Gregory Gaultier Grabs Heliopolis Glory

France's former world number one Gregory Gaultier ended a 15-month ranking title drought when he won the Rotary Heliopolis Open in Cairo, beating local hero Omar Mosaad in four games in the final of the $42,500 PSA World Tour squash event at the Heliopolis Sporting Club.

The 27-year-old from Aix-en-Provence joins a distinguished cast of former winners of this long-established Tour title, including Jansher Khan, Peter Nicol and Egyptians Ahmed Barada and Amr Shabana.

But Gaultier had to do it the hard way, beating three seeded players from the host city in succession before clinching the coveted trophy.

Wins over fifth seed Mohd Ali Anwar Reda and Hisham Mohd Ashour, the fourth seed, took the Frenchman in to the final against Mosaad, the 22-year-old third seed who sensationally ousted Egyptian favourite Karim Darwish in the semi-finals.

And the Cairo hero opened up a first game lead against Gaultier before the experienced French champion regained control to work his way to his 8-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-5 victory.

"Omar played really well this week," said Gaultier after his victory. "In the first game, I think we both wanted to attack too quickly and hit too many tins - but then the game was better from the second, where the rallies were longer and tougher.

"I think Omar got a bit tired, especially after his big win in the semis against Darwish," added the Frenchman. "I played quite well and I'm happy to get a win after a year."

The triumph marks Gaultier's 17th career PSA Tour title - but his first ranking success since winning the Tournament of Champions in New York in January 2009.