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Mostafa Asal

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Mostafa Asal
Mostafa Asal in 2023.
Nickname(s)The Raging Bull
Country Egypt
Born (2001-05-09) May 9, 2001 (age 23)
Cairo, Egypt
Residence6th of October City
Height189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight80 kg (176 lb)
Turned pro2018
RetiredActive
Coached byIbrahim Assal, James Willstrop
Racquet usedTecnifibre
Men's singles
Highest rankingNo. 1 (January 2023)
Current rankingNo. 2 (Nov 2024)
Title(s)17
Tour final(s)26
World OpenFinalist 2023/24
Medal record
Men's squash
Representing  Egypt
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Cairo singles
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Chicago singles
Silver medal – second place 2024 Cairo singles
World Team Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Tauranga Team
Gold medal – first place 2024 Hong Kong Team
PSA profile
Updated on Nov 2024.

Mostafa Asal (born 9 May 2001) is an Egyptian professional squash player, he is a two-times world team champion and formerly ranked World No. 1. Nicknamed "The Raging Bull" for his play style and controversial on-court behavior, which includes three suspensions from the Professional Squash Association (PSA) tour.[1][2] He became number one in the world in January 2023 and is currently ranked third.[3][4]

Career

[edit]

Mostafa Asal won the British Junior U17 Open 2018,[5] the PSA10 2018 Mar del Plata Open,[6][7] PSA10 2018 Regatas Resistencia Open,[8][9] the 2021 Men's PSA World Tour Finals, and the 2021 U.S. Open Squash Men's Championship.

In January 2021, Asal accepted a two-month suspension from the PSA following on-court disciplinary matters.[10]

Asal reached the semi-final of the 2022 PSA Men's World Squash Championship, where he lost to the eventual champion Ali Farag.[11]

In the 2022 U.S. Open, Asal lost a match for inflicting an injury on Lucas Serme, his opponent, by hitting him with a shot up the middle of the court, striking Serme in the head and resulting in a concussion and perforated eardrum.[12]

In the CIB Egyptian Open in September 2022, where Asal lost to Ali Farag in the semi-finals, Asal's father, Mahmoud Asal, was suspended after the loss until November 2023 for a courtside confrontation of Husseum Abaza, CEO of CIB Bank and a major squash benefactor.[13]

In January 2023, at the Houston Open, Asal's elbow connected with the groin area of appeared to connect with Marwan El Shorbagy groin area with him being taken off on a stretcher and then to the hospital with El Shorbagy commenting, "If this is the future of our sport then good luck."[14][15] In March 2023, Asal was suspended for 6 weeks by the PSA for violating the code of conduct. Asal also received a fine of £2,000.[16]

However, he returned as the number 1 seed for the 2023 PSA Men's World Squash Championship and reached the semi-final where he was knocked out by Ali Farag.[17] In August 2023 Asal received a 12-week suspension from the PSA tour for abuse of racket or equipment, physical abuse, and dangerous play during his match against Joel Makin in the 2023 world championships and unsportsmanlike conduct in the same event's match with Mazen Hesham.[18] The suspension start date was post-dated to July 18, 2023, and Asal did not appeal the suspension. Mahmoud Asal's father Mostafa released a statement that the suspension was due to a conspiracy by Karim Darwish and an attempt to destroy the future of Asal and prevent him from reaching the top position again.[19]

The Guardian named Asal as one of The Anti-Sports Personality of the Year awards 2023.[20] He spent 18 weeks of the year 2023 suspended from play. His fortunes improved when in December 2023, he was part of the Egyptian team that secured the gold medal at the 2023 Men's World Team Squash Championships in New Zealand.[21]

In May 2024, he reached the final of the 2024 PSA Men's World Squash Championship, losing out to in the final to Peruvian Diego Elías and in September 2024 Asal won the Paris Squash tournament, beating Ali Farag in the final.[22] In December, Asal won a second world team title at the 2024 Men's World Team Squash Championships in Hong Kong.[23][24]

Titles and finals

[edit]
Year/Season Tournament Opponent Result Score
2020-21 PSA World Tour Finals Mohamed El Shorbagy Win (1) 12-14 11-4 11-7 11–3
2021 U.S. Open Tarek Momen Win (2) 5-11 5-11 11-9 12-10 11–3
2022 El Gouna International Paul Coll Win (3) 11-8 11-9 11–5
2021-22 PSA World Tour Finals (2) Paul Coll Win (4) 13-11 11-8 11–7
2022 Hong Kong Open Diego Elías Win (5) 6-11 6-11 12-10 11-9 11–4
2023 El Gouna International Ali Farag Loss (1) 10-12 12-10 6-11 2–11
2022-23 PSA World Tour Finals (3) Diego Elías Win (6) 9-11 11-6 11-3 11–5

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Mostafa Asal - Professional Squash Association". psaworldtour.com. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  2. ^ Woodburn, Doug (7 February 2023). "Mostafa Asal: The Young Champion Polarising Squash Opinion". Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  3. ^ Coles, Matt (16 January 2023). "Asal Rises On Road To Egypt Standings". PSA World Tour. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Mostafa Asal, Author at PSA World Tour". PSA World Tour. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Squash Info | Men's British Junior U17 Open 2018". Squash. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Squash Info - Men's Mar del Plata Open 2018 - Squash". www.squashinfo.com. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  7. ^ "Mar del Plata Open Squash 2018". squashsite.co.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Squash Info | Men's Regatas Resistencia Open 2018". Squash. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Resistencia Open Squash 2018 Argentina". squashsite.co.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  10. ^ "Asal Accepts Two-Month Suspension". PSA World Tour. 11 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Nour El Sherbini and Ali Farag win PSA World Championship titles". World Squash Federation. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  12. ^ Thatcher, Alan (10 October 2022). "Mostafa Asal disqualified from the U.S. Open after bursting opponent Lucas Sermes's eardrum with a wayward shot". Squash Mad. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  13. ^ Dale, Mike (17 January 2023). "Mostafa Asal's father banned from PSA Tour". Squash Mad. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  14. ^ stevecubbins (18 December 2023). "Anti-Sports Personality of the Year". SquashSite - all about Squash. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  15. ^ Asal vs Marwan - controversy at Houston Open 2023, retrieved 8 January 2024
  16. ^ "Mostafa Asal Handed Six-Week Suspension". PSA World Tour. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  17. ^ "2023 World Championship". PSA. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  18. ^ Reuthe, Sean (3 August 2023). "Mostafa Asal Handed 12-Week Suspension". PSA World Tour. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  19. ^ "أول تعليق لوالد مصطفى عسل بعد صدور قرارالايقاف | اوان مصر" (in Arabic). 4 August 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  20. ^ Burnton, Simon (17 December 2023). "The Anti-Sports Personality of the Year awards 2023". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  21. ^ "World Squash Team Championship: Egypt defeat England to retain men's title". BBC Sport. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  22. ^ stevecubbins (19 September 2024). "Paris Squash 2024 : It's Sherbini and Asal again". SquashSite - all about Squash. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  23. ^ "Egypt complete historic clean sweep of WSF World Squash Team Championship titles". World Squash. 18 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  24. ^ "Egypt's squash team defeats England and wins World Championship title". Egypt Independent. 17 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
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