04 Dec 2024
Aspire Academy graduate Abdulla Al Tamimi’s victory at the Cape Town Squash Open in South Africa has seen him climb five places on the Professional Squash Association’s latest world rankings.
His excellent results in recent weeks have seen him move from 27 to 22 in the most recent rankings list.
At the event in South Africa, he overcame Egypt’s Mohamed Nasser 3-0, Muhammad Asim Khan of Pakistan 3-1, and another Egyptian in Karim El Hammamy 3-2 before finally beating England’s number two seed Declan James 3-0 in the final.
Abdulla Al Tamimi was delighted to end 2024 with a title.
“It was a really good tournament to finish the year,” he said.
“Cape Town has some fond memories, as this was my first trip overseas back in 2013. I played in the same event, which was less high-profile, and I lost in the first round.
“So it was really good to go back and show the people there that the little kid who was there 11 years ago has changed a little bit.”
“I stayed there with a family back then, and they treated me like one of theirs, so it actually feels like home there and got back a lot of memories for me! In the end, I was really happy to win in front of a really good crowd and people.”
“I am going to enjoy a little break now and will start competing again in mid-January in New York through June. It is going to be a very busy six months with at least seven tournaments to play.”
“The goal is to keep improving every match I play and keep learning, and I am looking forward to a big year ahead. I will be happy with a few tournament wins and to close the gap to the top 10.”
The win in South Africa came after two impressive wins at the Qatar Squash Federation (QSF) 5 Open on home soil in Doha in November.
Al Tamimi, who graduated in 2012, beat Emyr Evans of Wales and England’s Ben Smith 3-0 before losing to Egypt’s world number 13 Aly Abou Eleinen in the semi-finals.
His results have also seen him rise to number 13 on the Road to Tour Finals rankings, which sees the top eight players on those rankings compete in the season-ending tournament.