Ramy & Raneem Reap Hurghada Rewards by Howard Harding
May 20, 2011-Ramy
Ashour and Raneem El Weleily triumphed in contrasting Hurghada
International finals to secure a popular home double in the
international squash circuit event in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of
Hurghada.
In what he described as 'one of the
toughest matches we've played together', world No2 Ashour faced his
Egyptian team-mate and fellow former world number one Karim Darwish,
currently ranked three in the world, in the climax of the men's PSA
World Tour International 70 event.
In a repeat of the 2010 final,
23-year-old defending champion Ashour came back from 2/1 down to
overcome his Cairo compatriot 11-9, 9-11, 12-14, 11-9, 11-3 in 80
minutes to claim the title for the fourth year in a row. "We both played well and we gave it
100 percent from all aspects," exclaimed the champion after his
marathon success. "I think it was one of the toughest matches
we've played together.
"I wanted to finish the year with a good result, unlike the last one, and I think the effort I did paid off.
"I want to thank my fitness coach
Mohammed El Sayed and my squash feeder Haitham Effat, and our National
Coach Amir Wagih, and ATCO."
The win marks up the 20th PSA World Tour title of Ashour's career.
The final of the women's WISPA World
Tour Silver 20 event produced a breakthrough win for Raneem El Weleily
against her country's number one Omneya Abdel Kawy.
Fourth seed El Weleily made her
breakthrough in the previous round when she upset Australian favourite
Rachael Grinham, a three-time Hurghada International champion.
But in her eighth Tour clash with
world No8 Abdel Kawy since June 2006, El Weleily claimed her maiden
victory – beating the title-holder and four times champion 11-5,
12-10, 11-9 in just 27 minutes.
"I am so happy to win - I dreamed of winning this title since so long," said the 22-year-old world No12 from Alexandria.
"I want to thank all my family and
friends for being here to support me, and of course a big thank you to
all my coaches who made this possible."
The triumph marks El Weleily's second WISPA trophy.
RESULTS: Hurghada International, Hurghada, Egypt