Karim Abdel Gawad

Karim Abdel Gawad (; born 30 July 1991) is an Egyptian professional squash player. He is a former world individual champion and world number 1 and a three-times world team champion.

Career In November 2016, he won the 2016 World Open Squash Championship in Cairo in Egypt against Ramy Ashour. He became the third Egyptian to win the World Championship after Amr Shabana and Ashour. He reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 1 in May 2017. Later in 2017, he was part of the Egyptian team that won the 2017 Men's World Team Squash Championships in France and repeated the success with Egypt at the 2019 Men's World Team Squash Championships in the United States.

In 2020, he suffered a major injury during the final of the 2020 Manchester Open. He damaged his heel, which eventually led to ten months out of squash and his world ranking plummeted as a result.

In May 2023, he reached the final of the 2023 PSA Men's World Squash Championship, after defeating second seed Diego Elías in the quarter final and third seed Mohamed El Shorbagy in the semi final. In the final he lost to compatriot Ali Farag but Gawad became the first unseeded player since Rodney Martin in 1991 to reach the world championship final. It completed a remarkable comeback from the injury he suffered the previous year.

Gawad was recalled to the Egyptian team for the 2024 Men's World Team Squash Championships in Hong Kong and secured a third career gold medal in the Championships.

In March 2025, Gawad won his 30th PSA title after securing victory in the Australian Open during the 2024–25 PSA Squash Tour and a 31st success arrived in October after he won the Silicon Valley Open during the 2025–26 PSA Squash Tour. In May 2026 he reached the semi-final of the 2026 Men's World Squash Championship.

Titles and Finals

Major Finals (11) Major tournaments include:

PSA World Championships PSA World Tour Finals Top-tier PSA World Tour tournaments (Platinum/World Series/Super Series)

World Open final appearances OutcomeYearLocationOpponent in the finalScore in the finalWinner 2016 Cairo, Egypt Ramy Ashour 5–11, 11–6, 11–7, 2-1 (retired)Runner-up 2023 Chicago, USA Ali Farag 10–12, 6–11, 6–11

Major World Series final appearances

Qatar Classic OutcomeYearOpponent in the finalScore in the finalWinner 2016 Mohamed El Shorbagy 12–10, 13–15, 11-7

Hong Kong Open OutcomeYearOpponent in the finalScore in the finalRunner-up 2016 Ramy Ashour 11–9, 8–11, 11–6, 5–11, 11-6

Al-Ahram International OutcomeYearOpponent in the finalScore in the finalWinner 2016 Ali Farag 11–4, 11–7, 11-5