Profile
 |
Country: |
Egypt |
| Date of birth: |
29th August 1981 |
| Place of birth: |
Cairo, Egypt |
| Place of residence: |
Cairo, Egypt |
| Marital status: |
Married |
| Highest World ranking: |
1 (January 2009) |
| World Tour titles: |
15 |
| World Tour finals: |
25 |
| National titles: |
U12, U14, U17 & U19 Champion & Senior National Champion 2005, 2006 & 2007 |
Karim Darwish, who led Egypt to the final of the World Team Championships in 2001 and has participated in three further campaigns since then, has been one of the country's leading players throughout the decade.
But, after being largely overshadowed by compatriots Amr Shabana and, more recently, Ramy Ashour, the 27-year-old enjoyed a sensational PSA Tour run in 2008 - which included six PSA Tour final appearances and featured title successes in three.
The result was that Darwish exploded past his illustrious fellow countrymen this year to top the Dunlop PSA Word Rankings for the first time in January – thus ending the 33-month reign of his Egyptian team-mate Shabana.
It was after upsetting top seed Shabana in the quarter-finals of the year-ending Saudi International - the $250,000, and biggest ever, Super Series Platinum championship, in Saudi Arabia - that Darwish knew the world number one ranking would be his!
"This is the greatest moment of my career," said Darwish after later beating second seed Gregory Gaultier to lift the title, the 15th of his career. “I've been working really hard all my life to reach this moment - thank god I should do it in this, the richest tournament ever, and in front of a crowd like this.
Darwish - the 13th player in history to top the men's world list, but only the second Egyptian – won no events at all in 2006, and claimed only a single PSA Tour title the following year.
But the successful 2008 campaign began when he won the Oregon Open in the US in February – which he followed by reaching his first Super Series final at the Petrosport International Championship in Cairo in August.
Only two months later, Darwish celebrated his maiden World Open final appearance in England – where he lost in four games to Ramy Ashour. And it was less than two weeks later that he claimed his first Super Series title at the Qatar Classic in Doha – where he beat Gaultier, Nick Matthew and Shabana in successive rounds.
Darwish enjoyed a distinguished junior career, winning both the British Junior U19 Open and World Junior Open trophies before claiming the World University Championship title in Austria in August 2002.
Darwish dedicates his success to his parents and brother Walid, who encouraged him and gave him all their support ever since he started playing squash. In December 2007, he married fellow international squash player Engy Kheirallah.
"During tournaments I sometimes get tense, but because she understands the game, she knows exactly how to get me relaxed and focused," said Darwish. "It's nice to have someone close to you who understands what you do and knows what it's like to be in your shoes."
The new world number one began his 2009 campaign in earnest, reaching the Tournament of Champions’ semi-finals in New York, then the final of the Swedish Open in February – his 25th on the Tour. But an ankle injury caused him to concede the match before it started.
Karim, who is managed by internationalSPORTgroup™, is based in Cairo, Egpyt.
Karim’s principal sponsor is HEAD (rackets).
Biography
Karim Darwish, who led Egypt to the final of the World Team Championships in 2001, has been one of the country's leading players throughout the decade. The 25-year-old from Cairo boasts 11 PSA Tour titles from 16 final appearances - and celebrated a career-high world No5 ranking in March 2004.
He enjoyed a distinguished junior career, winning both the British Junior U19 Open and World Junior Open trophies before claiming the World University Championship title in Austria in August 2002.
It was within a few months of joining the PSA that Darwish secured his first Tour title – winning the Maadi Open in February 2000 in his hometown Cairo as a qualifier.
After reaching the semi-finals of the World Open for the first time in December 2003 in Pakistan, Darwish began 2004 with three successive title wins, the Apawamis Open and Dayton Open in the USA in January and the Swedish Open in February – success which led to his best-ever No5 world ranking the following month.
Later in the year, he won the St Louis Open in the USA as third seed - beating Canadian favourite Jonathon Power in the semi-finals.
After a disappointing period thereafter, Darwish rediscovered his form in 2006 - exceeding his seeding to reach the semi-finals of the Canary Wharf Classic (beating James Willstrop); the Tournament of Champions (beating David Palmer and Lee Beachill); the Liverpool 08 Open (upsetting Willstrop again), the British Open (overcoming John White) and the Pakistan Open (with a further Willstrop win).
His 2007 campaign saw Darwish make it to the last four of the Dayton Open, the Swedish Open and the KL Open in Malaysia.
Karim is engaged to fellow Egyptian squash player Engy Kheirallah, the world No13.