Malaysia's Nicol David beat Egypt's Omneya Abdel-Qawi to claim the Soho Square Women's World Open Squash Championship. Ghada Abdel-Kader reports from Sharm El-Sheikh Malaysia's Nicol David beat Egypt's champion Omneya Abdel-Qawi 11-5, 11-8, 11 - 6 in the final of the $147,000 Soho Square Women's World Open in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. Despite the loss, Abdel-Qawi, the fourth seeded Egyptian, became the first Egyptian ever to reach the world final but couldn't get a foothold in the match until the second game, which she led 3-0 and 6-3. But David took control of that game and in the third game, took leads of 3-1 and 7-2 before closing out the match in 30 minutes. There was a high spectator turnout in the final as locals and foreigners were keen to support the two champions who presented a thrilling and world-class match which kept fans on their toes until the last point. After capturing her fifth World Open title in Egypt, David equaled the record of five World Open titles held by Australia's Sarah Fitz-Gerald who retired with 62 WISPA Tour titles to her credit. Fitz-Gerald was the greatest women's squash player of the 1990s, collecting five world titles -- 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2002. "I am very honored to be the same as her," said David, referring to Fitz- Gerald. "Omneya Abdel-Qawi is a very skillful player," David continued. "She didn't come to the final for nothing. No doubt it was a close match especially, in the second game when she was leading. I managed to win two games and felt confident about winning the three. I really worked hard and I didn't want to lose the title." "I was hoping to win the match today but this is God's will," Abdel-Qawi said. "It is my first time to be a runner up in a world championship. This is going to be a new start for me. This will improve my world ranking to one of the top four." David, runner-up Abdel-Qawi and two semi-finalists, England's Alison Waters and France's Camille Serme, received their awards from South Sinai Gov Mohamed Abdel-Fadil Shousha, president of the National Sports Council Hassan Sakr, Vice-President of the World Squash Federation Chris Stahl, chairman of the Women's International Squash Players' Association Ingrid Lofdahl-Bentzer, president of the Egyptian Squash Federation Assem Khalifa, director of the tournament Ahmed Said and owner of the Savoy Hotel Emad Aziz, the chief sponsor of the event. Stahl told Al-Ahram Weekly, "It was a pity Abdel-Qawi could not win the second game. She had chances but David is a great champion. She gives you no chance. She makes no mistakes so you are under pressure all the time and Abdel-Qawi was under pressure. "Abdel-Qawi has done very well by becoming the first Egyptian woman in the final. She played with honour and good character and it was a very nice final." On the tournament, Stahl added, "This is my first time in Sharm El-Sheikh. I think it is fantastic resort and the facilities were excellent. Ahmed Said did a very good job in organisation. I can't complain about anything. Usually with any tournament there are two problems. One is transport and the other is food. There was no transport problem here and the food was very good and the players were very happy. I think you have a fantastic environment here for squash tournaments." Said Khalifa, "We are very pleased and honored to hold this tournament in our country. I didn't expect the tournament to be as well organised as this. "It's good for Egyptian squash that Abdel-Qawi reached the final. It is a big achievement. We have a promising generation of junior squash players. We hope we achieve better results in the near future. The federation will do its best to bring such big tournaments to Egypt." Technical director of the Egyptian women's team Mohamed Medhat told Al-Ahram Weekly, "Abdel-Qawi's performance is not what we expected from her due to several reasons. She played tough matches in the semi-final and quarter- final. She didn't concentrate quite well especially in the second game but she surprised by achieving second place for the first time in Egypt's history." Abdel-Qawi's agenda is full in the future, starting with the Al-Gezira Club Open Championship from 29 September to 3 November, then the Women's World Team Championship in New Zealand from 29 November to 4 December where she is defending her title. The team will consist of Raneem El-Weleili and Engi Kheirallah. The fourth hasn't been decided. Abdel-Qawi, 25, is currently fifth in the world. The highlights of her junior career were when she was runner up to David in the World Junior Championship in 1999 and 2001. Joining the WISPA Tour in her mid-teens, in 2005, she finished as runner up in the Greenwich and Dayton championships in the US. She also won the Marsh McLennan title. In May 2008 she won the Hurghada International for a second time. In December 2008, Abdel-Qawi led the Egyptian women's team to the World Team title when Egypt beat England in an upset final in her home city. In April 2009 she regained her Hurghada International title by beating Rachael Grinham 3-2 in a tremendous final at the Egyptian resort city. In July 2009, she took the bronze at the World Games in Chinese Taipei. This year she was the runner up in the Burning River Classic, the Harrow Greenwich Open Championship in the US and the CIMB KL Open in Malaysia where Abdel-Qawi was defeated by David 3-0 in the final. In May, she won the Hurghada International title in March after beating Kheirallah 3-0 in the final.
