Gohar Excited to play in front of Great Pyramid of Giza at Al Ahram Open by Sean Reuthe
photo PSA
September 15, 2016
- World Junior Champion Nouran Gohar is eagerly anticipating the
upcoming Al Ahram Squash Open NEWGIZA, where the world’s leading
players will compete in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza - one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - for the first time in a decade
between September 19-23.
The tournament, which features an equal $100,000 prize purse in both
the Men’s and Women’s events, is held in Cairo, Egypt and makes its
return to the PSA World Tour after a 15-year hiatus.
Gohar, 18, followed up a breakthrough 2015/16 season with victory at
the first World Series tournament of the new campaign, the Cathay
Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open, and says that she is
aiming to follow in the footsteps of Egyptian former World No.2 Ahmed
Barada, who lifted the title on home soil back in 1998.
"I'm so excited, I can't wait to play in front of the Pyramids," said World No.4 Gohar.
"There’s so much motivation to play there for all Egyptian players.
It's so huge for us, Ahmed Barada was like a superhero in Egypt and he
was so well known because of this tournament. So for us now to have
that chance to play there is huge.
"I know it will be a great event and hopefully I can do well in it in front of my home crowd."
The qualification rounds for the Al Ahram Squash Open NEWGIZA begin on
Saturday September 17th, while the main draw gets under way two days
later and sees Gohar pitted against World No.12 Nour El Tayeb in round
one.
The likes of World No.1 Nour El Sherbini, eight-time World Champion
Nicol David and former World No.5 Raneem El Welily also feature in a
world-class Women’s draw, with Men’s World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy,
World Championship runner-up Omar Mosaad and World No.5 Ramy Ashour
headlining the Men’s event.
