(Photo Handout)
Egyptian squash player Raneem El Weleily, who is ranked second internationally, won the Alexandria International Squash Open title, held for the first time in the Bibliotheca Alexandria.
This tournament is part of the WSA World Tour, with a prize of $100,000. El-Weleily won over her compatriot, ranked seventh internationally, Omneya Abdel Kawy, in the final match, with a result of 11-6, 11-5, 11-9.
The tournament’s importance was exemplified the participation of the first 16 internationally ranked female players. El-Weleily added 4,800 points to her credit, to reach 23,090 points, and she is now a step closer to Malaysian Nicol David, who acquired 25,875 and is ranked first internationally.
El-Weleily’s first game in this tournament was against English player Emily Whitlock. El-Weleily won over Whitlock with a total score of 3-1. In the second round, she met with India’s Dipika Pallikal, ranked 13th internationally, defeating Pallikal with a total score of 3-1.
Afterwards she played against the champion of Allam British Open Squash Championship in the WSA World Tour,French Camille Serme, ranked sixth internationally, where El-Weleily defeated Serme with a total score of 3-2. In the semi-final game, she achieved her fourth victory of the tournament against UK’s Laura Massaro, ranked fourth internationally, with a total score of 3-2.
On the other hand, Omneya Abdel Kawy’s path was not easier than El-Weleily’s. In the first round, Abdel Kawy played against Australian Donna Urquhart, where Abdel Kawy won with a total score of 3-2. In the second round, she won over Mariam Metwally with a total score of 3-1. Her first game was with the English Alison Waters, ranked third internationally, and it was not easy. Omneya won over Waters with a total score of 3-2, so that Waters’ international rank went down to the sixth place.
The biggest surprise in the tournament was Abdel Kawy’s most challenging and remarkable win over Nicol David, in the semi-final round. David lost the tournament with a total score of 3-2. Abdel Kawy won the first two rounds, but David did not give up and won the other two games.
The final challenging victory was in the fifth round, where Abdel Kawy won with 12-10 points, and David lost her third consecutive championship held after the Windy City Open 2015 and Allam British Open Squash Championship 2015.
