Egyptians won the Hurghada men's and women's international squash tournaments, Nashwa Abdel-Tawab reports The weather was great, the sea was wonderful, the ambiance superb, and the victory was for homeland squash players for the first time. Second seed Rami Ashour and third seed Omneya Abdel-Kawi, both from Cairo, produced a popular home double in the Hurghada Squash International after upsets over higher-ranked opponents in contrasting finals. In a thrilling climax to the men's $61,250 5-star PSA Tour event, world No 2 Ashour faced his illustrious compatriot Amr Shabana, the world number one. It was a seesaw encounter, with 20-year-old Ashour twice taking game leads before his experienced opponent came back to draw level. In a close decider, the young pretender had two match balls from 10-7. But Shabana saved both and delighted the packed crowd when he drew level at 10- all. Nevertheless, Ashour made no mistake with his third chance, striking a superb low drive glued to the forehand wall to clinch a sensational 11-10 (2-0), 9- 11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-10 (2-0) victory after 79 minutes. The triumph marked the ninth PSA Tour title of Ashour's career, and his second win over Shabana this year. "The season is still young. There are plenty of opportunities to win matches and tournaments," an upbeat Shabana said. Both players faced determined opposition from fellow countrymen in the semi-finals. Shabana got the better of third seed Karim Darwish, beating the 26- year-old from Cairo 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 in 49 minutes to reach the 29th Tour final of his career, and the sixth in succession since October. Ashour conquered a fired-up fourth seed Wa'el El-Hindi 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-9 in 58 minutes to contest his ninth PSA final in 15 months. The men's climax marked Shabana and Ashour's seventh Tour meeting since their first in October 2006, and the fourth in a row in PSA event finals. Shabana currently leads the head-to-head tally 4-3. The meteoric success of Ashour has inspired the launch of a new Super Series Platinum event on the PSA Tour in his homeland. The SKY Petrosport Open, boasting a $130,000 prize, will take place at the luxurious new SKY Club in Cairo from 13-20 June. The 2008 championship will be the first of a planned series of three annual events. The event was initiated by Ashour's coach Ahmed Matani, in conjunction with Petrosport, the first petroleum company in the sports marketing business in Egypt and the Middle East. "This is wonderful news for the ever-growing men's squash tour and highlights not only the status of squash in Egypt, but also the major impact Egyptian squash is having on the world stage," said PSA Interim Chief Executive Ted Wallbutton. The SKY Petrosport Open becomes the eighth PSA Super Series event of the year, and the fifth to offer prize money in excess of $100,000. Only 20 years old, Ashour made history in July 2006 when he became the first to win the biennial Men's World Junior Championship for a second time. Within three months, he had reached his first Super Series event final at the Hong Kong Open. Since then he has leapt to number two in the PSA world rankings with eight major title wins from 13 final appearances. Egypt currently boasts four players in the men's world top 10, led by world champion Shabana and Ashour, and 12 in the top 50. Shabana moves into his 25th successive month at the top of the Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings according to the April list published by the Professional Squash Association last week, thereby claiming the longest unbroken run as world number one since legendary Pakistani Jansher Khan more than 10 years ago. The 28-year-old Cairene first topped the rankings in April 2006. Since then he has won nine PSA Tour titles. In December in Bermuda, Shabana won his third World Open crown and his fourth successive PSA Super Series title in just two months. After record eight-time world champion Jansher Khan completed a 53-month world number one run in January 1998, his English successor Peter Nicol established a 24-month unbroken run which ended in December 2003. Frenchman Gregory Gaultier is currently in third place in the world, and Englishman James Willstrop is at No 4. Just outside the top 10, Malaysia's Ong Beng Hee leaps five places to No 12, his highest ranking since December 2003. Beng Hee, the 28-year-old from Penang, who is based in the UK, celebrated the end of a two-year Tour title drought last month when he won the CIMB KL Open on home soil. Fellow Malaysian Mohamed Azlan Iskandar also celebrated a notable rise -- five positions to No 13. The 25-year-old from Kuala Lumpur beat Beng Hee in the final of the Asian Championship in February, and then finished as runner-up to his national rival in the KL Open. After celebrating his top 20 debut last month, Australia's Cameron Pilley makes further progress in the April list by moving to a career-high 18. The UK- based 25-year-old from New South Wales achieved his best ever run in a 5-star event last month, reaching the final of the ISS Canary Wharf Classic in London as the seventh seed. Hurghada's squash fiesta included women as well. It hosted the 12th $26,200 Women's Hurghada International WISPA World Tour (Silver 20). In the final of the women's event, Kawi took on Jenny Duncalf, the No 2 seed from England who had dropped only one game en route to the climax. Kawi, the 22-year-old from Cairo who beat Australia's defending champion Rachael Grinham in the semi-finals to reach the final for the fifth year in a row, was in commanding form, racing to an 8-0 lead in the first game before winning it 9-1. Duncalf led 4-1 in the second but Kawi reclaimed the advantage to romp to a 9-1, 9-4, 9-2 victory in just 34 minutes. "It was so nice to hear people chanting my name," said Kawi after her second title triumph at Hurghada. The women's final was the first since 2002 not to feature Rachael Grinham. The top-seeded Australian, going for her fourth title in five years, was beaten 5-9, 9-2, 5-9, 10-8, 9-5 in 84 minutes in the semi-finals by rival Kawi after failing to convert two match balls in the fourth game. Kawi, who won the title two years ago, is celebrating her 15th WISPA final. Duncalf put paid to a second all-Egyptian final in Hurghada by beating Raneem El-Weleili, the sixth seed from Alexandria and twice world junior champion 9-1, 9-3, 10-9. Duncalf, the 25-year-old world No 6 from Harrogate in Yorkshire, is marking her sixth Tour final appearance and her fifth WISPA meeting with Kawi since 2003. Egyptian teenager El-Weleili upset her higher- ranked compatriot Engi Kheirallah in five games in the women's quarter-finals to earn a third successive appearance in the semi-finals of the Hurghada event. The 19-year-old sixth seed took the opening two games but the experienced Kheirallah, seeded two positions higher and ranked No 16, regained the upper hand thereafter to force the match into a fifth game decider. Inspired by the presence of her family and her coach Sherine Adel, El-Weleili led 5-2 in the decider and resisted a fight back by her opponent before recording a mighty 9-3, 9-4, 7-9, 4-9, 9-6 victory in 72 minutes. Egyptian women have two in the world top 20. Kawi and Kheirallah are ninth and 16. Malaysia's Nicol David, who missed the competition, maintained her lead at the top of the April Women's World Squash Rankings. Victory in last month's CIMB KL Open on home soil, where David notched up her 40th Tour final appearance, takes the 24-year-old from Penang into her 21st successive month at the top of the WISPA list. Natalie Grinham, who celebrated her maiden Tour appearance as a Dutch player in the KL Open, holds onto second place for the 15th month in a row after finishing as runner-up in Kuala Lumpur. Natalie's sister Rachael Grinham, from Australia, remains at three, while American Natalie Grainger is at No 4, and England's Tania Bailey at No 5. Jenny Duncalf, runner-up in last December's Carol Weymuller Open in New York, is the highest riser, moving two places to a career-high equalling No 6 to become the second-placed English player on the list. Hong Kong's Rebecca Chiu, who beat Duncalf in the KL Open, also rises to a former career-best No 13. Two players celebrate best-ever positions in the April rankings. New Zealand's Jaclyn Hawkes consolidates her position in the top 20 by moving up a single place to No 17, boosted by title success in last month's NSC Tour 12 and the top tournament in Malaysia. After becoming the first Mexican to make the world top 20 in February, Samantha Teran now moves up to 19 after clinching her second WISPA World Tour title of the year last month at the Windy City Open in Chicago. Sharon Wee returns to the top 20 for the first time this year, doubling the Malaysian content of the elite group by returning to No 20. The qualifying rounds of the tournaments started the week before in Cairo where only four qualifiers out of 16 made it to the main draw. The relatively small number of world class players is due in part to the little prize money and the exceptionally lucrative Kuwaiti competition worth $250,000 taking place next week.
