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The Courts that Never Sleep
Squash At the Gezira Club, Cairo, by
Hesham El
Attar |
 You would
think that I am writing about 24/7 court bookings, but that is not
literally what happens here at the Gezira Club in Cairo.
What takes place here at our club is really more impressive. In fact
I think the courts get a very good night's sleep after the hammering
they get all day and evening from a line-up of players almost
impossible to equal anywhere in the world.
I will get to that in a minute but first let us take a quick look at
the splendid Gezira Club.
Believe me, the club is huge. We are talking about a 2km horse
racing track and within it a 9 hole golf course and driving range.
Beyond that there are grounds and buildings for another 28 sports
including football (2 fields), handball (4 courts), volleyball,
basketball, gymnastics, swimming (Olympic size pool),
waterpolo,
diving, synchronized swimming, athletics, tennis (16 courts)
table
tennis, martial arts, hockey, equestrian sports,
croquet, bowling,
weight training (with indoor and outdoor gyms) and of course,
squash.
Besides the sports activities there are excellent facilities for
members to enjoy the social side of club life. There are restaurants
with both indoor and outdoor seating areas plus the outdoor seating
area called the "Tea Garden" and the "Pergola" which is famous for
its fruit juices, much appreciated during the heat of the summer,
not to mention the "Lido" building which has just been renovated
with its restyled outdoor swimming pool for leisure swimming and
sunbathing.
The club has a long history which goes back to the 1920s, and with a
club of this size and prestige, it is not surprising to find that
our squash complex has 16 courts, 8 of which are air-conditioned.
The squash courts as they stand today have been renovated over the
years and there remain four courts to be fully renewed this year
thanks to the attention and support of the club's management and
board of directors.
Up to this day the Gezira Club remains the one with the most courts
and has become the most important squash training centre in Egypt.
To transmit an idea of the level of activity which goes on here,
check out this wealth of player ... |
Map
Also
from Cairo:
The Elborolossy Academy |
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Egypt's Best
At the
women's level we have Omneya Abdel Kawy who represents our team and
Engy Kheirallah (from the Sporting Club in Alexandria) constantly
training here and often together, joined by world number three Rachael
Grinham on many occasions and world junior champion Raneem El Weleily.
The Men's line-up is even more impressive, with Amr Shabana,
Karim
Darwish (a former Gezira team member), Mohammad Abbas, Wael El Hindi
(when staying in Egypt), doing almost all their training here and
occasionally joined by Ramy Ashour and his older brother
Hisham from the
other side of town where their club is situated in Heliopolis.
Mixing in with them are our own Tarek Momen and Amr Swelam, and if
that is not enough, Omar Mosaad, Omar Abdel Aziz, Amr Mansi, and
Yasser El Halaby complete the line-up of training partners.
Tarek Momen and Amr Swelam, who are in the PSA's top 40s are now the
top professional players representing our men's team. They are young
and still developing their game at a steady rate. In fact, as
mentioned below, Tarek Momen has played as a junior until two years
ago and has a very impressive British Junior Open record.
As most people know, junior squash is very important in Egypt and
this has been demonstrated by its international success especially
in the last two British Junior Opens and World under 19s boys event in
2006 and girls event in 2007 last year.
The Gezira Club has made very important contributions to these
results when Tarek Momen played for Egypt in the boys' event two years
ago and Nour Bahgat in the girls' event last year with both teams
taking the title.
In fact, the training camp for the girls in 2007 led by National
Coach Amir Wagih was hosted at the Gezira Club for several weeks
prior to the championship. This year, the training and preparation
of the Boys under 19s team participating at the World Championships
this summer will also be held at our club.
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Foreign Visitors Aplenty
With so
many courts and such a high standard of play and coaching, The
Gezira Club has attracted a large number of players from abroad.
Two years ago we had the Malaysian Junior Team training and playing
practise matches with our juniors, and almost every school break we
receive players from Qatar, Kuwait, and India, and last summer we
had 2 large groups from the USA. This summer we are planning more
camps and would be happy to have more juniors with us to experience
the atmosphere at our club and improve their game. You may contact
me for information, or if you are in the U.S please contact Khaled
Sobhy (KSobhy@aol.com)
The Gezira Club also organizes its squash tournament annually and it
is the most important club tournament on the Egyptian squash
calendar and offers the largest prize money. It is also, according
to testimony of players, officials from every club and the Egyptian
Squash Association, the best organized tournament on the calendar.
Due to our facilities and hospitality, the Cairo Closed was also
held here last season and this season we shall be holding the
Egyptian Closed after a few weeks.
 Many of the world's top players
should be participating and I hope to update you on the matches: so
please keep an eye out for the action at the Gezira Club.
Squash Technical Director and
Head Coach at the Gezira Club
hesh@libero.it
Portrait
by Framboise |
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Last but not least, we have a new addition to our team.
Recently crowned British Open under 17s champion Karim Abdel Gawad
has been with us since last summer and is already doing very well in
the under 19s. I think we will be seeing him at the World Junior
Open and teams event this summer representing Egypt. 
