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With Egypt's tallest building the Cairo Tower as the
backdrop, the draw for the Wadi Degla Women's World Squash
Championship 2014 has been made in the Egyptian capital -
signalling that Malaysia's world number one Nicol David is
seeded to reclaim the most prestigious title on the Women's
Squash Association World Tour and extend her remarkable record
to eight titles.
Backed by Wadi Degla Holding and boasting a USD $150,000
prize-fund, the 2014 championship will take place at the Wadi
Degla club in Cairo, from 15-20 December, following three
days' of qualifying. The 30th edition of the tournament will be
staged in Egypt for only the second time since the inaugural event
in 1979.
The draw was conducted by promoter Karim Darwish, WSA CEO
Tommy Berden and leading Egyptian player Raneem El Welily,
the world No3, and witnessed by Maged Helmy, the CEO of Wadi
Degla; Assem Khalifa, President of the Egyptian Squash
Federation; and Ashraf Sobhy, Egypt's Vice Minister of Sport.
The press conference attracted an excellent turnout of media
including all the country's leading TV stations and newspapers.
Both top seed David and defending champion Laura Massaro, the
second seed and world No2 from England, will begin their campaigns
against qualifiers.
Egyptians take up seven places in the initial main draw - more than
any other country - but the draw did little to favour the hosts.
Third seed El Welily, who is based at Wadi Degla Cairo, faces
compatriot Habiba Mohamed Ahmed, the 15-year-old 'child
prodigy' from Alexandria who has already achieved a world No24
ranking - while fourth seed Nour El Sherbini, the 19-year-old
who denied Nicol David a sixth successive appearance in the
final in a shock upset in the 2013 event, also faces a fellow
Egyptian in the opening round, Cairo-based 17-year-old Nouran
Gohar who this month celebrated a best-ever world No22 ranking.
Australian veteran Rachael Grinham will also be bidding to
win a further world title after claiming the trophy in Madrid in
2007. More than 20 years after making her world championship debut
in Guernsey in 1994, the 37-year-old 11th seed takes on a qualifier
in the first round.
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.
Official
Site:
Women's World Champs
1st round draw:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) v Qualifier
[13] Jenny Duncalf (ENG) v Qualifier
[16] Emma Beddoes (ENG) v Qualifier
[6] Camille Serme (FRA) v Qualifier
[7] Low Wee Wern (MAS) v Nicolette Fernandes (GUY)
[12] Madeline Perry (IRL) v Joshana Chinappa (IND)
[10] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) v Sarah Kippax (ENG)
[4] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v Nouran Gohar (EGY)
[3] Raneem El Welily (EGY) v Habiba Mohamed Ahmed (EGY)
[14] Dipika Pallikal (IND) v Qualifier
[11] Rachael Grinham (AUS) v Qualifier
[8] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v Mayar Hany Mohamed (EGY)
[5] Alison Waters (ENG) v Qualifier
[15] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v Joey Chan (HKG)
[9] Annie Au (HKG) v Line Hansen (DEN)
[2] Laura Massaro (ENG) v Qualifier
For all the latest WSA Tour news:
wsaworldtour.com
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