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RESULTS: Arab Games Squash Championships, Doha, Qatar
Egypt
Retain Arab Games Titles
Egypt
retained the men's and women's squash titles in the Arab Games
after first-time triumphs by Tarek Momen and Raneem El Weleily
in the 2011 championships' finals at the Khalifa International Tennis
& Squash Complex in the Qatar capital Doha.
Top
seeds Momen, the men's world No20 from Cairo, and El Weleily, the
women's world No7 from Alexandria, led strong fields featuring players
from Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt.
The
favourites were keen to retain the titles won by compatriots Amr
Shabana and Engy Kheirallah in the 2007 Arab Games in Egypt.
After
overcoming Kuwaiti Abdullah Al Muzayen - also a semi-finalist in
2007 - in four games, Momen lined up against fellow countryman Karim
Abdel Gawad in the men's final.
Alexandria-born Gawad, the 20-year-old second seed, took a 2/1 lead -
but the more experienced 23-year-old Momen regained control to close out
the match 11-6, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4 to claim the gold medal.
El
Weleily also faced a second-seeded compatriot in the women's final - and
Omneya Abdel Kawy also established an early lead.
But it
was to be a silver medal for the second time in a row for the former
world No8 from Cairo as the in-form El Weleily marched on to gold medal
success, winning 7-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-6.
"Current Egyptian domination of the Arab Games squash is a given,"
commented World Squash Federation CEO Andrew Shelley. "But
with the improvements from other competing nations - and the
participation of Iraqi players, for example - the breadth and depth in
the region is growing too.
"These
Games, like all the other major multi-sport events in which squash takes
part, are pinnacles for all players until we achieve a place in the one
that transcends them all, the Olympic Games."
The
quadrennial Arab Games were first played in Alexandria, Egypt, in
1953.
Men's
quarter-finals
[1] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
13-11, 11-5, 11-6
[3/4] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) bt Rasool Hashim Abdullah
(IRQ) 11-4, 11-8, 11-5
Ali Bader Al-Ramzi (KUW) bt [3/4] Ahmad Alzabidi (JOR)
11-7, 11-8, 11-6
[2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR) 12-10,
11-5, 11-3
Semi-finals:
[1] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [3/4] Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW)
11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-2 (40m)
[2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt Ali Bader Al-Ramzi (KUW)
11-8, 11-2, 11-7 (21m)
Final:
[1] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 11-6,
9-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4
Women's quarter-finals:
[1] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt Ghufran Ayoob (IRQ) 11-5,
11-5, 11-3 (18m)
Aisha Al-Hamad (KUW) bt Rand Alsa'AD (JOR) 11-4, 11-8,
11-3 (16m)
Mariam Dashti (KUW) bt Rana Janabi (IRQ) 11-4, 11-8, 11-7
(17m)
[2] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt Shahd Najada (JOR) 11-2,
11-3, 11-7 (22m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt Aisha Al-Hamad (KUW) 11-2,
11-2, 11-2 (17m)
[2] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt Mariam Dashti (KUW) 11-2,
11-0, 11-3 (16m)
Final:
[1] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt [2] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY)
7-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-6
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