ZIMBABWE’S squash teenage sensation Ryan Gwidzima is in Egypt for a month-long training camp ahead of the 2023 World Squash Federation (WSF) World Junior Squash Championships to be held in Merlbourne, Australia, in July.
Gwidzima (17) is under the tutelage of one of the world’s best squash coaches, Mohamed Elkeiy, a former top player of the north African country.
The Egyptians are currently the best squash players in the world and they won the men and women’s categories of the African Senior Championships that were held in Bulawayo last year.
President of the Squash Federation of Africa, Lucky Mlilo yesterday confirmed Gwidzima’s excursion to Egypt.
“Ryan is currently in Alexandria with the Egyptian coach (Elkeiy), who came with his team that participated in the African Senior Championships in Bulawayo last year. He will be there for a month and he will come back to Zimbabwe and we are hoping and praying that we will be able to send an Under-19 team to the world juniors in Merlbourne, Australia, in July. We are working on that,” Mlilo said.
Mlilo, who is also the Squash Rackets Association of Zimbabwe, said Gwidzima was spotted by the Egyptians in the African seniors’ tournament last year and after deliberations, the trip to the north African country was facilitated.
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“Ryan Gwidzima’s training camp in Egypt is a result of negotiations that took place when we held the African Senior Championships last year in Bulawayo from November 4-11. The Egyptians actually spotted Ryan’s skills and they thought that it would be nice for him to go to Egypt so that he trains with them and prepare for the world junior championships that will take place in July and then the British and the US championship that will come in future,” he said.
According to squashegypt.com, the Egypt squash camps “…are the world’s premier destination for squash athletes in Alexandria, the city of champions. We work with athletes of all levels, from novice to professional. We provide a customised training camp for each player upon their needs. We focus on developing complete players who can perform in any match situation at any level.”
The camps have produced two world junior finalists, two Pan-American winners and a British Open Junior Under-19 winner. Top Professional Squash Association players Miguel Rodriguez, Fares Dessouki, Mariam Metwally and Zahed Mohamed have been coached at the Egyptian squash camps.
Gwidzima attended one of the best squash schools in England, Wycliffe College, but had to return after the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020 and was enrolled at Falcon College in Esigodini in Matabeland South province.