The 2014 Women's World Squash Championship will take place in
Egypt in December following an agreement reached this week
between the Women's Squash Association and Wadi Degla
Holding.
Offering a USD $150,000 prize-fund, the 2014 championship will be
hosted by the Wadi Degla club in Cairo from 15-20
December, following three days' of qualifying.
The 30th edition of the premier tournament on the WSA World Tour
will be staged in Egypt for only the second time since the inaugural
event in 1979.
Boasting 48 courts, Wadi Degla is the biggest chain of squash
clubs in Egypt - and one of the biggest groups of sporting clubs in
the world, with a combined membership worldwide in excess of
500,000. The Wadi Degla Maadi branch is also the training
base of world No3 Raneem El Welily.
"Wadi
Degla is pleased to host the world's most prestigious women's squash
event," said the company's Sports Director Karim Darwish, the
world No10 and a former world number one. "Credit goes to Eng Maged
Samy, who encouraged and fully supported the idea, despite the very
short notice.
"Wadi
Degla squash team is the national champion for the season 2013/2014,
and the home club of local star Raneem El Welily, the world
No3. So squash is definitely a major sport in the Wadi Degla sports
community, and hosting this event will surely give Egyptian Squash a
great push towards a whole new level."
WSA CEO Tommy Berden added: "We are delighted to take the
Women's World Championship to Egypt in December. Squash is one of
the most popular sports in Egypt and there a lot of young Egyptian
players coming up rapidly, so it will be great to see them in action
on home soil.
"We are very grateful to Wadi Degla's chairman Maged Samy and the
sports director Karim Darwish for making this event happen at
their impressive facilities, and we look forward to working with
them to make the championship a stunning success."
Laura Massaro,
who at the 2013 championship in Malaysia in March became the first
Englishwoman for 15 years to win the world crown, will face stiff
opposition in her title defence later this year from a host of
players - not only from El Welily and eight other home players in
the current world top 50, but also from Nicol David, the
world number one from Malaysia who will be bidding to win a record
eighth title.
The Women's World Championship title is owned by the World Squash
Federation (WSF) and managed by the Women's Squash Association.
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