El Sherbini
Becomes Youngest Tour Title Winner Of All-Time
Nour El
Sherbini,
the Egyptian who became the youngest ever world squash champion last year at the
age of 13, has now become the youngest women's Tour title winner in history
after claiming the El-Kersh Women's Heliopolis Open crown in her
country's capital Cairo.
The
14-year-old from Alexandria, the event's fifth seed, made her breakthrough in
the quarter-finals where she despatched second-seeded Dane Line Hansen.
Her final
opponent was top seed Rachael Grinham, the former world champion and
world number one from Australia who cruised through the earlier rounds without
dropping a game.
And the
33-year-old Queenslander looked to be heading to her 31st career title - but the
first of the year - as she took the opening two games.
Leading 6-5 in
the third game, Grinham suffered a muscle strain in her left calf, however, and
decided to concede the match.
"I thought I'd
better not continue as it might be worse," said the experienced Australian
number one. "I will know what the situation is tomorrow."
The outcome
led to El Sherbini becoming the youngest Tour title winner ever - beating the
previous record set in September 2009 when India's Anaka Alankamony won
the Indian Challenger No1 trophy on home soil, at the age of 15 years and
2 months.
"It is my
first WISPA title," said El Sherbini. "I am sorry for Rachael; I wish her well
in recovering soon."
El Sherbini
Makes Heliopolis Final
Nour El
Sherbini,
the 14-year-old Egyptian who became the youngest ever WISPA World Tour
finalist last year, reached her second Tour final after upsetting compatriot
Nour El Tayeb in the semi-finals of the El-Kersh Women's Heliopolis
Squash Open, the $25,300 event at the Heliopolis Sporting Club in the
Egyptian capital Cairo.
The former
world junior champion from Alexandria recovered from losing the first game to
beat her 17-year-old opponent 8-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-9 in 42 minutes.
The promising
youngster, ranked 40 in the world, will have her work cut out in the final,
where she faces former world champion and world number one Rachael Grinham,
ranked 37 places higher!
The top seed
from Australia coasted to an 11-1, 11-7, 11-5 win over India's No3 seed
Joshna Chinappa in the other semi in just 19 minutes.
While El
Sherbini is celebrating her second Tour final appearance, it is the 56th of
Grinham's illustrious career. A win for Grinham would mark the Queenslander's
31st Tour title - whereas success for El Sherbini would make the 14-year-old the
youngest ever WISPA Tour champion by a distance!
El Sherbini
Shocks Hansen In Heliopolis Upset
Egyptian
youngster Nour El Sherbini produced the upset of the day in the El-Kersh
Women's Heliopolis Open when she battled to a 55-minute win over Denmark's
second seed Line Hansen to reach the semi-finals of the $25,300 WISPA
World Tour squash event at the Heliopolis Sporting Club in the
Egyptian capital Cairo.
The
14-year-old fifth seed from Alexandria, surprise winner of the World Junior
(U19) Championship title last year when just 13, showed remarkable
determination to defeat the experienced Dane, ranked 29 in the world, 12-10,
13-11, 9-11, 12-10 in 55 minutes.
"It was a good
match," admitted the Egyptian teenager after her second victory over Hansen this
year. "Last time I won 3/2, today it is 3/1 - and in each game I was 10/8 down
and I was able to come back!"
El Sherbini
will now face fellow Egyptian teenager Nour El Tayeb, the 17-year-old No4
seed from Cairo who defeated Czech Republic's Lucie Fialova 11-7, 11-4,
11-8.
"I played a
good game - I was confident and played better than yesterday," said El Tayeb.
"She hit the ball so hard - I had to slow down the pace so she wasn't able to
hit the ball as hard."
The other
semi-final will be an Australian/Indian affair between Rachael Grinham,
the top seed from Queensland, and Indian number one Joshna Chinappa, the
No3 seed.
Grinham, the
former world number one who has been based in Cairo for many years, ousted
17-year-old unseeded Egyptian Nouran El Torky 11-5, 11-3, 11-5 in 27
minutes - while Chinappa was forced to fight back from two games down against
Heba El Torky, also unseeded, before beating Nouran's 19-year-old sister
7-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-8 in 64 minutes.
"It was a hard
match, mentally and physically, and I am happy I won," conceded Chinappa, the
world No34 from Chennai. "I'm looking forward to playing Rachael tomorrow."
El Torky
Sisters Spring Surprises In Cairo
Egyptian
teenaged sisters Nouran El Torky and Heba El Torky produced
impressive upsets in the first round of the El-Kersh Women's Heliopolis Open
to secure unexpected places in the quarter-finals of the $25,300 WISPA World
Tour squash event at the Heliopolis Sporting Club in the Egyptian
capital Cairo.
Nouran El
Torky,
aged 17 and from Alexandria, claimed the bigger scalp with an 11-4, 11-9, 11-6
dismissal of sixth-seeded compatriot Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy.
Older sister
Heba, 19, completed the family double by ousting Guyana's No8 seed Nicolette
Fernandes 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 11-6.
The siblings'
successes lead to surprise Egyptian interest in all four quarter-finals. Nouran
will meet Australia's top seed Rachael Grinham, while Heba will line up
against India's third seed Joshna Chinappa.
Fifth seed
Nour El Sherbini, the 14-year-old former world junior champion from
Alexandria, beat fellow Egyptian Yathreb Adel, a qualifier, 11-7, 11-7,
11-3 - and will now face second-seeded Dane Line Hansen at the bottom of
the draw.
And
17-year-old Nour El Tayeb, the fourth seed from Cairo, will take on Czech
Lucie Fialova after beating South Africa's Siyoli Waters 11-7,
9-11, 10-12, 11-8, 12-10.
| 
