Mumbai: The gals from Egypt, called G4, were always capable
of spoiling Joshna's World Women's Juniors party.
There were five of them at Belgium and one, second seed Raneem El
Weleily, beat Joshna in the final.
Raneem thus emulated Omneya Abdel Kawy who won the 2003 World
title and Ramy Ashour who is the current World Junior Men's
champ. Ashour was in Mumbai last month for the Herald Maritime
Sevices Challenge.
At Belgium, another Egyptian, Sara Badr, seeded 5/8, upset
local hope Charlie de Rycke and Nehal Yehia lost to third
seed Tenille Swartz in the last eight.
In 1992 coach Aboul Magd, a six-time national champion who in
1980 was the first woman to play in the British Open, had chalked up
a plan for Egyptian girls. It worked wonders after Salma Shabana,
Maha Zein and Mai Hegazi took third place in the World
Junior Team Championship in Malaysia in 1993. The girls took
fourthplace in 2000.
Then second generation of Engy Kheirallah, Eman El-Amir,
Nesreen Nashaat and Abdel-Kawy took the world junior
team championship in 1999.
When the third generation (G3) kid Omneya won the last World juniors
title and led a sweep in 2003, Aboul Magd predicted G4 would win the
2005 World Junior championship singles and team events and improve
their world ranking to third or even second. Aboul's prognosis has
come true with Raneem's win. Now the Egypt girls team must clinch
the title to keep the flag flying.
In 2003 Wel-Menshawi, the youngest-ever national federation
president at 35 said: "Some years ago, the dormant giant that had
once been elite Egyptian squash awoke, shook itself and took the
youthful road to long- term success."
Egypt dominated world squash forty years ago. But twenty years ago
the production line stopped. It wasn't until the beginning of the
1990s that real time, effort and expenditure were invested in some
future stars. It worked.
Suddenly in 1994, the traditional strong countries were ousted by
Egypt in the World Junior Men's team championship, and not only
that, but Ahmed Barada and Omar Elborolossy dominated
the individual final in an all-Egyptian final that was won by Barada.
Ahmed Faizy claimed the individual title in 1996 and Karim
Darwish in 2000.
Egypt's leap to international stardom shook the international sports
world. But there was something strikingly missing -- it involved
only men. Until now. Egyptian women's squash began taking rapid
strides.
The titles haven't come at senior levels but Omneya was the first
Egyptian female to break into the top 20 and has begun making the
finals of WISPA events.
The women's coach Samiha Aboul Magd feels Egyptian female
bodies may be flabby but they are flexible and can stretch,
something just as if not more important as fitness. "You can be less
mobile but win just as many points,'' she has been quoted as saying.
Aboul Magd, a six-time national champion who in 1980 was the first
Egyptian woman to play in the British Open, has been quoted as
saying that it was not just Egyptians who were on the 'pudgy' side,
citing other world class players as examples of players "with
flab much more than us."
Another problem that most players in Egypt encounter is school work.
"They cannot put off studies like other girls in other countries,"
Omneya said.
The girls would train in the morning, go to school, have at least
two private lessons in the afternoon and then train two hours and
then study for exams. They were crying for a break and support from
schools to make things easier.
Still, the dramatic rise of Egyptian females in the sport has not
gone unnoticed. Rachael Grinham of Australia, the world's No
8, is playing professionally for Heliopolis Club "since squash in
Egypt is better than in Australia nowadays.
Truly, Egypt in squash are a class apart.
Pradeep Vijayakar |
Raneem in 2005
Omneya in 2003
A Team Title to
defend
A proud family |
