Zahed on his way to reach the world's top 5 rankings

ZAHED SALEM believes he is hitting his squash peak at exactly the right time as he bids to achieve his career goal of a place in the world’s top-5 squash rankings.

The HEAD ace, who plays the Graphene 360 + Radical 135 SB, recently made the quarter-finals of the CIB Black Ball Open and ahead of this week’s El Gouna International Open the 28 - year-old has revealed his hunger to take another significant step to achieving his goals.

Although Zahed suffered from a bout of the COVID-19 virus at the end of March his ambition to build on his recent fine form remains undiminished and he is determined that the dynamic movement and all-action attacking game which have made him one of the best views on the PSA World Tour will once again flourish this weekend.

Indeed, the impact of the global pandemic has made Zahed a man in a hurry as he bids to reclaim lost ground in his bid to climb the rankings: “I feel like the COVID-19 pandemic has cost me a bit of momentum. Back in 2019 I reached No.14 in the rankings and I was shooting for the top-10 and I didn’t have the luck on the US Tour in 2020 to make that move, then when the virus hit it was very frustrating,” admitted Zahed.

He continued: “But now I look at the Black Ball and I lost to the World No.3 Tarek Momen in four tight games and there were two tie breaks in there and an 11-9 and he is a top-3 player and the world champion so I believe I can break the top-10.

“My body is good and at 28, I am now reaching my peak years and I believe I have improvement in me, and I just need more matches and more tournaments to build my momentum.

“My big goal is to make the top-5 one day but first I must make the next step and that is to get in the top-10. So, I really want to give my best at El Gouna.

“To be honest I haven’t played so well at Gouna before but this time I am really looking forward to it and specially to try and build on my quarter-final at the Black Ball in March.

“You can see these big tournaments coming one after one and now we have consistency all the way through. I’d love to play in the World Series Finals, but it will be tough to make the top-8 so I need to play very well in El Gouna and go really deep and see where that takes me.”

Zahed plays the Graphene 360 + Radical 135 Slimbody and as he geared up for a pivotal stretch of the PSA World Tour, he admitted the trust he has in his racket has never been more important.

The World No.16 said: “I use the Radical 135 and I have been with HEAD for over 5 years now from when I turned professional. But I even used HEAD when I was back in the juniors and I have just always loved their rackets.

“I started using the Radical back in 2020 and for me it is the most comfortable racket I ever played with. I feel I have complete control with it, and I love that feeling when I am hitting a drive or need more touch for a drop shot.

“Really the Radical just feels great in my hand no matter the shot I hit, and you cannot ask more from a racket than that. Bottom line is I trust the Radical 100%.

“On the build up to El Gouna I have had some very good practise matches and been working well with my coach Mohamed Elkeiy, who coaches me in Alexandria, and we have worked hard on my accuracy and also on being able to change the pace of the game and slow down things.

“In this respect when you feel comfortable with your racket, and I have total confidence in my Radical, it makes these changes easier and that is so important for any player but even more so when you are a professional.”

Turning his attention to his draw, which will see the HEAD player take to the court on Friday afternoon at the Gouna Conference and Culture Center, Zahed admits his hopes of another deep run in one of the game’s most prestigious tournaments will face a severe examination with a potential match-up against former world champion and World No.1 Karim Abdel Gawad looming large.

He said: “First up I will play the winner from Abdulla Mohd El Tamimi and Karim El Hammamy and I think that will be a tough one no matter who comes through there.

“At the Black Ball I played Gawad, and it was the first round and this time it will be the second round, but, like I said, I have a match before, and my focus must be on winning that and then hopefully it will give me the platform to produce my best against Gawad.

“Of course, I would look forward to playing Gawad again, but it is a difficult one to know if he is going to be 100% or whether he still has problems with his injury and that is harder than knowing your opponent will be at his maximum.

“I am based in Alexandria so I don’t know how his training is going but I must forget all about that and respect Gawad as a former World No.1 and world champion and I look forward to playing him again if that chance comes along.

“On paper it is a tough draw, but I have had some good matches behind me and that gives me the confidence I can go deep in the draw again but like I say my just focus has to be on my first match.

“So, I am very much looking forward to seeing how all of that hard work will go for me in El Gouna.”