The 2010 Women's World Squash Open, featuring the 32 top players in the world, has begun in Soho Square in Sharm El-Sheikh. Inas Mazhar reports from the seaside resort For the second year in a row, Savoy Hotel will be hosting the Women's Soho Square Squash Open. The beginning was last year in the same arena. But this year squash fans will see changes, giving the tournament more glamour and appeal. And so will the players. There have been modifications to last year, when the 16-player event was played as the Soho Square Squash Open. The success of last year's event had driven the hotel's owner Emad Aziz to upgrade this year's event, making it bigger and better. "This year it is the World Open and the number of participants has increased from 16 to 32 players who will start at the main draw. But before that, three rounds of qualifications will take place," Aziz said. "The site of the tournament is still the same -- Soho Square -- but last year it was still a new place. This year, it is complete and has been host to several artistic and sports events. In addition to the squash facilities, tennis courts have been built, a hundred yards left of the gorgeous Savoy Hotel. "This year we are not using any other squash courts like last year," Aziz said. "We were keen to create a team which has been working for the past two months building a new 450-seat squash centre court and two glass-back courts. The event is also attracting international media attention in addition to the local media which attended the event last year." The qualification draw for the Soho Square Open has been made, with Denmark's Line Hansen and England's Tania Bailey among the favourites to progress to the richest main draw in the history of women's squash. The qualifications were played in the morning at the Laguna Vista glass-back courts which are near the Savoy Hotel, the host of the event. In the evenings, the remaining matches took place at the glass-back court set in Soho Square. Thirty-eight players will be competing for eight places on offer, with plenty of Egyptian interest for the home fans, and with 10 other nationalities represented there's a good chance that many of the holidaymakers at Soho Square will have one of their own to cheer on. The first round of six matches, all with Egyptian interest, was scheduled to take place last night, with second round (16 matches) on the 16th and finals on the 17th. The qualification draw includes top seed Line Hansen (Den), Siyoli Waters (RSA, Annelize Naudé (Ned), Sina Wall (Ger), Amanda Sobhi (USA) (6), Sara El-Noamani (Egy), Mayar Ali Ezzo (Egy), Lucie Fialova (Cze) (13), Farah Abdel-Meguid (Egy), Emma Beddoes (Eng) (3), Tenille Swartz (RSA), Heba El-Torki (Egy) (16), Salma Nassar (Egy), Nada El-Kalaawi (Egy), Nour El-Tayab (Egy) (8), Maud Duplomb (Fra), Lauren Selby (Eng) (15), Nouran El-Torki (Egy), Laura Pomportes (Fra), Manuela Manetta (Ita) (9), Salmy Hani (Egy), Merhan Amr Mahmoud (Egy), Sharon Wee (Mas) (7), Coline Aumard (Fra), Nour El-Sherbiini (Egy) (10), Celia Allamargot (Fra), Dipika Pallikal (Ind) (4), Mennat Nasser (Egy), Yathreb Adel (Egy), Kansy Emad El-Defrawi (Egy) (12), Faustine Gilles (Fra), Joshna Chinappa (Ind) (5), Nihal Alaa Bayoumi (Egy), Salma Hatem Yousaaf (Egy), Nicolette Fernandes (Guy) (14), Haidi Lala (Egy), Karina Hereida Gonzales (Mex), Tania Bailey (Eng) (2). In last year's event England's Jenny Duncalf beat Egypt's Omnia Abdel-Qawi to claim the Women's International Soho Square Squash Championship. From the beginning, everybody thought Egyptian champion Abdel-Qawi would win the final She had made a very impressive start, playing with confidence in the glass court erected in the centre of the newly built Soho Square at the Savoy Hotel in Sharm El-Sheikh. There was a high spectator turn-out 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 feet until the last point. The 23-year-old Abdel-Qawi, the world No 8 then, in no time won the first two games of the best-of-five matches 2/11 and 7/11. The English world number six Duncalf was nervous in the first two games knowing that she had a 1-10 losing record to her opponent who is dubbed by the international world of squash "Queen of the Nile" and who was now playing at home. But receiving instructions from her coach, Duncalf regained her composure in the next three games to sweep her Egyptian prodigy 11/8, 12/10 and 12/10. Abdel-Qawi struggled against the quick Duncalf who played speedy ball. Abdel-Qawi was sweating and before the fourth game was forced to change her shirt. She did better but still lost 10/12. The final game was the last hope for the Egyptian who the crowd supported crazily. Still, she was 1-7 down in the last game, but when everybody started losing hope, she won seven consecutive points to lead 8-7. Leading 10-9 and playing for match ball, Abdel-Qawi produced two unforced errors which gave the English the hand-out and then the match. The inaugural $42,000 Soho Square Women's International Championship was truly a tournament for the top seeds as the last top four made it to the semi-finals. All players agreed they enjoyed playing in such a fabulous atmosphere with the dancing fountain as the background of the glass court, and cafes, restaurants and recreational activities surrounding the venue.
