Women's World Title To Cap 'Egypt's Best Ever Year' by Howard Harding 25 November 2014
- Egypt are seeded to retain their title in next week's SHOP.CA WSF
Women's World Team Squash Championship in Canada in a triumph which
would cap "the most successful year in professional Egyptian squash
history", according to team coach Omar Elborolossy.
The defending champions will be one of 20 nations represented - with
all the world's top ten players in action - in the 19th staging of the
biennial World Squash Federation championship at White Oaks Conference
Resort & Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, from 1-6 December.
The Egyptian squad is led by world No3 Raneem El Welily and includes
three further players from within the world top 11 - including Nour El
Sherbini (world No4), Nour El Tayeb (8) and experienced campaigner
Omneya Abdel Kawy (11).
"It was very difficult to select the team because we have too many good
players who deserve to be on the team - we have nine current top 30
players," explained Elborolossy, the former world No14 who is leading
the team for the first time.
"I consider all my players as key players, because when your target is
to win the team event, you need four equally-trained and motivated
players ready to go on court and win their matches. But, in general, I
think that the number two ties (El Sherbini, in our case) will be a
main factor in our matches."
Elborolossy views second seeds England, six-time champions and
finalists each year since 1994, and third seeds Malaysia, led by world
number one Nicol David, as his team's biggest threats.
"I think this time is very similar to the previous tournaments in the
last six years with only three teams as the main competitors (Egypt,
England and Malaysia)," added coach Elborolossy.
"But this tournament is different for me because this is my first world teams championship as the Egyptian national coach.
"2014 is the most successful year in professional Egyptian squash
history, which we hope to end with winning the world team event."
Egypt, champions in 2008 and 2012, head Pool A - which also includes
8th seeds Ireland, 9th seeds New Zealand and Colombia and China.
The full Pool line-ups (with seeding in brackets) are as follows:
Pool A: [1] EGYPT, [8] IRELAND, [9] NEW ZEALAND, [13/16] COLOMBIA, [17/20] CHINA
Pool B: [2] ENGLAND, [7] AUSTRALIA, [10] WALES, [13/16] GERMANY, [17/20] SPAIN
Pool C: [3] MALAYSIA, [6] USA, [11] CANADA, [13/16] MEXICO, [17/20] GUATEMALA
Pool D: [4] HONG KONG CHINA, [5] FRANCE, [12] SOUTH AFRICA, [13/16] INDIA, [17/20] AUSTRIA
