Granite Open WSA Title Amanda Sobhy's 11th by Howard Harding March 8, 2014
- Just days after winning the US Colleges title, and 24 hours before
beginning her US National Championship title bid, US number one Amanda
Sobhy secured the 11th and biggest WSA World Tour title of her career
when she upset top seed Omneya Abdel Kawy in the final of the Women's
Granite Open in Toronto, Canada.
It was a sensational
climax to the WSA Silver 25 squash event at Granite Club where fourth
seed Sobhy - a full-time student at Harvard University - first upset
second-seeded Australian Rachael Grinham in the semi-finals before
inflicting an 11-5, 11-5, 11-9 defeat in 36 minutes on Abdel Kawy in
her first ever meeting with the world No13 from Egypt.
It was the latest
milestone in the remarkable career of the 20-year-old from New York who
made headlines in 2010 when, aged just 17, she won the World Junior
Championship against expectations to become the first US player to win
a world singles title.
Earlier in the year,
Sobhy became the first 16-year-old to win four WSA World Tour titles -
and the Toronto triumph means that that left-hander has now only lost
one WSA Tour final in 12 appearances!
"Super happy to win my
11th and biggest tournament title here in Toronto tonight," said the
exuberant Sobhy after her Granite success. "I cannot express how
delighted I am to be able to overcome everything and win this
tournament.
"I just finished my
college nationals on Sunday and hopped on a plane Monday to play here
from Tuesday so my head was a bit fried - but one of my goals this year
was to win this tournament and I am delighted to come through and
achieve this goal tonight.
"Big thank you to Jess
(Jessica DiMauro) and her team for putting on a spectacular event this
week. It was definitely worth it to miss a week of school. Everybody
has been so wonderful throughout the tournament, especially my amazing
host family, the Francis, and I cannot wait to come back to the Granite
Club again!
"Also a big thank you
to the people I have been working with at school and to my family who
always support me in everything I do. I never would have expected to be
able to compete with the top level girls while attending college.
"Now a quick nap
before I hop on a 6am flight to Charlottesville where I will be
competing in the US nationals starting tomorrow midday so wish me luck!
Looking forward to some much deserved rest time after Sunday!"
