Egyptian squash player Zeina Farid Mikawy performed excellently at the 2016 Harrow Ukrainian Squash Cup 2 in Kiev, Ukraine.
The tournament was held from 8-10 July for female players only, with $5,000 prize money.
In the tournament’s first round, Mikawy won 3-0 against Ukrainian player Yulia Pugach (11-9, 11-4, 11-2). She qualified for the quarterfinals where she defeated Japanese player Misaki Kobayashi 3-1 (11-5, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6).
In the semi-finals, the Egyptian champion emerged victorious, beating Ukrainian Nadia Usenko 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-8).
In the final match, Mikawy lost 3-1 to England’s Millie Tomlinson (14-12, 9-11, 11-1, 12-10) and came away with a silver medal.
Another Egyptian player, Hana Moataz, made it to the semi-finals. She previously competed at the 2016 Grand Sport Armenia 1st Challenger 5 in the capital of Yerevan. Moataz won this tournament, after defeating Dutch player Milou Van Der Heijden 3-1in the tournament’s final.
In the first round of the squash cup in Kiev, Moataz won 3-0 against Ukrainian Liana Sardak (11-6, 11-4, 11-5). She then reached the semi-finals after defeating French player Marie Stephan 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-7) in the quarterfinals.
She exited the tournament in the semi-finals after also losing to England’s Millie Tomlinson 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-8).
Mikawy and Moataz were not the only Egyptians competing in Kiev. Salma Alam El-Din exited the tournament in the first round after being defeated by Swiss player Nadia Pfister.
Although Alam El-Din was in the lead at the beginning of the first round and managed to win the first two matches (11-5 and 11-5), Pfister soon hit back and won the last three matches (11-9, 15-13, 11-8) defeating the Egyptian player 3-2.
Moving to Hong Kong, the 2016 Contrex Challenge Cup held at the beginning of July also featured an Egyptian player: Bassem Makram.
Unfortunately, Makram exited the tournament in the first round after he lost 3-0 to Malaysian player Mohd Farez Izwan (12-10, 11-6, 11-3).
