Egypt's Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy justified her top billing in the
Women's NASH Cup in Canada by defeating surprise opponent Hollie
Naughton in the final of the WSA Tour 5 squash event at
London Squash & Fitness in London, Ontario, to claim her
maiden WSA World Tour title.
The
20-year-old from Cairo, who is currently studying at Trinity College
in the USA, reached the final after overcoming unexpected semi-finalist
Nikki Todd, the No7 seed from Canada.
Todd,
originally from Regina in Saskatchewan but now based in Toronto, made
her breakthrough in the previous round where she upset third-seeded
Brazilian Thaisa Serafini.
Naughton, the fourth seed from Canada, raised home hopes by upsetting
USA's No2 seed Cecelia Cortes in the other semi-final.
The
shock win took the 19-year-old from Oakville, Ontario, into the first
Tour title of her career.
Both
finalists were looking for their first Tour titles - and favourite El-Defrawy
took the opening game.
"In
the second game, Kanzy raced into a 9-0 lead through a mixture of
pressured play and wonderful shot-making," explained event spokesman
Kárlis Zauers. "This is the Egyptian brand of squash people have
come to love - hitting dead nick winners when the opportunity presents
itself.
"After
finishing the second game 11-5 Kanzy again charged into an 7-1 lead in
the third game. Hollie managed to claw some points back but Kanzy ran
out the game 11-5 and took the match three games to love."
The
11-7, 11-5, 11-5 victory in 23 minutes made it fifth time lucky for El-Defrawy
(pictured above, right, with runner-up Naughton and tournament founder
Jay Nash) who finished as runner-up in her previous four finals
on the WSA World Tour since September 2009.
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