Karim Darwish clinched the first Red Bull Temple squash tournament played at Luxor Temple after beating world champion Rami Ashour It was the second time in one month that Darwish beat Ashour in an international squash final, Inas Mazhar reports. The world's former No 1 and currently third-ranked in the Professional Squash Association is at his peak these days after his third consecutive win in just one month. Last week, Darwish won the Qatar International in Doha after beating the former world champion and the current number 5 Amr Shabana. Despite the loss, Ashour is still No 1 in the world and Darwish is still seeded third. The former four-time world champion Shabana dropped to fifth. The three-day event attracted a huge spectator turnout who came to watch the best eight players in the world as they compete for the $100,000 prize money. The players themselves were enthusiastic as they played in the glass court which was erected in the middle of the temple grounds giving the event an ancient historical atmosphere as the lights reflected over the statues and poles of the temple. The tournament was held under the auspicious of Samir Farag the governor of Luxor who said that the tournament's new format had made it "a tough and thrilling competition and helped attract tourists and the game's fans." Being an exhibition event, the tournament featured a unique and one of a kind game format, not abiding by the usual laws of squash: - Two pools with matches held over the first two days. Top two in each pool progress to the semi-finals. Each pool match is one game to 11, sudden-death. -The semi-finals and final were played of five point matches, tie-breaks and sudden death which produced a close and invigorating tournament for both the spectators and the players. Winner Darwish collected $40,000, runner-up Ashour $20,000 while the two semi-finalists Shabana and Australia's David Palmer each received $10,000. Participants who finished from 5th to 8th place were each awarded $5,000. The 29-year-old Darwish has been at his best recently after winning the El-Gouna International last month followed by the Qatar Classic last week. He had upset his fellow countryman Shabana in the final of the $147,500 Qatar Classic to win his second PSA Super Series squash title in three weeks at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha. With the victory in Qatar, Darwish now boasts 19 PSA Tour titles. Both players had reached the climax after gruelling five-game semi-finals -- Darwish gaining his first win over England's world No 2 Nick Matthew in almost two years, and Shabana overcoming France's fourth seed Gregory Gaultier. Darwish recovered from a game down to beat Shabana, the second seed looking for his maiden Super Series title this year, 8-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-6 in 54 minutes.
