came back very strong.
In the fourth, the ball was very cold, so I took a good lead and was able to finish it off.
I am working hard, I’m injury free, I’m fit, and I’m taking it match by match. After this tournament, I’m going to the Army, so I’m not going to go outside of Egypt for a while, might as well not to put any pressure on myself and relax, tomorrow is another day, another game, it’s such a strange period as well….
