EIGHT of the world's best female squash players will clash today in the quarter- finals of the Hurghada championship. The tournament is being staged in a glass court in the middle of the streets of Hurghada, not on an island surrounded by water as was the case the past six years. World Champion Rachel Grinham of Australia and Egypt's Omneya Abdel- Qawi are the top seeds of the championship organised by Al-Ahram. The preliminary rounds started earlier this week in Cairo before moving to Hurghada for the main draw. Sixteen women took part in the two preliminary rounds held over two days. Ten were Egyptian; only four qualified for the main draw. Egyptian champion and world No 10 Abdel-Qawi, Eman El-Amir and Ingy Khairallah qualified thanks to their world rankings in the Women's Squash Professional Association. Tomorrow, the players will take the day off. A party is to be thrown for them at Saqqala Square in Hurghada with singer Tamer Hosni and former world champion Ahmed Barada making guest appearances. The competition will resume on Saturday with the semi-finals and the final on Sunday.
