CAIRO - Egypt's women's team have flown to New Zealand to compete in the World Squash Team Championship being held from November 28 to December 5, the local media reported on Thursday. Egypt are reigning world champions and the event features 16 countries, divided into four groups, with their predicted placings in brackets: Group A - England (1), The Netherlands (8), the US (9) and Austria (16); Group B - Australia (2), Ireland (10) and Japan (15); Group C - Egypt (3), France (6), South Africa (11) and Mexico (14); and Group D - Malaysia (4), New Zealand (5), Canada (12) and Hong Kong (13). The Egyptian team features Omneya Abdel-Qawi (fourth in the world), Raneem el-Welelli (11th), Engi Kheirallah (15th) and Nour el-Tayeb (35th). Two years ago, in the crazy atmosphere of Cairo where squash is a true passion, the Egyptians sensationally won the World Team Trophy, beating world champions England in an unforgettable final. In two years, things have changed. If England, Australia and Malaysia are still impressive, Egypt have progressed. The proliferation of courts in the country (4,500 compared with just 2,000 in France) has led to the emergence of more talent stars, such as the youthful Abdel-Qawi, who has been very successful in recent tournaments. The young girl from Cairo made it last September to the finals of the women's world individual championship in Sharm el-Sheikh, only bowing before the untouchable Malaysian Nicol David. Abdel-Qawi will be well surrounded. She can count on two other players ranked in the top fifteen worldwide. El-Welelli has been playing brilliantly in various high-level tournaments in the past few weeks, while Kheirallah is also getting better and better. Despite having players of the very highest calibre, the Egyptians are up against some formidable opponents, including England (crowned six times), Australia (eight times), New Zealand (five times) and Malaysia (four times). Egypt should, however, cruise through to the second round, the only real threat being France.
