While his opponents may often dread playing against Ahmed Abdel Khalek, the Bates junior has continued to calmly pick off one win after another this season, a routine that continued at last weekend's NESCAC Men's Squash Championship at Williams College.
From his customary No. 1 position in Bates' lineup, Abdel Khalek (Cairo, Egypt) defeated all three of his opponents over the weekend -- Colby's Will McBrian in the conference quarterfinals, Trinity's Vrishab Kotian in the semifinals and Middlebury's Andrew Jung in Sunday's third-place match -- by 3-0 scores.
The two-time NESCAC Player of the Year ran his 2014-15 record to 17-0 with the wins, and raised his career record in a Bobcat uniform to 57-2. Abdel Khalek hasn't lost a match since his freshman year, in the semifinals of the 2013 CSA Individual Nationals.
Bates sophomore Ahmed Hatata (Alexandria, Egypt) also went 3-0 over the weekend at Bates' No. 2 spot, to continue his own undefeated individual season (13-0).
Abdel Khalek and the Bobcats will compete at CSA Men's Team Nationals Feb. 20-22 at Trinity. The CSA Women's Team Nationals take place this weekend at Harvard.
