Omar Mosaad Q&A

Omar Mosaad is Ranked No.9 in The PSA World Rankings (January 2015).

He lives in Cairo and trains at The Heliopolis Club. Omar is coached by his brother, Mohamed Mosaad, and Islam Hani. His fitness coach is Hossam Shoddad. In 2015 he will play major events in New York, Dubai, El Gouna, Canary Wharf, Hong Kong, The U.S. as well as the two main PSA events, The British Open and The World Championships.

Your earliest sporting memory?

Before I started playing squash I used to swim.

What sports do you watch?

I used to watch table tennis when I was a kid because my big brother and sister were playing competitions. My sister Walaa became national champion.

One sport I really loved to watch was handball, and I still do.

How did you get involved in squash?

I started to play squash for two reasons. Firstly, I failed the tests to get through to the main swimming team at my club. To be in the team you needed to pass five tests. I failed five times! Every time I passed four and failed the fifth. The test was swimming 100 metres four times. I was only seven years old at the time – but I am a good swimmer now!

The other reason was the Al Ahram tournament by the pyramids. It’s still my dream to play a tournament there.

Most memorable sporting moment?

My most memorable sporting moment was in New Zealand in 2006 at The World Junior Team Championships. We were the title holders. Our team comprised of Ramy Ashour, Tarek Momen, Mohammed Ali Anwar Reda and myself.

In the final we played Pakistan who had Farhan Mehboob, Yasir Ali Butt, Bilal Zaman and Amir Atlas Khan. The matches were level at 1-1, so it was down to the final match in the 3 man team competition. It was me against Yasir Butt. The games were level at 2-all but Yasir held match ball at 8-5. He had to only win one more point to win The Championship for Pakistan. I don’t remember exactly what happened, but I won the game 10-8 and with it the match. It was an unbelievable moment for us.

And your worst sporting moment?

When we lost The Men’s World Team Title in Mulhouse to England in the final.

Your sporting heroes?

Muhammad Ali, Usain Bolt, and in squash – Amr Shabana, Jonathon Power and John White.

Who would you most like to invite to dinner?

I would like to invite Selena Gomez or the World No.3 racquetball player, Maria Jose Vargas from Bolivia.

What is the greatest change you would like to see in squash?

To see squash in The Olympics.

Toughest part of your sporting life?

Travelling. You are always on planes and often have jet lag!