Team Squash Championship held in Cairo, reports Ghada Abdel-Kader Egypt won the gold medal; England won silver, while Malaysia took home the bronze. Egypt defeated England 2-1 in the final of the 16th Women's World Team Squash at the Cairo Stadium Squash Complex. The Egyptians claimed the title for the first time ever. For the past 30 years England and Australia have dominated the sport. England has won this title six times while Australia has won it all of eight times since the inaugural Women's World Squash Championship in 1976. Indeed, the Egyptian team amazed the audience with their performances. Vice-President of World Squash Federation (WSF) Chris Stahl addressed the winners after the victory: "Congratulations, you are a credit to Egypt and to the sport. I am sure you'll defend your championship very hard in two years time." Egyptian player and world number seven Omniya Abdel Qawi, aged 23, beat the 26-year-old world number six Jenny Ducalf 3-0 in the first match (11-1, 11-6, 11-9). "We want to win. The English team had much pressure and was not relaxed because they wanted to remain the title holders of this championship. This was quite clear in their matches," said Abdel-Qawi. Egypt's world junior champion Raneem El-Weleili, lost Egypt's second match 2-3 to the world number eight Laura Lengthorn-Massaro. Massaro is ranked 11 places higher than her teenage opponent, the 19-year-old El-Weleili. Massaro, 25, took control of the decider to clinch an 11-8, 5-11, 15-13, 6-11, 11-4 win. El-Weleili said, "It is a wonderful feeling. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful team." The last and decisive match that gave Egypt the title was the most thrilling of all. The 23rd saw Engi Khairallah successfully beat her English opponent Alison Walter, the world number five with a score of 2 -3. More than 3,000 spectators in the glass court screamed with joy after Kheirallah's astounding victory, scored 4-11, 11-9, 9- 11, 11-0 and 12-10. Demonstrating great team spirit Kheirallah said, "Abdel-Qawi made it a little easier for us all after she won her match. El-Weleili played very well it is one of the best matches she has ever played. I was thinking positively the entire match. I had nothing to lose: we had reached the final and our rank was second in the championship. The audience was a great support for us." Meanwhile, Kheirallah added: "I dedicate our victory to Egypt, our families, our coaches and President of National Sport Council Hassan Sakr. Sakr meet with us before the championship. He always supports squash." Even Egypt's opponents didn't walk away feeling bitter. "It is a very well-organised championship, and it was wonderful for Egypt to win. The final between the Egypt and England teams was fantastic. It is a credit for both teams. They played in a very good spirit. Everyone played perfectly. It is a pity that one team had to won and one had to lose," said Stahl. Malaysia claimed the bronze medal after beating New Zealand 2-1. Malaysian world number one Nicol David beat Shelley Kitchen world number 10 3-1 (13-11, 11-5, 9-11, 11-3). Joelle King pulled back the deficit for New Zealand after beating Delia Arnold 3-1 (11-5, 11-6, 5-11, 11-8). Malaysian player Sharon Wee, who beat New Zealand's Louise Crome 3-0 (11-9, 12-10, 13-11) gave Malaysia their second successive third-place finish in the event. Meanwhile Ireland recorded their best finish since 1990 after beating Australia 2-1 in the play-off for fifth place. Ireland's world number nine Madeline Perry scored a 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-6) win over world number 13 Kasey Brown, but Laura Mylotte, suffering from a knee injury, was defeated 0-3 by Australian Lisa Camilleri (7-11, 7-11, 7-11). After losing the first game heavily, Aisling Blake raised her game to beat Australia's Donna Urquhart 3-1 (2-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9) in 36 minutes to bring Ireland home. The president of the Egyptian Squash Federation (ESF) Assem Khalifa told Al -Ahram Weekly, "What happened in the final wasn't part of our plan. Our plan was to win the final with our players Abdel-Qawi and El-Weleili according to their ranks. Abdel-Qawi's match was an easy win. But Kheirallah's match was unbelievable. It was a big surprise. She had a high level of determination to win. I highly appreciated her efforts". Khalifa added: "ESF well always help the players with all its capacities. I wish the best of luck for Heba El-Tork and Engi Kheirallah. I hope that they will improve their rankings in individual championships, in order to improve the rank of the team. Technical Director of the Egyptian women's team Mohamed Medhat explained, "From the point of view of the England team it was simply difficult to imagine the Egyptian team might win. England's players were highly ranked but we had a strong intention to do something for Egypt. The matches weren't easy. We just did the best we could." Medhat added: "It is a good start for women's squash in Egypt." Abdel Qawi, for her part, agreed. "It is a new beginning for more achievements. I'd like to thank our families, coaches and fitness coach Ahmed Faragallah, nutrition doctor Hani Waheba and Captain Mohamed Medhat. In only two months Medhat improved our performance in many ways. And I dedicate a special thanks to ESF, which managed to organise this championship to such a high level, in a very short space of time." More generally Stahl said, "We must try very hard to show people that squash is a wonderful sport. Squash will add value to the Olympics. Olympics will give much value to squash. We are trying to persuade the International Olympic Committee and the Programme Commission that squash deserves to be in the Olympics. It is athletic. It is played in 150 countries. It is a sport for all ages. In this championship, a girl aged just 15 years played a woman aged 42. It is quite an impressive range." Big win ENGLAND's Jenny Duncalf recorded one of the best wins of her career when she upset Australia's top seed Rachael Grinham in the final of the Women's Sharm El-Sheikh Open to clinch the $26,200 WISPA World Tour Silver squash event title in South Sinai. Despite dropping games in each of the rounds leading to the climax, second seed Duncalf was in stunning form in the final -- despatching world number three Grinham, who was competing in the 50th tour final of her career -- 11-4, 11-5, 13-11 in just 33 minutes. The 26-year-old from Harrogate in Yorkshire was delighted with her performance in the inaugural WISPA event on the Egyptian Red Sea coast: "It was a great new tournament in a lovely setting and I was happy with how I played," said the world number six after winning the fourth tour title of her career. Big money THE winner of the $250,000 PSA Tour Super Series Platinum event, from 14-19 December in the Saudi city of Al-Khobar, will receive an unprecedented $37,400. Egypt's world number one Amr Shabana is seeded to secure the title for the third year in a row. The 29-year-old heads a star- studded field which includes three former world number ones, and his two compatriots Karim Darwish and World Open champion Rami Ashour -- who this month combined to establish the first ever all-Egyptian world top three. The Saudi International also completes the year's Super Series calendar, the leading events on the PSA Tour from which the eight players earning the most points qualify for the ATCO Super Series Finals championship. The PSA's flagship event will take place for the first time at the prestigious Queen's Club in London next March. Shabana tops the latest Dunlop Super Series Rankings following his victory in last month's Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open, the eighth and penultimate event of the year. Runner-up Gregory Gaultier, the world number four from France, moves up to equal fourth place -- with England's James Willstrop -- behind Qatar Classic champion Karim Darwish and World Open winner Ashour.
