[Q] Sina Wall (Ger)
11/4, 11/8, 11/5
[2] Line Hansen (Den)
RESULTS: Atlantis Sporting Club Open, Alexandria, Egypt
Habiba Makes History At Home
Egyptian teenager Habiba Mohamed Ahmed etched her name firmly
into the squash history books when she beat compatriot Nour El
Tayeb in the final of the Atlantis Sporting Club Open at
her home club in Alexandria to become the first player ever
to win four Women's Squash Association World Tour titles
before reaching the age of 16!
It
was aged just 14 years and 5 months that Ahmed won her first Tour
title - becoming the youngest ever to do so - at the Malaysian
Tour Grand Final last November.
And in her home town - less than four months after celebrating her
15th birthday - the Egyptian child prodigy recovered from a game
down to see off El Tayeb, the 21-year-old world No8, 11-13, 11-8,
11-5, 11-7 in the climax of the WSA Silver 25 event at the
Alexandria Sporting Club.
Her fourth - and biggest, by far - title triumph on the WSA World
Tour is the latest success in an outstanding 2014 so far for
Ahmed. Winner of the British Junior U17 Open in January, she
went on to become the second youngest ever winner of the World
Junior (U19) Championship in August - beating title-holder
Nour El Sherbini en-route to the final.
Last month, Ahmed (pictured above, second right, in the
presentation group with El Tayeb) defeated France's world No5
Camille Serme and England's former world No2 Jenny Duncalf
before celebrating her first WSA World Series quarter-final
berth at the Malaysian Open.
Ranked outside the top 60 at the beginning of the year, Ahmed is now
ranked 34 in the world - and is sure to take a further mighty leap
forward now.
El Tayeb Makes It Three In A Row
In-form Egyptian squash star Nour El Tayeb celebrated her
third Women's Squash Association World Tour final in a row -
all against expectations - when she upset top-seeded compatriot
Omneya Abdel Kawy in the semi-finals of the Atlantis Sporting
Club Open in Alexandria, Egypt.
The 21-year-old from Cairo stunned the squash world last month by
reaching the finals of the Malaysian Open and Hong Kong
Open - both WSA World Series events and both from the
position of 16th seed!
Seeded three in this WSA Silver 25 event at the Alexandria
Sporting Club, El Tayeb defeated her experienced 29-year-old
opponent 11-9, 9-11, 11-3, 13-11 to secure the seventh WSA Tour
final appearance of her career.
In
an all-Egyptian final, the 2012 champion will line up against
Alexandria teenager Habiba Mohamed Ahmed, the 15-year-old
prodigy who stunned second-seeded Dane Line Hansen 11-1,
13-11, 11-5.
Ahmed, the No6 seed, has also been enjoying a formidable 2014 during
which she not only clinched the World Junior (U19) title after
ousting defending champion Nour El Sherbini en-route to the
final, but also picked up Tour titles in Scotland and Germany.
Egyptians Flourish In Alexandria Openers
Five home players claimed places in the quarter-finals of the
Atlantis Sporting Club Open after successes in the first round
of the WSA Silver 25 squash event at the Alexandria
Sporting Club in Alexandria, Egypt.
Favourite Omneya Abdel Kawy, the world No14 from Cairo,
defeated France's Laura Pomportes 11-3, 12-10, 11-4 and will
now face compatriot Salma Hany Ibrahim for a place in the
semi-finals.
Third seed Nour El Tayeb, the 2012 champion who has leapt to
No8 in the world rankings after reaching the finals of the Hong Kong
Open and Malaysian Open last month, ousted fellow Egyptian Farah
Abdel Megid 11-9, 11-9, 12-10.
The 21-year-old from Cairo now meets Milou van der Heijden,
the No8 seed from the Netherlands who took four games to overcome
Austrian Birgit Coufal 11-6, 16-14, 8-11, 11-9.
Second seed Line Hansen is the leading non-Egyptian in the
field. The world No25 from Denmark despatched German qualifier
Sina Wall 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 and progresses to meet seventh-seeded
Czech Lucie Fialova in the quarter-finals.
