Hesham & Tomlinson Win World University Titles by Howard Harding September 4, 2014
- While Egyptian favourite Mazen Hesham won the men's title in the 8th
World University Squash Championships in India as predicted, there was
a major upset earlier today when Great Britain's Millie Tomlinson, a
5/8 seed, toppled top seed Olga Ertlova in the other final to take the
women's title at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai against
expectations.
Hesham, a 20-year-old
from Cairo who is already ranked 34 in the world, dropped just one game
en-route to the men's final - where he faced No2 seed Zahed Mohamed in
the event's third all-Egyptian final since 2002.
The top seed needed just 35 minutes to overcome Mohamed, 22, from Alexandria, 11-8, 11-9, 11-6.
"Zahed was a tough
opponent to beat," said Hesham afterwards. "This was my first world
event win. I'm very happy. It's a very good first title win for me. I'm
going to USA to take part in the Professional Squash Association (PSA)."
Hesham becomes the
third Egyptian men's champion, following in the footsteps of
illustrious former champions Karim Darwish (2002) and Ramy Ashour
(2008) - both of whom went on to top the PSA World Rankings.
Tomlinson, a
22-year-old from Duffield in the English county of Derbyshire, enjoyed
a distinguished career as a junior, winning the British Junior U13, U15
and U19 titles before moving to the USA to study at Yale University.
Her route to the title
could hardly have been more demanding: A quarter-final victory over
South Africa's 3/4 seed Cheyna Tucker took Tomlinson into the semis,
where she overcame second-seeded Egyptian Farah Abdel Megid 10-12,
11-9, 11-3, 11-7 in 55 minutes.
In her first meeting
with Ertlova, the world No59 from the Czech Republic, Tomlinson
despatched the 28-year-old 11-8, 11-6, 11-1 in 38 minutes to clinch the
title.
"It was a very tough
match," admitted Britain's latest world squash champion. "It's one of
my biggest victories - winning this has given me lot of confidence. I'm
thinking of going for the Women Squash Association (WSA)."
Tomlinson becomes the first British women's champion since England's Jenny Tranfield in 1998.
RESULTS: World University Squash Championships, Chennai, India
