Ghada Abdel-Kader describes the year's achievements of some of Egypt's most brilliant sportsmen and women Judoka Hisham Mesbah won the only medal Egypt collected in the Beijing Olympics: a bronze in the 90kg weight category. Mesbah beat Frenchman Yves-Matthieu Dafreville by a full point or ippon for third place. Mesbah's bronze medal was Egypt's second Olympic judo medal in 24 years. The first was Mohamed Rashwan's silver medal in Los Angeles in 1984. Mesbah is member of Al-Ittihad Sporting Club in Alexandria where he grew up. He has been practicing judo for 17 years. His first achievement came in 2001, when he won a bronze medal at the African Judo Championships. Later, in 2002, he reclaimed that victory. In 2004, he claimed the gold medal in the African Judo Championships but came 17th in Athens 2004. He won silver in the 2005 African Judo Championships and silver in the Mediterranean Games that same year. He came fifth in the World Judo Championships held in Egypt. In 2007, Mesbah claimed the gold medal at the All- Africa Games in Algeria and kept his fifth-place standing at the World Judo Championship held in Brazil. This year, Mesbah was a silver medalist at the African Judo Championship before going to the Olympics. Ahli and national team midfielder Mohamed Abu Treika has unquestionably been the most remarkable player in Egyptian football this year. In 2008, the 30-year-old player scored four goals for Egypt, leading his country to victory at the African Cup of Nations in Ghana. He scored the winning goal against Cameroon in the final, helping Egypt to win the tournament for the second time in a row. He was selected MVP of the final. He also celebrated with his Ahli teammates the domestic league trophy for the fourth successive time, the national Super Cup, and led them to the sixth African Champions League title. Every year, the best footballer in the world is elected by national trainers and national team captains in a FIFA- sponsored vote. The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) drew up a list of 55 currently active players from 31 countries in all six football continents from which voters cast their vote for the best- known footballer in the world. The IFFHS has voted Egyptian player Abu Treika the most popular footballer in the world. Abu Treika collected over one million votes -- 1,017,786 to be exact -- to take the honour, awarded by an IFFHS public vote. Recently, Abu Treika turned down an offer to play for Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia for two million euros. The player announced he would continue playing for Ahli until he eventually retires. Star football coach Hassan Shehata became one of the few home-based coaches in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations held in Ghana, recording a second successive title, as had Charles Gyamfi of Ghana who had won his team the tournament in 1963 and 1965. Shehata led Egypt to win the tournament in February, after a thrilling final between defending champions Egypt and four-time winners Cameroon, which Egypt eventually won 1-0. The final brought much fanfare and celebrations of African fraternity, and left sweet memories in the minds of all. The win gave Egypt their sixth Africa Cup of Nations title. From 2001-2003, Shehata was head coach of the Egyptian under-20s team with whom he won the Africa Cup of Nations and made it to the quarter-final stage of the World Cup. His brilliant results with the junior team and the Contractors brought him the head coach job of the Egyptian national team late in 2004, replacing the Italian Marco Tardelli. As a player, Shehata helped win the Egyptian league title and three FA Cups for Zamalek. He was twice the league's top scorer (1976/77 and 1979/80); third best African footballer of the year in 1974; best footballer in Asia in 1970, the only Egyptian to achieve the feat; best footballer in the 1974 African Cup; and best footballer in Egypt 1976. He received the Egyptian Merit of Sport in 1980. Egypt international striker Amr Zaki began the 2008/ 09 season as a little fish in the ocean that is the English Premier League. Seven rounds into the campaign, however, the player Wigan Athletic have on a season-long loan from Zamalek has established himself as one of the competition's most fearsome predators. Powerful, fast and relentless, the Egyptian was the English Premier League's leading marksman for some time until injury forced him to quit the top scorers spot. Zaki was a key player in the squad that won the African Cup of Nations in 2008 and was among the tournament's all- star team. He now joins Abu Treika in most of the best African players' polls. The decision of Egypt's national goalkeeper, Essam El-Hadari, to play for a Swiss club also aroused many pundits' curiosity. The great escape of the national football squad and Ahli goalkeeper made headlines. The top-level goalkeeper's move stirred huge controversy when he joined Swiss side Sion without the consent of his team Ahli. Indeed Ahli fans were outraged by El-Hadari's move and called for his suspension, as did several columnists and commentators. Shortly after the Pharaohs' return from Ghana, he continued to be in the spotlight but this time not for being the protector of Egypt's net but a runaway. Suddenly, the nation woke up to discover that the player had fled, unannounced, to Switzerland, to Football Club Sion. Ironically, the national team was feted in Cairo Stadium for their triumphant African victory on the same day of El-Hadari's shocking departure. So far, the issue is ongoing and making front page headlines in all Egyptian daily newspapers as Ahli, selected African club of the century, breathes fire over El-Hadari's attempts to engineer the move on his own. President Hosni Mubarak called on Samir Zaher, the president of the Egyptian Football Association, to put an end to the issue as soon as possible, talk to Ahli officials and find a solution that would satisfy both parties and allow the player to fulfill his dreams of going professional in Europe. Squash Champion Rami Ashour,won the Men's World title Hi-Tec World Squash Open Championship in the UK at the National Squash Centre, Sport City, Manchester. The men's event climaxed in an all-Egyptian clash between Ashour, the fourth seed from Alexandria who removed compatriot and defending champion Amr Shabana in the semi-finals, and close friend Karim Darwish, the number seven seed who ousted Australia's two- time champion David Palmer. Both were playing in their maiden world final, and 27- year-old underdog Darwish took the opening advantage by winning the first game. But the exuberant Ashour, the 21-year-old world number four and twice-winner of the world junior title, changed his tactics and clinched the second game to draw level. By now the younger Egyptian was in the ascendancy and to the joy of the vociferous Egyptian section of the crowd, beat Darwish 5-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-5 in 60 minutes to become the second player in history -- after Pakistani legend Jansher Khan -- to win both the junior and senior world titles. Egypt's world number one Amr Shabana has been seeded to defend his world title and become only the fourth man after Jansher Khan, Jahangir Khan and Geoff Hunt to win the sport's blue ribboned event for a fourth occasion. The Giza- based player booked his place in the record books with a third World Open victory in Bermuda last year. Another Egyptian squash hero Karim Darwish rounded off the best year of his career by far when he beat Gregory Gaultier in the final of the Saudi International to win the $250,000 PSA Tour Super Series Platinum championship -- the richest tournament in the history of squash -- in the Saudi city of Al-Khobar. Darwish maintained the fine form he had shown all week to beat the second-seeded Frenchman 11-9, 11- 5, 3-11, 11-8 in 52 minutes. The victory,which brought the full house in Al-Khobar to an incredible climax, not only earns the Egyptian the biggest ever winning cheque at $37,400 but will also take the 27-year-old from Cairo to the top of the PSA world rankings next month. The Egyptian Women's team Omneya Abdel-Kawi world number seven, Raneem El-Weleili world number 16, Engi Kheirallah 23rd seed and Heba El-Tork won Women's World Team Squash Championship. Egypt beat the defending champions of England to win the title for the first time after a final which went to the wire. Modern pentathlon world champion Aya Medani's achievement was an impressive comeback for Egyptian juniors in the modern pentathlon after 20 years. In the final event, the Egyptian prodigy took the lead after the fourth event -- riding -- scoring a perfect clear round and maintained that lead until the finish line. She won gold in the World Juniors Championship held in Cairo at the indoor complex of the Cairo International Stadium. Unfortunately, she didn't win at the Beijing Olympics. In the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) elections, Samir Zaher beat out his chief rivals for the post of EFA president for another four years. Zaher collected 85 out of 114 votes while his closest rival, Kamal Darwish, a former Zamalek club president, claimed only 27 votes. Surprisingly two other candidates, former Ismaili star Osama Khalil and TV commentator Ashraf Shaker, received no votes. There was only one new face in the new board, which still comprises Hani Abou Reida, Magdi Abdel-Ghani, Ayman Younes and Hazem El-Hawari. The new face is Mahmoud El-Shami. Zaher was joyous over his re- election and said his main ambition in the next four years was to lead Egyptian football to the World Cup. Zaher, who was in charge in the mid-1990s, won the hotly-contested election with a majority 38 votes, just 10 votes ahead of his nearest rival Hadi Fahmi. Zaher was president of the EFA when Egypt claimed the 1998 African Nations Cup in Burkina Faso. He also saw Egypt winning the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations which was held in Egypt as well as the 2008 event. Zaher has also enriched the treasury of the Egyptian Federation marketing all the federation's activities and brining huge amount of money to the sport.
