Egyptian juniors return home with two precious titles, putting Egypt back in the lead in competitive squash, Abeer Anwar reports After Egyptian teenager Nour El-Sherbini last week collected the World Individual Squash title at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai, India, she was able with her teammates to snatch the World Team Squash title. El-Sherbini started the winning streak by beating Hong Kong's Tong Tsz-Wing in straight games in the final of the World Squash Federation (WSF) Women's World Junior Team Championships to ensure that Egypt retained the title. The 13-year-old from Alexandria stunned the world of squash, becoming the sport's youngest ever world champion after defeating her fellow countrywoman Nour El-Tayeb -- ranked more than 30 places higher in the world -- in the junior individual final. Meanwhile, team number one, Heba El-Torky, gave Egypt the lead with an 11-6, 2-11, 11-5, 11-6 victory over Hong Kong top string Liu Tsz-Ling. "I am very happy that I was able to open the matches with a victory. It differs a lot when we lead from the first match. It makes it easier for the others, especially on the psychological level," explained El-Torky. "I was about to lose but I pushed hard to win. When I finished successfully I was very relaxed. It was no more my duty but the others." After losing in the semi-finals, self-confident El-Sherbini made up for the loss in the final and needed just 20 minutes to crush her 17-year-old Hong Kong opponent 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 to give Egypt the title for the fourth time since 1999. "I was disappointed to lose yesterday, but I got over it by the end of the day,"explained El-Sherbini at the time. "I was so disappointed to lose the semi-finals but I was overloaded. I played 10 matches and I was so tired, but in the final it was different. It was only 'one match and you are the winner'," she added. "It is a fantastic feeling to play and win." There was as much delight from the home crowd in the play- off for third place when hosts India recovered from losing the second match to fifth-seeded opponents the USA, coming back in the third to clinch a 2/1 win and claim the best finish in five appearances in the championship since 1999. At Cairo Airport, the Egyptian junior squash delegation was warmly received for their great achievements. Ghada Adel, the team's technical manager, commented: "I am so happy with the girls' achievements. We did not expect such results, especially that the players are still juniors with not much experience on the international level. But they were up to the challenge and were able to raise Egypt's name and restore the world titles." "We will do our best in the coming period to keep up such achievements and I think that Egypt is on the verge of a new golden era in the girls' team," she added. As to their preparation for the coming events, Adel said, "We have a lot of work to do. We will start preparing for the coming world championship from now. We have to work, as I need all eight players of Egypt to proceed to the quarterfinals. This time we had six out of eight Egyptians. Next time I need all my players to reach the quarterfinals and rank in the highest places."
